Publications: Books
Antiquities under Siege: Cultural Heritage Protection after the Iraq War
Lawrence Rothfield, Editor
AltaMira Press, 2008
Contact: Wendy Norris, wnorris@uchicago.edu, 773.834.3495
 As Saddam Hussein's government fell
in April 2003, news accounts detailed the pillaging of from the Iraq Museum. The looting of nearly 15,000 items from the Museum's
collection grabbed headlines and briefly focused international attention on Iraq's threatened cultural heritage and the efforts to
recover missing items. Less dramatic, though far more devastating, has been the subsequent epidemic of looting at thousands of
archaeological sites around the country. Illegal digging on a massive scale continues to this day. If unaddressed, the same
fundamental deficiencies that left Iraq's museums and sites vulnerable to looters will threaten the cultural heritage of other
politically unstable regions.
Antiquities under Siege examines the criminal activity that continues to erode the traces of Mesopotamian, Judeo-Christian
and Islamic cultures buried in the desert of Iraq, and investigates the global implications of this ongoing catastrophe. This book
demonstrates that the disasters that have befallen Iraq's cultural heritage in the wake of the US-led invasion are both the result of
the general failures of postwar planning and specific shortcomings in U.S. and international cultural policies protecting cultural
heritage sites and artifacts.
Its internationally renowned authors – experts in law, foreign affairs, archaeology and the military – provide first-hand
accounts of the aftermath of the Iraq invasion and offer a series of recommendations for U.S. and international policymakers and NGOs. The authors
identify new procedures and strategies that can protect artifacts at risk in future battles.
Download the Executive Summary
Table of Contents for Antiquities under Siege
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Antiquities under Siege
More about the Cultural Policy Center's work on protecting cultural heritage
during
wartime
Press coverage of Antiquities under Siege :
- “Missing Iraq Antiquities Haunt Experts,” Los Angeles Times, April 9, 2008
- “War Planners Must Learn From Iraq Looting, Book Says,” Bloomberg, April 9, 2008
- “On 5th Anniversary of Iraq Museum's Looting, New Attention to Antiquities Trafficking,” Mother
Jones, April 9, 2008
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