[MSN] Iraqi officials implicated in smuggling of antiquities, British Museum expert says

[MSN]

Iraqi officials implicated in smuggling of antiquities, British Museum
expert says
 
By Nidhal al-Laithi
 
Azzaman, May 13, 2008
 
Senior Iraqi officials are involved in the smuggling of archaeological items
during their trips abroad, according to a British Museum expert specialized
in Mesopotamian antiquities.
 
Farouq al-Rawi, Professor of ancient Mesopotamian languages, said most of
the antiquities these officials carry with them abroad end up in the private
collections of royals and wealthy families particularly in the oil-rich Gulf
states.
 
He said one member of the Kuwaiti ruling family, who he declined to name,
keeps nearly 6,000 Mesopotamian artifacts in his private collection.
 
“We are aware that all these pieces were illegally dug from ancient mounds
in the southern Province of Missan,” Rawi said.
 
Missan is archeologically the richest province in the country. Besides its
massive and gigantic yet-to-be developed oil fields, it is the birthplace of
Sumerian civilization which taught humanity writing and civil government
some 5,000 years ago.
 
Of Iraq’s neighbors only Syria has handed over the antiquities it retrieved
from smugglers to Iraq.
 
“Iran, Turkey, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have so far refused to
turn the stolen pieces on their soil over to Iraq,” Rawi said.
 
In the U.A.E., Rawi said, there were thousands of Mesopotamian artifacts
which a royal family member claims to have bought from middlemen on behalf
of smugglers.
 
Rawi also alluded to a Norwegian businessman who he said has opened a
special museum of at least 6,000 pieces of Mesopotamian artifacts he had
obtained from middlemen.
 
Rawi said the fate of nearly 10,000 cylinder and stamp seals looted from the
Iraq Museum in the aftermath of U.S. invasion is not yet know.
 
“These seals are priceless for their value and historical significance. The
seal is the distinctive characteristic of Mesopotamian civilization not
shared by others,” he said.
 
Rawi said it was difficult to imagine Mesopotamian civilization or a
specialized Mesopotamian museum without seals. 

http://www.azzaman.com/
 


toncremers at museum-security.org
http://www.museum-security.org
http://www.museumbeveiliging.com
http://www.handboekveiligheidszorgmusea.nl