DoD News: Briefing on the Investigation of Antiquity Loss from the Baghdad Museum: "Colonel Matthew Bogdanos is the person that has been leading the U.S. government's investigation into the theft and looting of the Iraqi museum in Baghdad. It is a duty that he is uniquely qualified to do. Before being called to active duty after the September 11th attacks, he was a homicide prosecutor for the New York City District Attorney's Office, and he has a graduate degree in classical studies from Columbia University. And I think you'll agree that -- we're here for his interim report, and you'll see today that he is very much expert in this area."
jaynote: This is a great followup to a widely reported story. Here's some excerpts:
As we all recall, in mid-April of this year, it was widely reported that over 170,000 artifacts had been stolen or looted from the museum in Baghdad. After fierce fighting, U.S. forces finally secured the area surrounding the museum, and on the 16th of April, a tank platoon was positioned on the museum compound to prevent any further damage.
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Turning now to the losses. I stress, as I have for the last five months, that the loss of a single piece of our shared heritage is an absolute tragedy. But it is abundantly clear that the original number of 170,000 missing artifacts was simply wrong. But again I stress, numbers simply cannot tell the whole story, nor should they be the sole determinant used to assess the extent of the damage or of the recovery itself.
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For example, it is simply impossible to quantify the loss of the world's first known Samarian mask of a female deity. That's one number; you cannot possibly quantify it, and it is irreplaceable. On the other hand, a single clay pot recovered at an archeological site in 25 separate pieces, depending on the circumstances under which it is recovered, counts as 25 separate pieces -- each bead, each pin, each amulet, each pendant counts as a separate piece. So numbers simply cannot tell the whole story. They do, however, offer, used appropriately, a metric with which we can assess what indeed has been done, and what so far is being recovered.
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These keys were to 30 storage cabinets that lined that particular corner of the room. It's the brown storage cabinets that you see before you. Those cabinets contained arguably the world's finest collection of absolutely exquisite cylinder seals and the world's finest collection of Greek, Roman, Islamic and Arabic gold and silver coins.
Ironically, the thieves here appeared to have lost the keys to those cabinets by dropping them in one of the plastic boxes that lined the floor. There was no electricity at the time in the museum during this period, so the thieves lit the foam padding for light. After frantically and unsuccessfully searching for the keys in the fire-lit room, breathing in the noxious fumes from the foam and throwing those boxes in every direction, they were unable to gain access to the storage cabinets.
We ultimately found the keys under the debris after a methodically, fully lit and hours-long search. Upon inspecting those cabinets, and opening each one with absolutely bated breath, we learned that not a single cabinet had been entered and a catastrophic loss narrowly averted.
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Indeed, I must commend the efforts of the staff of the British Museum and Professors Al-Radi; Bahrani, from New York; Henry Wright, from Michigan; and McGuire Gibson, from Chicago. They have afforded us the -- their assistance, through their expertise, and also showed the courage to go to Iraq, to go to Baghdad, to conduct assessments, to assess the museum, to assess various archaeological sites over the course of the last four and a half to five months. Very simply, we get paid to be shot at. They do not, but they went nonetheless, and they should be commended.
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Bogdanos: Sure. First, with regard to telling you the most significant pieces, that really is like asking a parent to pick your favorite child. Having said that, the pieces you see before you, these 30 pieces, are clearly among the most significant in the world. If you had to choose among those, the Bassetki statue, an Akhadian statue from 2300 B.C., as well as the Sumerian mask, the first two items on the poster. And we have extras to hand out. The first-known Sumerian mask of a female deity. Those would be two of the more significant.
Access to the secret place. Yes. (Chuckles) After weeks of trust-building and more tea than I can count -- (chuckles) -- yes, we were granted access to the secret place, entered the secret place, saw the items, saw that they were complete, saw that they were there, and then sealed the secret place back up. And it will be opened once the museum -- once the Iraqis provide sufficient security to protect the museum. And then, it will be opened and those items will be placed back on display.
