We list here news items about Iraq's cultural heritage under direct threat from military action taking place nearby. As with many media reports during the conflict, they are often impossible to verify independently, especially in the absence of visual documentation. If you know of additions, corrections, or clarifications from reputable sources please email either or both of us at the addresses below.
Looting in Basra, Baghdad and elsewhere by Iraqis and US soldiers(Herald Sun, 9 April 2003) is now putting the country's museums at risk, as in the aftermath of the last war. According to Radio Free Europe, Basra's Museum of Natural History has been "thoroughly emptied". There is an A eye-witness account in the New York Times of 10 April 2003. There is more detailed documentation of looting on the Heritage destroyed page.
The modern inhabitants of Nineveh are housing a Christian refugee population of over 10,000, according to the Italian news service Zenit, 9 April 2003.
US forces are occupying a church in Ain Kawa, northern Iraq, according to the Christian Science monitor on 4 April 2003.
The US 141st Mechanized Infantry Battalion is camped at Ur, according to the Guardian on 1 April 2003. They are described as "burrowed in", which may imply some archaeological damage.
There has been a major battle very close to ancient Babylon, according to Canada.com and many other sources, on 1 April 2003. On 9 April 2003, Reuters reported American tanks driving through the ruins of Babylon.
Shrines in the Shi'a holy cities of Najaf and Kerbala are at risk, according to a report in the Independent on 1 April 2003
Iraqi military and communications equipment is being stored at Ctesiphon, according to a US military briefing on 26 March, given by Brigadier General Vincent Brooks:
Today I want to show you an image of military equipment positioned close to a very historic site. Let's bring up the image. (Image is shown.) This is a part of the ruins of the place called Tesefon (ph). It's about 20 miles southeast of Baghdad on the banks of the Tigris River, and it is a site that has over 2,000 years of history, and it's significant to a number of nations. What you see with the yellow lines is military equipment, communications equipment, positioned right beside that. On top of the building, as the sign shows, this is marked with an international symbol of being an historic place.
The Iraq Museum in Baghdad is adjacent to telecommunications installations which have been heavily targetted by US bombs. It avoided being hit during the bombardments but has now been completely emptied by looters.
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Created on 1 April 2003 by ER, last updated 12 April 2003. © JNP and ER . For further information please contact Professor Nicholas Postgate jnp10@cam.ac.uk or Dr Eleanor Robson eleanor.robson@all-souls.ox.ac.uk.