Iraq:New Archaeological Teams To Preserve Key Sites
Submitted by coldrum on Thursday, 28 June 2007 Page Views: 1506
Site WatchCountry: Iraq Close to a dozen teams of archaeologists have begun excavating and safeguarding a number of key archaeological sites across conflict-torn Iraq, including such biblical sites as Babylon - considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world - Iraq's tourism and archaeology ministry announced. "The teams began working several days ago in the provinces of Karbala, Najaf, Babylon, Diwaniya [Al-Qadisiyyah], Misan, Basra and Wasit, after four years of inactivity," the ministry said in a statement. '"The 11 teams will concentrate their work on sites that have been damaged and looted, but will also bring to light artefacts of great historical and scientific value," the statement continued.
Iraq's state cultural and archaeological heritage body is doing its utmost to preserve the country's archaeological treasures contained in thousands of sites, the ministry said.
The ministry said high-level negotiations are being conducted with neighbours such as Syrian, Iran, Jordan and Turkey over the recovery of many thousands of treasures that were looted in 2003 from the famed National Museum in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and found their way to these countries.
About 14,000 objects were stolen or damaged in April 2003 when former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's regime fell, and the looting of the museum caused an international outcry. Some of the museum's artefacts have been recovered or returned, but most are still missing.
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