Lack of resources leaves ancient sites unprotected

 

By Ali al-Zubaidi

 

The government has reduced allocations earmarked for the Antiquities Department and currently hundreds of significant sites are without proper protection, said Ali Kadhem.

 

Kadhem is a senior antiquities official in southern Iraq where most valuable Mesopotamian treasures are situated.

 

He is currently in charge of antiquities in the southern Province of Nasiriya, the birth place of the Sumerian civilization, which flourished there some 5,000 years ago.

 

The government has earmarked 300 million Iraqi dinars (approx. 2.5 million dollars) for the protection of ancient sites across the country.

 

Kadhem says the money is insufficient since there are more than 10,000 archaeologically significant sites in Iraq.

 

In Nasiriya alone he has to take care of 514 highly significant sites and as many as double that number of mounds with high potential of archaeological riches.

 

He said allocations in 2005 were much better than 2007 and 2008.

 

“In 2005 we had the resources to provide the right protection for more than 90 percent of ancient sites in Nasiriya, for example,” he said.

 

But due to insufficient resources, lack of fuel and vehicles many of these sites will remain without protection, he said.

 

Kadhem said there was high risk of a surge in illegal digging due to the continuous absence of guards and a substantial drop in patrols.

 

However, he said he was not worried about Ur, the crown of ancient Sumerian sites, where magnificent funerary goods and other priceless items have come.

 

Ur is world famous as it is mentioned in the Bible which calls it Ur of the Chaldeas. It is one of the earliest civilizations in world history.

 

The site marked by fabulous ruins of a surviving Sumerian ziggurat falls within the security zone of a U.S. military camp and is now of bounds for smuggler and robbers.