Seven hundred and fifty years ago, Mongol warriors sacked this city. Hundreds of thousands were killed, and many of the treasures of the Islamic empire were smashed and stolen. To look today at Iraq’s National Museum, to smell the stench of burning books at the National Library, it’s not hard to conclude that Baghdad’s treasures have once again been plundered. This time, though, it seems the looting was done from within.
Despite urgent pleas for protection and consideration from archaeologists around the world, many of the finest pieces, priceless items of art and archaeology, are now missing, whisked away by professional thieves and amateurs under very barrels of American tanks. It is as if the physical objects in the book of this planet’s history had been destroyed. The shattered cradle of our civilization.
Guests:
John Malcolm Russell, professor of art history and archaeology, Massachusetts College of Art, author, “The Final Sacking of Nineveh”
Muayed Said Damerji, former director general of antiquities in Iraq
Ahmed Abdullah Faddam, professor of sculpture at the College of Fine Arts in Baghdad.