[CPProt.net] FW: Assyrian treasures heading for 'hostile' territory (Cori Wegener)

[Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)]

From: Cori Wegener [mailto:coriwegener at hotmail.com] 
Sent: 31 March 2005 19:10
To: cpprot at te.verweg.com
Subject: RE: CPProt Digest, Vol 4, Issue 88


Dear Ton:

I have been a member of this listserve for several years and greatly value
the service you provide. I'm writing to correct several factual
errors in the March 29th Times story by Dalya Alberge posted on the list
today. 

As a U.S. Army Reservist I was mobilized to Iraq from May 2003 to March
2004, spending most of my time working with the Iraq National Museum and the
Iraqi Ministry of Culture. Below I quote from the article and respond to
several inaccuracies, most of which could have been easily been corrected by
simple fact checking on the internet.

 "The treasures were thought to have been looted during the chaos that
followed the capture of the Iraqi capital by US forces, but were found
intact in a basement of the country's central bank."

Just for the record, the treasures were in a highly secure bank vault in the
Central Bank of Iraq, several stories below street level, not "a basement."
They were not "found" as everyone knew the location of the vault. The
question was whether or not looters had gotten to it.

"In 2003, the American authorities put them on show for several months in
the museum to demonstrate that life in the capital was returning to normal."

Again, for the record, the Treasure of Nimrud was on view at the Iraq
National Museum for exactly one afternoon, on July 3rd, 2003, after which it
was immediately returned to the Central Bank. This event was for press and
invited guests of the Director of the State Board of Antiquities only. The
museum was NOT open to the public during the press viewing, so the
allegation that it was staged to demonstrate a return to normalcy is
laughable, especially in view of the massive U.S. uniformed presence in and
around the museum for security purposes. The viewing took place to allow the
press an opportunity to photograph the collection since they were not
allowed into the opening of the vault at the Central Bank due to security
concerns. 

 
"Apart from that spell, the gold has never been seen by Iraqis." It is my
understanding that the Treasure of Nimrud was on display at the Iraq
National Museum for a brief period until the beginning of the First Gulf
War, when it was put into the vault at the Central Bank of Iraq. 

Over the past couple of years I have been repeatedly frustrated by
inaccurate news reporting about the Iraq National Museum. This time I felt I
had to set the record straight.

Best regards and thanks again for the invaluable service you provide the
cultural community.

Corine Wegener

Assistant Curator

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts