IRAQ: Unsecured and neglected the ancient city of Ur falls prey to illegal smugglers

Record ID: 1540356

  • Title: IRAQ: Unsecured and neglected the ancient city of Ur falls prey to illegal smugglers
  • Date: 5th October 2010
  • Summary: NEAR NASSIRIYA, IRAQ (RECENT) (REUTERS) VEHICLE HEADING TO ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF SUMERIAN CITY OF UMMA IN NASSIRIYA CITY DRIVING SHOT OF AREA ILLEGAL DIGGING OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE MORE OF ILLEGAL DIGGING OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE PEOPLE WITH LOCAL GUARDS WALKING AT SITE LOCAL GUARD CARRYING RIFLE WALKING AT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SHEIKH SALEEM JREDAN AL HAMEED, GUARD CHIEF OF TEL JUKHA AND UMM AL-AQAR SITES, SAYING "Regrettably, at the beginning and during the fall (of the regime), the Americans and the Italians were keen on protecting these relics and they used to advise us to protect them. They came here several times, offering services to the guards who were here, but regrettably when they departed in accordance with the security agreement, the site was totally neglected. No one has come to provide support for this area or the guards. There is even no place for the guards to stay in." VARIOUS OF ILLEGAL DIGGING OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SHEIKH SALEEM JREDAN AL HAMEED, CHIEF OF TEL JUKHA AND UMM AL-AQAR, SAYING "These sites were a scene of looting in 1991 and after the fall of the regime (in 2003). They have been looted many times before and once again more recently. There are guards, but they are not enough. On this mound we only have five guards who are spending day and night here. Can you imagine it? This site is 80 kilometres away from the city. It lies some 80 kilometres away from Al-Fajr (district) and 65 kilometres away from Al-Nasr, so if any of them (guards) were bitten by a scorpion or a snake, he would die on the spot." ANCIENT CITY OF UR, DHI QAR PROVINCE, IRAQ (RECENT) (REUTERS) TWO MEN GOING UP ON UR ZIGGURAT MORE OF ZIGGURAT ANCIENT RELICS OF UR MORE OF UR RELICS SIGN "NO CROSSING, ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE" (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) AMIR ABDUL RAZZAQ AL-ZUBAIDI, ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATOR AT DHI QAR ANTIQUITIES DEPARTMENT, SAYING "Vast sites on the border between Dhi Qar and Diwaniya are far from the tribes and out of the government's authority. They even have no guards, therefore, they are exposed to arbitrary digging now and then to loot artefacts, smuggling them and making money. It is possible that money generated from the smuggling of the artefacts is being used to fund al Qaeda and terrorist attacks."
  • Embargoed: 21st October 2010 09:52
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,History
  • Reuters ID: LVA62JIWT7ZNVF1704A3BOW423ZE
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Iraq's southern province of Dhi Qar proudly boasts of its place in history as home to what is widely regarded as the world's first civilisation, but government neglect and opportunistic criminals have the left the region's rich history under threat.
    More than 1,000 ancient archaeological sites in Dhi Qar, home to the ancient Sumerian city of Ur, have been the target of illegal excavations by organised smuggling gangs to ransack priceless treasures in the visible absence of security.
    Iraq, regarded by many historians as the cradle of civilisation, lost part of its national heritage to widespread looting that became a powerful symbol of the breakdown of order following the 2003 invasion.
    Looters had been plundering ancient sites in southern Iraq for centuries, but the pillage accelerated rapidly after the 2003 U.S-led invasion, when thousands of archaeological sites all over Iraq were also targeted.
    According to officials in Dhi Qar province, there has been illegal digging of ancient Mesopotamian sites stretching along hundreds of kilometres in the vast desert. Huge archaeological sites, some of them yet to be officially excavated, are now badly dug up or riddled with holes and ditches.
    Sheikh Saleem Jerdan Al Hameed, chief of the guards at the sites of Tel Jukha and Umm al-Aqar, said that Italians and Americans troops who were based at the area for years after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, used to encourage locals to look after the sites.
    "Regrettably, at the beginning and during the fall (of the regime), the Americans and the Italians were keen on protecting these relics and they used to recommend us to protect them. They came here several times, offering services to the guards who were here, but regrettably when they departed in accordance with the security agreement, the site was totally neglected. No one has come to provide support for this area or the guards. There is even no place for the guards to stay in," Hameed said.
    Foreign forces, most notably the Americans, came in for heavy criticism when it emerged that their troops had contributed to the damaging of historic sites like Ur and Babylon.
    Washington pledged around 700,000 U.S. dollars at the beginning of last year to help repair the damage to Babylon, once home to one of the seven wonders of the world in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
    But Hameed blamed the looting on the government's failure to provide security and protection to remote archaeological sites and provide accommodation for the guards.
    "These sites have been a scene of looting in 1991 and after the fall of the regime (in 2003). They have been looted many times before and once again more recently," Hameed said.
    "There are guards, but they are not enough. On this mound we have only five guards who are spending day and night here. Can you imagine it? This site is 80 kilometres away from the city. It lies some 80 kilometres away from (the town of) Al-Fajr and 65 kilometres away from Al Nasr, so if any of them (guards) was bitten by a scorpion or a snake, he will die on spot," he added.
    Modern-day Iraq was known in ancient times as Mesopotamia or 'land between two rivers' because of the Tigris and Euphrates. Many believe it gave birth to such milestones of human development as writing, agriculture, codified law and the wheel.
    But historic sites have been woefully neglected and damaged by decades of war, sanctions and looting. Iraqi officials say they need to spend millions of dollars to reverse the damage.
    According to archaeologist Amer Abdulrazzaq illegal diggers have done serious damage to a large number of highly significant sites in the province, especially to the ones situated in the distant desert areas on the northern border of the province with Diwaniya, saying that smuggling of the antiquities might be used to finance al Qaeda attacks in Iraq.
    "Vast sites on the border between Dhi-Qar and Diwaniya are far from the tribes and out of the government authority. They even have no guards, therefore, they are exposed to arbitrary digging now and then to loot artefacts, smuggling them and making money. It is possible that money generated from the smuggling of the artefacts is being used to fund al Qaeda and terrorist attacks," Abdulrazzaq said.
    Abdulrazzaq is assigned with the task of looking after 1,200 highly significant sites with only 98 guards.
    "Most of these sites are not guarded, even those which are surrounded by a wall. There are no fenced sites in Dhi Qar province, except for the ancient city of Ur whereas all the archaeological sites are unfenced. Definitely now and then they are exposed to robbery by mafias specialised in looting antiquities, especially sites situated between the towns of Al-Rifaei and Al-Fajr," Abdulrazzaq added.
    Officials at the city's council put the blame on the government and the Ministry of Antiquities, saying that the number of guards has to be increased to provide full security at the sites.
    "There is arbitrary digging and there are many thieves who are digging in the archaeological sites. I put the blame on the Antiquities Ministry and the central government. Back in 2005 there was a force of 1,200 guards or policemen protecting most of these sites, but regrettably this force was disbanded by the council of ministers in 2008. Now we have only 98 guards protecting the 1,200 sites. Even if we have one guard for each site, it will not be enough," said Hussein Abdul Hussein, member of the security committee of the city local council.
    Dhi-Qar, with its capital at Nassiriya, is home to the 6,000-year-old city of Ur with its impressive Ziggurat, whose magnificent remains and debris used to tell the story of one of the world's best known ancient nations, the Sumerians.
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