Finally, turning to the bomb shelter, same answer. Yes. (Chuckling.) More tea, more trust-building. And yes, we entered the bomb shelter, examined the contents, found that they were there -- found that the members of the community have really taken this on as a point of pride and honor to protect these items. So, seal the boxes up, seal the bomb shelter up, and that's where it remains. Again, it will be returned to the museum at the appropriate time.
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Q: Just to clarify, when you say "items" and "pieces," you said that it could be one bead, one piece of a pot, one -- I mean, so these thousands of items could be just little things?
Bogdanos: Let me give you -- that's a great point. Yes. When I say items and pieces, I use them interchangeably. All of the items and pieces taken from the basement storage room downstairs could fit in a large backpack -- all 10,000. Does that give you a sense?
Now, the Bassetki statue is 150 kilos, and it's enormous, and that required several people to carry it out, and indeed, they damaged the floor as they were dragging it out. So, it varies, which is why these higher value pieces, I put the dimensions on the poster for that very reason.
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Bogdanos: Certainly. Cylinder seals are small -- they vary in size, but ordinarily, the size of your thumb; some smaller, some larger. Think of them as signatures, stamps. They're round. They're small cylinders; hence the name. And they're used to -- on clay or on pottery to -- you roll that, and that, in effect, is your signature on that piece, on that pottery vessel, clay, et cetera, stamp.
They vary in quality. Some are remarkable. Some of them you look at, and you can't believe that anything that small is that exquisite. And some of them are rudimentary, very workmanlike. So it's impossible to give you an average.
However, I'm told by several of the archaeologists that we've worked with, particularly Professors Wright, Gibson, Al-Radi and Bahrani, that cylinder seals can go from anywhere from $80(,000) to $125,000 for one. And when I'm talking about that price, I'm talking about the ones in the storage cabinets themselves, not the ones in -- that were in fact taken from those plastic boxes.
That should not be confused with what the items get on the black market. We have time and again found evidence that cylinder seals were sold at -- stolen from a museum were sold at marketplaces for $30, three for 200 (dollars), $50. It's what the buyer will pay.
jaynote: This is a great followup to a widely reported story. Here's some excerpts:
As we all recall, in mid-April of this year, it was widely reported that over 170,000 artifacts had been stolen or looted from the museum in Baghdad. After fierce fighting, U.S. forces finally secured the area surrounding the museum, and on the 16th of April, a tank platoon was positioned on the museum compound to prevent any further damage.
-------------------------
Turning now to the losses. I stress, as I have for the last five months, that the loss of a single piece of our shared heritage is an absolute tragedy. But it is abundantly clear that the original number of 170,000 missing artifacts was simply wrong. But again I stress, numbers simply cannot tell the whole story, nor should they be the sole determinant used to assess the extent of the damage or of the recovery itself.
-------------------------
For example, it is simply impossible to quantify the loss of the world's first known Samarian mask of a female deity. That's one number; you cannot possibly quantify it, and it is irreplaceable. On the other hand, a single clay pot recovered at an archeological site in 25 separate pieces, depending on the circumstances under which it is recovered, counts as 25 separate pieces -- each bead, each pin, each amulet, each pendant counts as a separate piece. So numbers simply cannot tell the whole story. They do, however, offer, used appropriately, a metric with which we can assess what indeed has been done, and what so far is being recovered.
-------------------------
These keys were to 30 storage cabinets that lined that particular corner of the room. It's the brown storage cabinets that you see before you. Those cabinets contained arguably the world's finest collection of absolutely exquisite cylinder seals and the world's finest collection of Greek, Roman, Islamic and Arabic gold and silver coins.
