After looting in Iraq damaged invaluable antiquities, archaeologists work to restore the cradle of civilization’s cultural heritage
On April 13, 2003, Donny George Youkhanna walked into the Iraq Museum. It was George’s first visit since fleeing the museum five days earlier, when the U.S. Army had entered Baghdad. Iraqi looters had broken down the museum’s doors and smashed windows to get in, dragging out gold, clay, and bronze pieces, and even stripping the museum of electrical wire and office chairs. Staircases were chipped as the looters heaved large antiquities from upper floors. United States military tanks had sat outside the museum, making no moves to stop the pillaging. In George’s short absence, some 15,000 artifacts were stolen.
Having watched the destruction unfold on TV, George (as he’s known in the West), then director of Iraqi museums, was braced for the damage. But he didn’t expect the loss of one particular artifact: a 600-pound alabaster vessel known as the Warka Vase. Named for the village where it was excavated in the 1930s, the vase, a relic of the long-buried southern city of Uruk, is carved with scenes that, scholars believe, depict the ancient Sumerians’ daily life and guiding beliefs. Dated to 3200 BC, it is among the earliest sculptures from the first-known civilization, carved around the time the Sumerians invented writing. “The lower panel starts with water, then plants, then animals,” George explains. Humans populate the center panel, and at the top sits the deity, most likely the goddess Innana. The vase is an icon of Mesopotamian art. “It’s a beautiful work that summarizes the great philosophy that the Sumerians had, in just one piece of art.”
When he entered the museum that April afternoon, he saw the vase’s stand lying on the floor, its glass display case shattered. The vessel had been hacked away from its base, which still was attached to the pedestal. “I just became crazy,” says George. “I said, ‘The looters have taken it. That’s it.’ For me, losing the Warka Vase is losing the masterpiece of the Iraq Museum.”...
Read entire article at University of Chicago Magazine
Having watched the destruction unfold on TV, George (as he’s known in the West), then director of Iraqi museums, was braced for the damage. But he didn’t expect the loss of one particular artifact: a 600-pound alabaster vessel known as the Warka Vase. Named for the village where it was excavated in the 1930s, the vase, a relic of the long-buried southern city of Uruk, is carved with scenes that, scholars believe, depict the ancient Sumerians’ daily life and guiding beliefs. Dated to 3200 BC, it is among the earliest sculptures from the first-known civilization, carved around the time the Sumerians invented writing. “The lower panel starts with water, then plants, then animals,” George explains. Humans populate the center panel, and at the top sits the deity, most likely the goddess Innana. The vase is an icon of Mesopotamian art. “It’s a beautiful work that summarizes the great philosophy that the Sumerians had, in just one piece of art.”
When he entered the museum that April afternoon, he saw the vase’s stand lying on the floor, its glass display case shattered. The vessel had been hacked away from its base, which still was attached to the pedestal. “I just became crazy,” says George. “I said, ‘The looters have taken it. That’s it.’ For me, losing the Warka Vase is losing the masterpiece of the Iraq Museum.”...