Iraq National Museum reopened

Dubai TV 090224
[LinkTV/Mosaic]
- It had stood forlorn since 2003, looted, gutted and doors bolted shut, a testament to Iraq's slide into the anarchy of the post-invasion years. But yesterday Iraq took another step towards shaking off the memories of its plundered past, when its leaders re-opened the National Museum in Baghdad and tentatively reclaimed the site as one of the Middle East's most important cultural repositories.
The National Museum of Iraq is now again home to around 5500 artefacts pilfered since the fall of Baghdad in April 2003 and recovered in the five years since through a mix of painstaking work and rising numbers of guilty consciences. Museum directors and the central government believe the number of returned relics is enough to risk throwing open the doors to the public, even amid a still-pulsing insurgency.
However, they estimate that around 15,000 more priceless items are still being traded throughout the art underworld, or in private collections across Europe and the United States. All are thought to be critical contributions to an industry third only in value to drug-running and arms-smuggling. -Guardian-
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHefUx4QKDY

Category:

Education

Tags:

• ChoiceJJ
• Middle-East
• Iraq
• looting
• museums
• art
• culture
• heritage
• jjvanka

[Poetisin]

I'd risk my life to save this history.