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VOICE ONE:
This is Phoebe Zimmermann.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS, from VOA SpecialEnglish. Today we tell about efforts to recover ancient works of artstolen from Iraq.
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Thousands of archeologicaltreasures disappeared from the National Museum of Antiquities inBaghdad, Iraq last April. At that time, a coalition led by theUnited States ousted the government of Saddam Hussein. Robbersentered the museum. They stole and damaged many priceless objects.
At first, experts estimated that one-hundred-seventy-thousandobjects were missing. But museum workers had hidden many objects fortheir protection before the war began in March. Some Iraqi citizenshave been holding other artifacts for safe keeping. These peoplehave expressed concern that museum workers are connected with SaddamHussein’s Ba’ath political party. They say they fear the artifactsmight not be put back in the museum again. Negotations for returningsuch objects are continuing.
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Officials now say the museum lost between ten-thousand andfifteen-thousand artifacts after the war. Baghdad citizens andothers returned many of these ancient objects. An American groupalso has organized the return of almost three-thousand-five-hundredartifacts. Group members worked with local citizens andinternational officials to restore valuable pieces to the NationalMuseum of Antiquities.
For example, the Americans helpedrecover a sculpture of a woman’s head. Some experts said it is oneof the five most important pieces taken from the museum.
The sculpture is called the Warka Mask, or Lady of Warka. It isabout five-thousand years old. It was carved in the ancient city ofWarka during the rule of the Sumerians. Iraqi police and Americansoldiers found it buried among fruit trees on a farm near Baghdad.
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Jabir Ibrahim directs Iraq’s department of ancient objects. Hesaid his office learned in August about a group trying to sell theWarka Mask. But the group’s negotiations with possible buyersapparently failed. After that, the group hid the mask. Informationprovided to the museum identified the person who apparently stolethe mask. A week of negotiations with this person led to the farm.Soldiers and police dug out the mask from fifteen centimeters ofearth. It was unharmed.
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Jabir Ibrahim is among Iraqi experts who have said United Statesforces failed to protect the museum after occupying Baghdad. Anumber of international art experts and archeologists agree. ButAmerican officials say Iraqi Army soldiers were firing from themuseum at American troops as they arrived. The officials say thegunfire made it impossible for the American troops to enter themuseum. They say the stealing took place before the Americanmilitary could help stop it.
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United States Marine Colonel Matthew Bogdanos (boag-DON-ose)began the American investigation of the missing artifacts in April.Colonel Bogdanos is a reserve officer who has completed graduatework in classical studies. In civilian life, he works as agovernment lawyer in New York City.
At a recent media conference in Washington, D-C, Colonel Bogdanosdescribed the efforts of his group. He reported how the thirteenmembers found missing artifacts in Baghdad and six other nations.
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Colonel Bogdanos said the goal was not to punish people who stolethe objects. Instead, he said his group wants mainly to recover thelost treasures. So the investigators operated on a policy of “noquestions asked.” This meant people who returned stolen objectswould not be arrested.
Colonel Bogdanos praised religious and community leaders inBaghdad for spreading this message. A recent count showed thatone-thousand-seven-hundred objects have been returned under the “noquestions asked” policy. The colonel said many citizens in Baghdadalso provided valuable information leading to missing objects.
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The Americans said their hardest job was learning exactly whatwas missing. Museum employees had never recorded the presence ofmany artifacts in the huge collection. Some Iraqi experts say theemployees purposely failed to do this. The experts said theemployees meant to prevent Saddam’s family and his Ba’ath partymembers from seizing valuable objects. Now Iraqi, American, Britishand Italian archeologists are trying to complete a list of whichobjects are in the museum and which are still missing.
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Toward that goal, investigators have been sending photographs ofthe missing objects around the world. However, this effort has hadmany problems. Robbers had stolen or destroyed many of thephotographs. Photos of other objects were of poor quality. Also, themuseum had never photographed some of its artworks.
Still, many art communities and law-enforcement agencies havereceived photographs. If an artifact had no picture, investigatorssent photos of similar artworks. Colonel Bogdanos said the goal wasto make the objects as recognizable as possible.
The photographs have helped make searches successful at airports,security points and international borders. By last month, more thanseven-hundred-fifty artifacts had been recovered this way.
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Some artifacts from the National Museum of Antiquities have beenmissing far longer than a few months. Museum officials hid theseobjects more than twelve years ago, before the Persian Gulf War. Forexample, in nineteen-ninety, officials took a number of importantobjects to the Central Bank of Iraq in Baghdad. They included thegolden head of a male cow.
They also included objects knownas the Treasure of Nimrud. During the nineteen-eighties,archeologists had found these artifacts near the northern Iraqi cityof Mosul. They were found in royal burial places in what had beenthe ancient Assyrian capital of Nimrud. Boxes containing theseartifacts had been placed in a lower-level area of the bank.However, the area became flooded.
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This past summer, bank and museum officials watched as a NationalGeographic Society crew and American soldiers pumped out the water.When they opened the boxes, they found that the golden cow’s headhad been damaged. Then they opened boxes containing the Treasure ofNimrud. Those present held their breath as the treasures were liftedout. The gold, jewels and other artifacts were unharmed.
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Workers at the museum also had hidden eight-thousand artifacts ina secret place before the most recent war. They had sworn on theKoran not to tell where that place was. Colonel Bogdanos and hisgroup spent weeks talking to the museum workers in an effort tobuild trust. The workers finally shared their secret. The objectswere discovered in good condition. The museum will show them againwhen security permits.
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The Americans have carefully searched the huge National Museum ofAntiquities. They found evidence of an Iraqi Army firing position ina storage room. They found many suspicious objects, including weaponparts and an unexploded bomb. They also found rocket weapons on theroofs of the museum library and the children’s museum. The searchersdiscovered fifteen sets of Iraqi Army clothing in another museumbuilding.
In a lower-level storage room, they discovered that almostthree-thousand valuable small objects had been stolen. Theseartifacts were not yet ready to be shown to the public. ColonelBogdanos believes the objects could not have been removed without amuseum worker knowing they were there. He says a museum worker mayhave organized the theft or given information to other people. Thecolonel says some museum employees have left their jobs and cannotbe found. Iraqi officials, however, say this theft was possiblewithout help from museum workers.
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Colonel Bogdanos now has returned to the United States. But hesays only the first work of the investigation is complete. In Iraq,the search continues. Around the world, archeologists, art expertsand law officers are helping to restore the museum’s collections.Many people wait for the day when the National Museum of Antiquitiesin Baghdad can again show its treasures from the past.
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This Special English program was written by Jerilyn Watson. Itwas produced by Mario Ritter. This is Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Phoebe Zimmermann. Join us again next week forExplorations on the Voice of America.