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CNN Sunday Morning
FBI Joins Hunt for Treasures Looted From Iraqi Museums
Aired April 20, 2003 - 07:17 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Some of Iraq's looted antiquities have been found. CNN has learned that at least 20 pieces from Iraq's National Museum were seized at a Jordanian border crossing. Now, Jordan's Information Ministry says the treasures were confiscated at the Karima (ph) border crossing. Other reports say more than 40 photos and 4 oil paintings were seized.
Thousands of artifacts and treasures were, of course, looted from the renowned museum following Baghdad's fall on April 9.
The FBI is joining the hunt for the treasures looted from that museum. The stolen antiquities track the growth of the ancient cultures in what's considered the cradle of civilization.
Jill Dougherty looks at what could be lost.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Long before there was a Saddam Hussein, before modern Iraq was even an idea, before books were invented, before Christ was born, there was Mesopotamia, the cradle of Western civilization.
It's there that the first writing appeared; mathematics and art, even the concept of Heaven.
Mikhail Piotrovsky, director of Russia's most famous museum, the Hermitage, has spent his life studying the ancient Middle East. This week when he heard the news that Iraq's National Museum in Baghdad had been ransacked by looters, he says he was angry.
MIKHAIL PIOTROVSKY, HERMITAGE MUSEUM DIRECTOR: I think it's a very sad thing that -- it's more than just the Iraqi campaign and America military in general, the officials in the military all over the world are beginning to forget that nothing is more important than culture.
DOUGHERTY: Before the war in Iraq began, archaeologists and historians from several countries provided the U.S. with information on ancient sites in Iraq that should be protected. The Hermitage compiled its own list, and after the war began, the Russian minister of culture presented it to the U.S. ambassador in Moscow.
MIKHAIL SHVIDKOI, RUSSIAN MINISTER OF CULTURE: I know the people in the United States don't want to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) national or (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in Iraq. But at the same time, war is war. A lot of the absolutely and expectable situations may exist.
DOUGHERTY: The Hermitage list included the ancient Samarian city of Ur, 7,000 years old, home of the prophet, Abraham, its massive brick ziggurat (ph) still standing; Babylon, the most beautiful and powerful city in the ancient world; Nimurad (ph), with its vast palaces and the Syrian kings.
These sites so far are believed to have survived the fighting, but the Hermitage director now believes they could be in danger from professional looters hunting for priceless ancient artifacts to sell on the black market.
Much of the Iraqi National Museum's collection, meanwhile, may never be recovered. Experts are hoping to set up a Web site showing what was stolen, a high-tech approach to rescuing mankind's legacy from the ancient world.
Jill Dougherty, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 April 20, 2003 - 07:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Some of Iraq's looted antiquities have been found. CNN has learned that at least 20 pieces from Iraq's National Museum were seized at a Jordanian border crossing. Now, Jordan's Information Ministry says the treasures were confiscated at the Karima (ph) border crossing. Other reports say more than 40 photos and 4 oil paintings were seized.
Thousands of artifacts and treasures were, of course, looted from the renowned museum following Baghdad's fall on April 9.
The FBI is joining the hunt for the treasures looted from that museum. The stolen antiquities track the growth of the ancient cultures in what's considered the cradle of civilization.
Jill Dougherty looks at what could be lost.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Long before there was a Saddam Hussein, before modern Iraq was even an idea, before books were invented, before Christ was born, there was Mesopotamia, the cradle of Western civilization.
It's there that the first writing appeared; mathematics and art, even the concept of Heaven.
Mikhail Piotrovsky, director of Russia's most famous museum, the Hermitage, has spent his life studying the ancient Middle East. This week when he heard the news that Iraq's National Museum in Baghdad had been ransacked by looters, he says he was angry.
MIKHAIL PIOTROVSKY, HERMITAGE MUSEUM DIRECTOR: I think it's a very sad thing that -- it's more than just the Iraqi campaign and America military in general, the officials in the military all over the world are beginning to forget that nothing is more important than culture.
DOUGHERTY: Before the war in Iraq began, archaeologists and historians from several countries provided the U.S. with information on ancient sites in Iraq that should be protected. The Hermitage compiled its own list, and after the war began, the Russian minister of culture presented it to the U.S. ambassador in Moscow.
MIKHAIL SHVIDKOI, RUSSIAN MINISTER OF CULTURE: I know the people in the United States don't want to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) national or (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in Iraq. But at the same time, war is war. A lot of the absolutely and expectable situations may exist.
DOUGHERTY: The Hermitage list included the ancient Samarian city of Ur, 7,000 years old, home of the prophet, Abraham, its massive brick ziggurat (ph) still standing; Babylon, the most beautiful and powerful city in the ancient world; Nimurad (ph), with its vast palaces and the Syrian kings.
These sites so far are believed to have survived the fighting, but the Hermitage director now believes they could be in danger from professional looters hunting for priceless ancient artifacts to sell on the black market.
Much of the Iraqi National Museum's collection, meanwhile, may never be recovered. Experts are hoping to set up a Web site showing what was stolen, a high-tech approach to rescuing mankind's legacy from the ancient world.
Jill Dougherty, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
