We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 May 2021
In retrospect, it makes sense that many of the most robust and meaningful responses to the destruction of cultural property in Iraq came from the Italians and more specifically the Carabinieri TPC and the Centre for Archaeological Research and Excavations of Turin (CRAST). CRAST had been working in Iraq since 1964 and had established the Iraqi–Italian Institute of Archaeological Sciences and the Italian–Iraqi Centre for the Restoration of Monuments. In the aftermath of the first Gulf War, many of Iraq's regional museums were looted, with losses in Basra, Kufa, Assur, Sulaimaniya, Babylon, Maysan, Qadissiya, Kirkuk and Duhok. CRAST and the Carabinieri TPC worked together to identify, catalogue and publish information concerning the missing objects (Parapetti 2008, 229).
After the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the associated destruction of cultural heritage, there were, in essence, three additional Italian missions. The first was the Iraq Museum project, in which the Italians sent Carabinieri officers to work in partnership with Italian academics in order to help rebuild the museum in the areas of documentation, recovery of looted objects and virtual interpretation. The second mission was a community-based policing initiative that sent a multidisciplinary force to the south of Iraq as peacekeepers and the third was an archaeological site protection and enforcement mission established following the tragic bombing at Nasiriyah.
THE IRAQ MUSEUM PROJECT
Italian peacekeeping and missions to Iraq began with an expert response to the situation at the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad. In response to a UNESCO conference held in Lyon, France, on 5–6 May 2003, the Carabinieri sent experienced personnel to the National Museum of Iraq to aid its recovery from the extensive looting and damage suffered by this extraordinarily significant institution. At the Lyon conference an international group of museum directors, representatives of ministries of culture and distinguished officers from policing organisations decided to create a database for archaeological objects stolen in Iraq, create an INTERPOL experts group for stolen heritage and create a special INTERPOL unit for the recovery of stolen heritage, known as the INTERPOL Tracking Task Force (ITTF).
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
