Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Reporters Given Brief Look Inside Iraqi National Museum
Aired July 03, 2003 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We have some news from Iraq that has nothing to do with the fighting. At the Iraqi National Museum today, reporters are being given a very brief chance to view spectacular gold jewels dating back to 900 B.C. These treasures were discovered only 15 years ago and there was fear that they had been lost during the recent war in Iraq.
Our Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf is inside the Iraqi National Museum -- so we're excited to see this stuff, Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, when most people think of Iraq and palaces, they probably think of Saddam Hussein's palace. But right now in the Assyrian Room, we're surrounded by just a tiny part of what was one of the major palaces of the Assyrian Kingdom. Now, these panels, as you can see, show you the scale of what that must have been like. The Assyrian Kingdom was the most powerful in the world at that point. It ruled over what are now many countries and it was a very powerful nation. And it's from that kingdom that the royal jewelry, the Treasures of Nimrud, come.
Now, these are interesting, significant and absolutely dazzling, as well, because they're considered as one of the most significant archeological finds in the last century. And the way they were discovered adds to the story. Almost by accident by Iraqi archeologists working at this excavation site.
Now, they were exhibited briefly in the 1980s after they were found, but then they were put away for storage before the 1991 Gulf War and they have not been seen since. Some of these pieces have never been seen. And it is spectacular gold jewelry, some of it anklets weighing a pound, solid gold, the most intricate, delicate earrings imaginable, using techniques that no one had imagined could have existed 3,000 years ago.
This is the burial jewelry of at least one queen, Queen Yaba, and possibly up to three queens who were buried. And it's an indication of the incredible wealth of that society.
Now, as this museum was opening this morning, there was the sound of an explosion, an indication that things are still unsafe here. And that's part of the reason that it's closing again. It's been open for only two hours to show the museum is intact, the royal jewelry is still there, it's safe, and it's going to close again until things are more secure, hopefully in a few months -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, that's a shame. Were they going to keep it open to the public before this explosion occurred? ARRAF: They were originally planning just to have a brief look at it, just to show the world that despite all the fears that the museum had really been seriously looted and damaged, it is essentially intact and that this incredible collection was found intact in the bank vaults.
This was actually found just in the basement of the central bank, which had been looted itself and flooded. And it was only when they opened those bank vaults and saw what was in there that they realized it was all still there.
So this really was to prove to people that it's still there, it has not been looted, although some of the museum was. And the intention was always to close it, but certainly this is an indication that things aren't quite safe here and they can't provide the security for a collection like this and open the museum to the public, according to officials -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, thanks for giving us that amazing peek at just -- it's just amazing and mind boggling.
Jane Arraf reporting live from the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 3, 2003 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We have some news from Iraq that has nothing to do with the fighting. At the Iraqi National Museum today, reporters are being given a very brief chance to view spectacular gold jewels dating back to 900 B.C. These treasures were discovered only 15 years ago and there was fear that they had been lost during the recent war in Iraq.
Our Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf is inside the Iraqi National Museum -- so we're excited to see this stuff, Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, when most people think of Iraq and palaces, they probably think of Saddam Hussein's palace. But right now in the Assyrian Room, we're surrounded by just a tiny part of what was one of the major palaces of the Assyrian Kingdom. Now, these panels, as you can see, show you the scale of what that must have been like. The Assyrian Kingdom was the most powerful in the world at that point. It ruled over what are now many countries and it was a very powerful nation. And it's from that kingdom that the royal jewelry, the Treasures of Nimrud, come.
Now, these are interesting, significant and absolutely dazzling, as well, because they're considered as one of the most significant archeological finds in the last century. And the way they were discovered adds to the story. Almost by accident by Iraqi archeologists working at this excavation site.
Now, they were exhibited briefly in the 1980s after they were found, but then they were put away for storage before the 1991 Gulf War and they have not been seen since. Some of these pieces have never been seen. And it is spectacular gold jewelry, some of it anklets weighing a pound, solid gold, the most intricate, delicate earrings imaginable, using techniques that no one had imagined could have existed 3,000 years ago.
This is the burial jewelry of at least one queen, Queen Yaba, and possibly up to three queens who were buried. And it's an indication of the incredible wealth of that society.
Now, as this museum was opening this morning, there was the sound of an explosion, an indication that things are still unsafe here. And that's part of the reason that it's closing again. It's been open for only two hours to show the museum is intact, the royal jewelry is still there, it's safe, and it's going to close again until things are more secure, hopefully in a few months -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, that's a shame. Were they going to keep it open to the public before this explosion occurred? ARRAF: They were originally planning just to have a brief look at it, just to show the world that despite all the fears that the museum had really been seriously looted and damaged, it is essentially intact and that this incredible collection was found intact in the bank vaults.
This was actually found just in the basement of the central bank, which had been looted itself and flooded. And it was only when they opened those bank vaults and saw what was in there that they realized it was all still there.
So this really was to prove to people that it's still there, it has not been looted, although some of the museum was. And the intention was always to close it, but certainly this is an indication that things aren't quite safe here and they can't provide the security for a collection like this and open the museum to the public, according to officials -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, thanks for giving us that amazing peek at just -- it's just amazing and mind boggling.
Jane Arraf reporting live from the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