Ironically, the thieves here appeared to have lost the keys to those cabinets by dropping them in one of the plastic boxes that lined the floor. There was no electricity at the time in the museum during this period, so the thieves lit the foam padding for light. After frantically and unsuccessfully searching for the keys in the fire-lit room, breathing in the noxious fumes from the foam and throwing those boxes in every direction, they were unable to gain access to the storage cabinets.
We ultimately found the keys under the debris after a methodically, fully lit and hours-long search. Upon inspecting those cabinets, and opening each one with absolutely bated breath, we learned that not a single cabinet had been entered and a catastrophic loss narrowly averted.
-------------------------
Indeed, I must commend the efforts of the staff of the British Museum and Professors Al-Radi; Bahrani, from New York; Henry Wright, from Michigan; and McGuire Gibson, from Chicago. They have afforded us the -- their assistance, through their expertise, and also showed the courage to go to Iraq, to go to Baghdad, to conduct assessments, to assess the museum, to assess various archaeological sites over the course of the last four and a half to five months. Very simply, we get paid to be shot at. They do not, but they went nonetheless, and they should be commended.
-------------------------
Bogdanos: Sure. First, with regard to telling you the most significant pieces, that really is like asking a parent to pick your favorite child. Having said that, the pieces you see before you, these 30 pieces, are clearly among the most significant in the world. If you had to choose among those, the Bassetki statue, an Akhadian statue from 2300 B.C., as well as the Sumerian mask, the first two items on the poster. And we have extras to hand out. The first-known Sumerian mask of a female deity. Those would be two of the more significant.
Access to the secret place. Yes. (Chuckles) After weeks of trust-building and more tea than I can count -- (chuckles) -- yes, we were granted access to the secret place, entered the secret place, saw the items, saw that they were complete, saw that they were there, and then sealed the secret place back up. And it will be opened once the museum -- once the Iraqis provide sufficient security to protect the museum. And then, it will be opened and those items will be placed back on display.
Finally, turning to the bomb shelter, same answer. Yes. (Chuckling.) More tea, more trust-building. And yes, we entered the bomb shelter, examined the contents, found that they were there -- found that the members of the community have really taken this on as a point of pride and honor to protect these items. So, seal the boxes up, seal the bomb shelter up, and that's where it remains. Again, it will be returned to the museum at the appropriate time.
-------------------------
Q: Just to clarify, when you say "items" and "pieces," you said that it could be one bead, one piece of a pot, one -- I mean, so these thousands of items could be just little things?
Bogdanos: Let me give you -- that's a great point. Yes. When I say items and pieces, I use them interchangeably. All of the items and pieces taken from the basement storage room downstairs could fit in a large backpack -- all 10,000. Does that give you a sense?
Now, the Bassetki statue is 150 kilos, and it's enormous, and that required several people to carry it out, and indeed, they damaged the floor as they were dragging it out. So, it varies, which is why these higher value pieces, I put the dimensions on the poster for that very reason.
-------------------------
Bogdanos: Certainly. Cylinder seals are small -- they vary in size, but ordinarily, the size of your thumb; some smaller, some larger. Think of them as signatures, stamps. They're round. They're small cylinders; hence the name. And they're used to -- on clay or on pottery to -- you roll that, and that, in effect, is your signature on that piece, on that pottery vessel, clay, et cetera, stamp.
They vary in quality. Some are remarkable. Some of them you look at, and you can't believe that anything that small is that exquisite. And some of them are rudimentary, very workmanlike. So it's impossible to give you an average.
However, I'm told by several of the archaeologists that we've worked with, particularly Professors Wright, Gibson, Al-Radi and Bahrani, that cylinder seals can go from anywhere from $80(,000) to $125,000 for one. And when I'm talking about that price, I'm talking about the ones in the storage cabinets themselves, not the ones in -- that were in fact taken from those plastic boxes.
That should not be confused with what the items get on the black market. We have time and again found evidence that cylinder seals were sold at -- stolen from a museum were sold at marketplaces for $30, three for 200 (dollars), $50. It's what the buyer will pay.
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