Iraq Artifact

Over the last twenty-six years thousands of historical artifacts have been looted or damaged from Iraq’s ancient archaeological sites. These artifacts are Iraq’s patrimony that contribute to the present identity of Iraq and it’s people, providing rich history of the development of some of the world’s earliest civilizations, writing systems, and the rise and fall of vast empires throughout time. With these artifacts lost, Iraq loses the evidence and history of many events in the past that has shaped their country today. Iraq has approximately twelve thousand known archaeological sites where Islamic cities once stood, but many of these sites are unprotected and are extremely vulnerable in times of war. These sites contain countless ancient artifacts

Many of these sites are unprotected allowing artifacts to be easily looted and sold to all over the world. In 2010 the restitution of hundreds of artifacts arrived in Iraq from the U.S. Some controversy can come into play on account for what artifacts belong where and if they are returned will they just become lost again. Many artifacts that are returned do become missing again due to the fact that the sites were still as unprotected as they were before (Myers, 2010). With these artifacts gone we lose important information of past history, and also the risk of the artifact becoming damaged in its travels. Monuments and artifacts are also at high risk of damage in times of war and upheaval. The Haditha area, a region with ancient sites, Babylonian inscriptions, Assyrian fortress towns, and Islamic ruins, had military installations. These installations included a missile site, an air base, and a reported weapons complex, all of which were bombed in 1991, resulting in the loss of many ancient items that cannot be replaced. Another site that was damaged during warfare was two Sumerian cities, Ur and Uruk. Ur and Uruk vie for the title of the oldest urban center in the world, dating back to at least 4000 B.C.E. Local Sumerians invented writing in Uruk in 3500 B.C.E. In 1991 the ziggurat at Ur was damaged by allied troops which left four massive bomb craters in the ground and some 400 bullet holes in its walls (CAA News, 2003). By protecting these sites in times of cultural upheaval and war, we can better preserve these ancient sites and artifacts. Artifacts will not be as easily looted, lessing controversy between countries and history from these artifacts will not be