Looting Cultural Heritage

Looting Cultural HeritageThe Iraq situation

11051001610.04.2016

Looting Cultural Heritage: examining some causes

Since 1994 the economic pressure imposed by the embargo was already visible, and so all levels of Iraqi state offices began to implode, carrying with them the moral values and the social structure of the country. As a result, clandestine looting of archaeological sites, excavated or unexcavated, soared drastically. In addition, the worrying economic landscape and the crisis of the government allowed organized gangs of dealers to act with impunity, selling illegally archaeological materials with the complicity of international institutions, responsible, ironically, for the protection of the heritage, but unable to stop the trafficking of antiquities.


1994: International conference in Baghdad sponsored by The Institute for Cultural Studies of Ancient Iraq at Kokushikan University of Tokyo, the General Direction of Antiquities and Heritage of Iraq and the Ministry of Culture of Iraq.

UNESCO and Interpol did not participated to the conference


Conclusions of the 1994 International Conference in Baghdad: A letter for UNESCO General Director. the 'Baghdad International Appeal', aimed to the protection of the heritage. the 'Appeal to Surrounding and Nearby Countries', against the illegal trafficking of antiquities. the 'Code of Ethics for Professionals concerned with the Antiquities of the Near and Middle East'.

at the same time plunderers killed Mr. Haddad, guardian of the archaeological site of Larsa.


1995-2003: “Oil for food” program: situation improves but not enough1997: looting of Khorsabad (VIII c. BC) : a statue is beheaded The museums lack products for the conservation and restoration of artifactsNo inspection from UN or UNESCO, in spite of the alarming results of the 1994 Baghdad conference

general situation of impunity


“On our excavation at Um Al-Agareb near Al-Rifai', I noticed one day that one of our workers was very slow and that he could hardly move himself. After checking with the foreman, I found out that this man, together with his wife and three children, had had nothing to eat for four days as he had nothing to plant, no money and no supplies left at home. Now imagine this man in such a situation, living beside an archaeological tell, with no excavation team there to help him feed his family. It would be only natural that he would go and dig and sell whatever he could find in order to feed his family, especially given the lack of education as described above. But this was not the case of one family only, but hundreds of families in the southern parts of the country, and when they found out it was, and is, easy to sell the things they find and that they get easy money to feed their families, it is not surprising they continue to dig on sites, especially when there is no protection for these sites.”

Looting Cultural Heritage“By midday on Thursday 10 April, there had been about 300-400 people gathered at the front of the Museum compound, outside on the street. They were all armed with a variety of hammers, crow-bars, sticks, Kalashnikovs, daggers, and bayonets. Mohsen realised that they intended to enter the Museum. So he went to an American tank very close to the right side of the Museum, where, through an interpreter who he said looked like one of the Arabs from the Gulf States, he begged the Americans to come and move their tanks in front of the Museum to protect it. The Americans in the tank radioed to somewhere and said that they were sorry but that they did not have permission to move. Then the looters started entering the compound and then the Museum building, smashing the doors. First they came through one of the back doors, and then they opened a small door at the front, and then people were inside the Department building, coming and going from the back door, and from the front door, taking anything they wanted. This looting continued for three days, Thursday 10, Friday 11, and Saturday 12 April.”


TWELVE YEARS OF LOOTING AND NEGLIGENCE ON THE PART OF INTERNATIONAL BODIES

On 11th of April of this year, press agencies began reporting on the looting of the Iraq Museum. The EPIAFP agency reported: 'the Archaeological Museum of Baghdad. The most important of the country with ancient items of incalculable value, has been one of the first victims of the looting spread in the city twenty-four hours ago. After crossing the entrance through the administrative area, the looters got inside the museum storerooms and then inside the public galleries. Pottery, Assyrian statues, the wooden gate of the Khorsabad palace of the king Sargon 11 (720 BCE)' , and many more ancient item s belonging to Ancient Mesopotamia were stolen or simply broken into a thousand pieces by dozens of looters’.

Baghdad Museum, April 2003

The looting of the Baghdad National Museum

As of December 2003: approximately 5400 objects had been recovered : roughly 1950 via amnesty and 3450 via seizures.Nimrud treasures along with other priceless material from the Iraq Museum such as the ivory collection stored in the vaults of Baghdad's Central Bank but threat of theft & they are being held in appalling conservation conditionsTotal number of looted items : unknown, but probably ca

15.000

Lioness Attacking a Nubian Boy

an extraordinary eighth century BC chryselephantine ivory plaque inlaid with lapis and carnelian and overlaid with gold : NOT RECOVERED

The looting of the Iraq Museum occurred as an additional consequence of an illegal and unjust military intervention. In the author's opinion, the looting of last April, although dramatic, was not the most harmful damage inflicted upon the heritage of Iraq. Much more serious is the fact that thanks to the indifference of international bodies in charge of protecting Iraqi heritage, over twelve years several regional museums have been emptied. Many archaeological sites have been plundered by international gangs, and the seizure of chemical products has made restoration of the stored items virtually impossible. During these twelve years different publications and efforts were ignored or even silenced. Moral cowardice, political cynicism and abrogation of responsibility triggered the massive appearance of illegally obtained items on the international market of Mesopotamian antiquities, so encouraging dealers to continue their activities. The disastrous collapse of Iraqi heritage has, in the end, been partly alleviated, if not avoided, through the heroism and endeavor of the Iraq Museum curators and employees. However, the proven inability of international justice and the impunity with which antiquities are being trafficked requires a sustained response from specialists in defense of Iraqi heritage. (Cordoba, 2009)

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-16732998

The National Museum of Iraq has reopened in February 2015

Antiquities & the Black Marketfacts and considerations

The Antiquities trade

The antiquities trade is the exchange of antiquities and archaeological artifacts from around the world. This trade may be illicit or legal. The illicit antiquities trade involves non-scientific extraction that ignores the archaeological and anthropological context of the artifacts.The legal antiquities trade abide by national regulations and provide for an extraction that allows for the scientific study of the artifacts in order to study the archaeological and anthropological context.

