USCBS News

Museum director Amira Edan gives US Army Lt Col Kenneth Crawford, commander of the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, a tour of the galleries.Photo: Sgt First Class Kap Kim, USA

The Art Newspaper

Nearly five years after the museum was ransacked, two main galleries should go on view this month; funding has come from Italy

By Federico Castelli Gattinara and Martin Bailey | From News | Posted: 25.11.07

The National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad is due to reopen at the end of December, nearly five years after the looting. Italian officials assisting the Iraqis told The Art Newspaper that work on two main galleries has now been completed. “Barring any last minute security emergencies, the museum will reopen in December,” says Roberto Parapetti, of the Turin-based Centro Ricerche Archeologiche e Scavi.

The two galleries which are set to reopen, with Assyrian and Islamic antiquities, contain large and almost immovable objects. This means that the security risks are lower than with smaller items in glass cases. The rooms are on the ground floor, near the main entrance, and lie on either side of the central courtyard.

The Assyrian Hall has monumental sculptures, including stone panels from the royal palace at Khorsabad and two winged bulls. The other large gallery is the Islamic Hall, which has the eighth-century mihrab from the Al-Mansur mosque in Baghdad. It is also hoped to display ten monumental Parthian sculptures from Hatra in the courtyard.

The Baghdad Museum has been closed since April 2003, when part of its contents were looted during the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. Although originally it had been hoped to reopen part of the museum in 2004, the security situation worsened, and this proved impossible.

Donny George, director of the museum from November 2003 and head of the antiquities board from August 2005, later resisted pressure from the ministry of interior to reopen the museum. He feared that it could become a target for looters, since the security situation in Baghdad has remained very dangerous. Shortly before he resigned and went into exile in August 2006, he sealed the museum building, preventing even staff entering. His successors subsequently broke down one of the concrete barriers in September this year.

This autumn Iraqi contractors, funded by the Italian Ministry of Culture, have worked on restoring the Assyrian and Islamic halls. The rooms have been refurbished, the antiquities restored where necessary, and security devices have been installed.

On 31 October US army Lt Col Kenneth Crawford and State Department official Diane Siebrandt visited the museum with protection troops. They were shown around by Dr Amira Edan, Dr George’s successor as museum director and now also acting director of the State Board of Antiquities.

Lt Col Crawford told the American Forces Press Service that “it was nice to just get our foot in the door to identify areas of the facility we can maybe help with… [and] getting the museum open to the public.”

At present there are no plans to reopen the 16 other galleries which remain closed.

©2007 The Art Newspaper

by Eric Westervelt, NPR Morning Edition, November 21, 2007

In a patch of sloping hillside in southwest Mosul — next to a junkyard of destroyed Iraqi army tanks — sits Iraq’s oldest Christian monastery. Saint Elijah’s, a fortress-like complex of buildings dating to the 6th century, was badly damaged during the U.S.- led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Now, a few U.S. military chaplains are struggling to protect the ancient Chaldean Catholic monastery from neglect, unexploded ordnance and looters.

History of the Monastery

At one time the freshwater creek and surrounding hills, prime grazing land, made this valley a sweet spot for early Christian monks to build a place to live and worship. But today, rusting Russian-made Iraqi tanks and bombed-out car shells are piled in a junk heap next to the monastery. First Cavalry Division Pvt. 1st Class Nathaniel Irvine walks carefully around shards of old pottery. Chunks of old plates and clay jug handles litter the monastery’s ground along with shrapnel from tank and mortar rounds. U.S. soldiers have removed more than 130 pieces of unexploded ordnance from the site, but there could be more.It’s believed Dair Mar Elia, or Saint Elijah’s monastery, was built in the late 6th century by early Chaldean/Assyrian Catholic monks. Armies under Persian ruler Tahmaz Nadir Shah attacked and looted the place in the 17th century, slaughtering the three dozen monks who lived here. By Chaldean/Assyrian tradition, monks’ bones were often buried in the monastery walls. And on this windy hillside, Irvine says, soldiers have found what they believe are human remains sticking out of the crumbling walls. “Look inside down there; there’s a bone they’ve found down there, so it’s believed they’re probably buried in these two tunnels,” he says.

Destruction of Today

Today the outer wall of the monastery’s chapel looks as though it were swatted by the hand of a giant. But it was no giant: It was a U.S. anti-tank missile fired in 2003 by advancing 101st Airborne soldiers battling an Iraqi tank unit based in and around the site.

