Recent Restoration Work in Iraq

Extract

Certainly one of the most striking features of the archaeological scene in Iraq today is the vigorous restoration work which the Directorate General of Antiquities is carrying out at various sites up and down the country. It is, of course, true that the repair and restoration of Iraq's ancient monuments has long been a perennial concern of the Directorate, but due in the main to the high costs of such work and the competing financial demands of the Directorate's many other responsibilities, it has proved impossible in the past to proceed on more than a modest scale. Since 1960 the situation has changed completely. In that year by making a special allocation to the Directorate of one hundred and twenty thousand dinars the Iraq Government recognised formally and materially that if the country's architectural heritage was to be preserved for later generations, and if the world-famous sites of Mesopotamia were to present attractions to foreign visitors comparable with those offered by equally famous sites in neighbouring Near Eastern states, something effective should be done to step up preservation, restoration and improvement. This admirable decision has since been upheld by further substantial annual disbursements, and in consequence the Directorate has been able to plan and to put into effect an ambitious and extensive programme including work both in Baghdad, and at Hatra, Babylon, Aqar Quf, Ur and Tell Harmal. As those of our readers who are familiar with these sites will readily realise, the problems to be faced and overcome by the would-be preserver and restorer are of a truly intimidating order in their number and complexity. It is, therefore, in tribute to the courage, ingenuity and skill of the responsible officers of the Directorate that we offer these all-too-brief notes on their progress to date.