Antiquities & the Black Market


Due to its illicit nature it is impossible to quantify the exact size of the black market trade in antiquities


Looting in Iraq and Syria is taking place on an “industrial” scale items openly displayed in London shops. Some media reports suggest this income stream is the “second-largest source of revenue” for the group (after oil sales), but in reality it’s impossible to tell. Attempts to tackle the problem have thus far been ineffective. “It’s not easy and it’s not cheap,” he says, adding: “If no one was buying, people wouldn’t dig it up. This material sells.” These are blood antiquities, this is funding death.” The U.S. International Trade Commission reported that between 2012 and 2013 when Islamic State expanded its reach, American import of declared antiquities from Iraq increased by 672 percent and those from Syria by 133 percent.

Apamea

Antiquities & the Black MarketIraq/Syria: Isis capitalised on a pre-existing illegal trade in antiquities, which began during the turmoil in 2012, first charging a 20% tax (= war booty) on “licensed” excavations and then hiring their own archaeologists and equipment to take over the trade itself.Isis began to enforce punishments for looting without a licence. The group started to control the dealers and middle men, getting savvy to the market, scouring the internet to see which artefacts would sell at a higher value.

ISIS has set up a government branch, known as the archaeological administration, in the Syrian city of Manbij near the Turkish border, which manages loots and sales.

ISIS and the Antiquities

ISIS officials confirmed this in September in a memo from its General Committee. “It is prohibited for any brother from the Islamic State to excavate antiquities or give the permit to anyone from the public without receiving a stamped permit.”

War, More Than ISIS, Is Destroying Syria's Ancient Sites

Ancient sites in contested areas are more vulnerable to looting and destruction than those in ISIS-controlled territory

War, More Than ISIS, Is Destroying Syria's Ancient Sites

Analysis of images of 1,450 ancient sites: more than half of those sites are in rebel-controlled areas, followed by those dominated by Kurdish forces. Damage at sites claimed by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, accounts for a quarter of the destruction, with the remainder in areas loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-AssadThis finding should not be surprising, given that looting tends to spike in places with no civil authority.

BUT

when damage is categorized (minor, moderate, or severe), sites in ISIS-controlled areas are more likely to have suffered severe damage than those in other parts of Syria. “This could be read as evidence of more organized, potentially state-sanctioned looting in those areas,”

Raising awareness“If no one was buying, people wouldn’t dig it up. This material sells.”

Raising general awareness

http://savingantiquities.org

Providing evidence and explanations

http://traffickingculture.org

Syrian Heritage Initiative

http://www.asor-syrianheritage.org

Syrian Heritage Initiative

Urbanization and Cultural HeritageSome notes…

Urbanization and Cultural Heritage

Many cities themselves are important cultural landscapes. As their populations expand beyond their historical boundaries and population capacity, redevelopment and sprawl threaten countless sites of great cultural, aesthetic, and historic significance. Development in and of itself is not necessarily destructive, but poor city planning, the unchecked intrusion of industrial and (sub)urban sprawl into formerly rural areas, indifference by officials to important sites, and exponential population growth combine to create a host of problems that threaten both sites of human cultural heritage and the natural environment itself.


MAIN ISSUE:little governmental oversight and administration that usually results in absence of planning

Problem particularly in urban environments with a deep history

How to conciliate modernity, innovation and progress with historical preservation and protection?

European Charter of the Architectural Heritage 1975

the conservation of architectural heritage should become an integral part of urban and regional planning

new approach introduced in this charter: attempt to integrate the planning and conservation of heritage sites and the continuity of existing social and physical realities in urban and rural communities

Washington Charter - 1987

the protection, conservation and restoration of historic towns and areas as well as their development and harmonious adaptation to contemporary life is a necessity

emphasis on the integration of socioeconomic development, urban and regional planning policies, multidisciplinary nature of urban conservation and the importance of active participation by residents, primary stakeholders


To minimize the inescapable effects of urbanization to locations of cultural, historical, and national significance, cultural heritage considerations must be better integrated into general urban development and restructuring as well as specific, individual construction projects.


Possible policy recommendations:Improving oversight by monitoring and risk assessmentEnacting legislationRaising awareness and developing specific education programs (e.g. urban planners should take courses in cultural heritage preservation)Enhancing coordination between the different actors involved


In November 2011, UNESCO’s General Conference passed a resolution for a UNESCO Recommendation on Historic Urban Landscapes (HUL). This important Recommendation recognized the challenges of urbanization today, as well as the importance of cities as engines of growth and centres of innovation and creativity that provide opportunities for employment and education. The Recommendation identified urban heritage, including its tangible and intangible components in their natural context, as a key resource in enhancing the livability of urban areas and fostering economic development as well as social cohesion.

Looting Cultural Heritage

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