“(The 101st) fired upon the tanks using stuff that would destroy the tanks. They were being fired at so they had to return fire,” Irvine says.

The tow missile that crashed into the ancient chapel’s wall could be chalked up to the fog of combat. But the same can’t be said for the sophomoric graffiti scrawled around the place and the big “Screaming Eagles” logo painted above the chapel’s door. “If you look over the sanctuary you’ll see the 101st Airborne patch. We’ve since tried painting over it and washing it off, and it won’t come off,” Irvine says. U.S soldiers four years ago also white-washed the stone alter and the two-story high walls of the chapel, covering remnants of 600-year-old murals. An ornate, shell-shaped stone alcove with a cross still adorns one wall. Looters apparently got the second one: an identically shaped alcove on the other side of the door sits empty with chisel marks around it. And in the roof line, right above the alter, you can still see a square, man-made opening to the sky.

Leaving a Mark

101st Airborne soldiers were hardly the first soldiers to leave their mark here. Previously, Iraqi tank units trashed the monastery, damaging rooms and filing an ancient cistern with trash and feces. Near the monastery’s entranceway, there’s much older graffiti: A Crusader-era Jerusalem cross is carefully etched into the stone, perhaps a vestige of some medieval battle in the region. Today the monastery sits on the edge of forward U.S. operating base Marez. Despite the ravages of war and neglect, Saint Elijah’s remains an enchanting place. The reddish-brown sand walls seem to soak up the sharp, late-afternoon sun. Underground tunnels, now grass-covered and partially collapsed, poke through the earth near an egg-shaped cistern.Irvine, a 21-year-old from South Dakota, is trying to help preserve the site and gives soldiers occasional tours.“I love it coming here,” Irvine says. “Just the atmosphere it has versus being at work or running outside the wire where it’s stressful. Very relaxing.” Some of the damage U.S. forces did here can’t be undone. But U.S. military chaplains are trying to protect the site as best they can during wartime.

Capt. Martin Chang, the chaplain here, calls the largely unexplored site a potential archeological treasure trove. But with a war still on, the simple chain-link fence chaplains have erected around the monastery may be its only protection for years to come.

National Endowment for the Humanities 

WASHINGTON (November 15, 2007)—Today, President George W. Bush awarded the prestigious National Humanities Medals for 2007 during a ceremony held in the White House East Room. Nine distinguished Americans and one cultural foundation were honored for their exemplary contributions to the humanities. In recognition of their scholarship, preservation efforts, philanthropy, and literary works, the President presented National Humanities Medals to Stephen H. Balch, scholar and advocate; Russell Freedman, author; Victor Davis Hanson, military historian and author; Roger Hertog, philanthropist; Cynthia Ozick, author; Richard Pipes, author and historian; Pauline L. Schultz, curator and author; Henry Leonard Snyder, scholar and innovator; Ruth R. Wisse, scholar and author; and the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art. Immediately following the ceremony, the medalists, their families, and friends joined the President and First Lady Laura Bush for a reception held in their honor.

A Cold War historian, a leading advocate of higher-education reform, and several award-winning authors are among this year’s recipients. From one woman’s private news collection of local Wyoming history to an international organization’s recovery of over five million masterworks of art stolen by the Nazis in World War II, the work of these medalists is varied in its scope.

The National Humanities Medal, first awarded in 1989 as the Charles Frankel Prize, honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens’ engagement with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand Americans’ access to important resources in the humanities.

The Humanities Medal is the signal award for the humanities. Over the last decade, inclduing this year’s recipients, the National Humanities Medal has been awarded to only 98 individuals and 7 organizations. Among those recognized during this time period are Bernard Lewis, Judith “Miss Manners” Martin; Madeleine L’Engle, Harvey Mansfield, and John Updike.

Medal recipients do not compete for this award but are specially selected by the President for their lifelong achievements in each of their diverse areas of expertise. Citations for the nine individuals and one organization receiving the National Humanities Medal for 2007 can be found below. A detailed profile of each of the medalists is available online.

Dr. Stephen Balch, scholar and advocate, is being recognized “for leadership and advocacy upholding the noblest traditions in higher education. His work on behalf of reasoned scholarship in a free society has made him a leading champion of excellence and reform at our nation’s universities.”

Russell Freedman, author, is being recognized “for recounting the history of our nation’s struggle for liberty. With great insight and creativity, he has awakened young readers to our nation’s ongoing quest for justice for all.”

Victor Davis Hanson, military historian and author, is being recognized “for scholarship on our civilization’s past and present. He has cultivated the fields of history and brought forth an abundant harvest of wisdom for our times.”

Roger Hertog, philanthropist, is being recognized “for enlightened philanthropy on behalf of the humanities. His wisdom and generosity have rejuvenated institutions that are keepers of American memory.”

Cynthia Ozick, author, is being recognized “for literary criticism which has traced the shifting currents of American arts and letters. In her criticism and essays, she has been a lifelong advocate and practitioner of moral clarity and literary excellence.”

Richard Pipes, author and historian, is being recognized “for peerless scholarship on Russia and Eastern Europe and for a life in service to freedom’s cause. He has shaped and sharpened our understanding of the eternal contest of liberty and tyranny.”

Pauline L. Schultz, curator and author, is being recognized “for stewardship of a precious trove of local historical knowledge. She has been a collector and curator of facts and artifacts that capture a century of human experience on Wyoming’s high plains.”

Henry Snyder, scholar and innovator, is being recognized “for visionary leadership in bridging the worlds of scholarship and technology. His direction of massive projects in the digital humanities has opened new frontiers in cataloguing and preserving ideas and documents for future generations.”

Ruth Wisse, scholar and author, is being recognized “for scholarship and teaching that have illuminated Jewish literary traditions. Her insightful writings have enriched our understanding of Yiddish literature and Jewish culture in the modern world.”

Monuments for Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art is being recognized “for sustained efforts to recognize the contributions of the scholar-soldiers of the Second World War. Our civilization is forever indebted to a handful of men and women who, in an era of total war, rescued and preserved a precious portion of the world’s heritage.”

Sgt. 1st Class Kap Kim, USA Special to American Forces Press Service
2007-11-13

BAGHDAD, Nov. 13, 2007 – When what was supposed to be simply a short meeting turned into a grand tour of the National Museum of Iraq, some 1st Cavalry Division soldiers got to see a part of early civilization that was beyond their imagination — in some cases, artifacts that dated back to more than 5,000 years ago.

Army Lt. Col. Kenneth Crawford, commander of 2nd “Spartan” Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, and Diane Siebrandt, a U.S. State Department culture heritage liaison officer, set up the meeting with Dr. Amira, the museum’s newly appointed general director, Oct. 31.

“What we did was huge,” said Siebrandt, who works closely with Iraq’s Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities.

After a meeting with Amira and her other director generals, Crawford and a few lucky soldiers from his personal security detail received the first tour of the museum and its exhibits since the early part of the war. The doors were closed to visitors April 23, 2003.

“I was in awe of what I saw in there,” said Crawford, a San Antonio native. “You come here, and you’re in the cradle of society.”

During the Ottoman Empire, archeologists and fortune finders were granted digging permits and were able to keep any find. According to Siebrandt, it was during that time when most of the Mesopotamian artifacts left the country.

After World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, it was a British traveler, Gertrude Bell, who started supervising many of the excavation sites and brought to light the importance of having a sense of cultural awareness. The museum, which was originally opened in the early 1900s by Bell, was known then as the Baghdad Archaeological Museum. Many of the exhibits contain artifacts once belonging to her private collection.

The museum was open to the general public until 2003, when looters and vandals stole many priceless items during the war, Siebrandt said. Since then, the museum and its staff have closed the doors to almost everyone. So, the meeting and subsequent tour of the exhibits currently under construction were a surprising treat for the few who were able to see it.

Since December 2006, the State Department and coalition forces have tried to start a dialog that might start the process of reopening the museum to the Iraqi people. “We just were never able to get dialog started,” Siebrandt said. “With Dr. Amira, I met with her and talked about Colonel Crawford (coming to the museum). It was all about getting the right person in.”

For Crawford, whose unit does a lot of civic projects throughout the Karkh Security District, getting to help the museum reopen to the public is important. “It’s an icon, … not just for Karkh or Baghdad, but for Iraq,” Crawford said. “This showed a big step toward joint relations. It was nice to just get our foot in the door to ID areas of the facility we can maybe help with — the end state of getting the museum open to the public.”

http://www.emilitary.org/article.php?aid=12642