ÿş<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">  <HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Al Jazeera - objective and balanced global news coverage and analysis- Features</TITLE> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=UTF-16"> <META http-equiv=Content-Type><LINK href="article-heritage-sites_files/style.css" type=text/css rel=stylesheet> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2722.900" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY leftMargin=0 topMargin=10 rightMargin=0> <DIV align=center xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> <CENTER> <TABLE style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px" align=left><IMG src="article-heritage-sites_files/banner.gif"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD><IMG src="article-heritage-sites_files/mainheader.jpg"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER></DIV> <DIV align=center> <CENTER> <TABLE id=AutoNumber2 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#999999 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=770 border=1> <TBODY> <TR> <TD> <TABLE id=AutoNumber3 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD class=dates id=hDate dir=ltr style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px" width="80%" bgColor=#cccccc></TD> <TD dir=ltr width="20%" bgColor=#cccccc></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <TABLE id=AutoNumber4 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=768 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD width=565> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD colSpan=2 height=5></TD></TR> <TR> <TD style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px" colSpan=2> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> <TBODY> <TR> <TD class=indicationLink2 vAlign=top><A class=indicationLink href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/index.html">Homepage<IMG src="article-heritage-sites_files/spacer.gif" width=2 border=0></A><IMG src="article-heritage-sites_files/spacer.gif" width=3 border=0><IMG src="article-heritage-sites_files/spacer.gif" width=3 border=0>/ <IMG src="article-heritage-sites_files/spacer.gif" width=2 border=0><A class=indicationLink href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/topics/index8eb6.html?cu_no=1&template_id=277&temp_type=42">Features<IMG src="article-heritage-sites_files/spacer.gif" width=3 border=0></A>/ </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR> <TR> <TD colSpan=3 height=6></TD></TR> <TR> <TD width=10></TD> <TD><INPUT id=item_cu_no type=hidden value=1 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=item_no type=hidden value=841 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=version type=hidden value=1 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=date1 type=hidden value=25/03/2003 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=dateTime type=hidden value=" 9:47PM" xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=articalText type=hidden value='The bombing of the Azzouhour Palace, once used by the Iraqi royal family and the damage to&nbsp;the Salam&nbsp;Palace used&nbsp;to host&nbsp;foreign dignitaries may be early signs of danger to the valuable heritage sites that dot the entire country.&nbsp;
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<TD class=imgcaption id=Comment dir=rtl vAlign=top align=middle>Presidential&nbsp;palace destroyed </TD></TR></TABLE> <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
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Once part of the legendary Mesopotamian / Sumerian civilization,&nbsp; Iraq is an archaeologist’s delight.&nbsp; The ancient sites, historical architecture and priceless artifacts are virtually countless, and preserved with very little damage thus far. <o:p></o:p>
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Historians refer to the area around the rivers Tigris and Euphrates as the "cradle of civilisation" with traces of human settlements&nbsp; dating back 10,000 years. It is where the first cities arose, writing was invented and a succession of cultures -- &nbsp;Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian and Islamic – flourished.<o:p></o:p>
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In the first Gulf War,&nbsp; combat fire damaged the brickwork of the&nbsp; ziggurat at Ur, which was constructed in 2100 BC. In Mosul, a 10th&nbsp; century church was partially destroyed by bombing . Cracks&nbsp; appeared in other ancient sites as the impact of explosions nearby rocked foundations of valuable ancient structures.<o:p></o:p>
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Though the United States has constantly claimed its missile technology is state of the art and built for precision bombing,&nbsp; the initial attacks have clearly indicated that this is not the case.&nbsp;
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Intelligence information too has looked faulty – one reason why the Peace Palace and Azzouhour Palace were damaged.&nbsp; There is no guarantee that other, more valuable structures, too will not be damaged in the attack. <o:p></o:p>
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Scholars who have worked in Iraq say there are many which are well-known and documented. But&nbsp; there are countless others as well which would be exposed to the dangers of bombing.
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The sheer number makes protection a difficult proposition.&nbsp; An independent scholar Selma Radhi&nbsp;has said&nbsp;there are millions of sites in Iraq – throwing up the dilemma of how&nbsp;to choose which one should not be bombed.<o:p></o:p>
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Babylon and Ur were tourist destinations prior to the first Gulf war in 1991. The UNESCO World Heritage site of Hatra, &nbsp;located in the northern city of Mosul, is a large fortified settlement that was the capital of the first Arab kingdom. It&nbsp; survived Roman invasions in AD 116 and 198, and is an eye-opener to a greatness that once blended Hellenistic and Roman influences&nbsp; with Eastern traditions.<o:p></o:p>
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With Baghdad expected to be the vortex of fighting,&nbsp; the Iraq Museum it houses could face the biggest danger for survival.&nbsp; Historians say it is a treasure trove of irreplaceable&nbsp;artifacts, including most of the discoveries made in Iraq since the country’s creation in 1921.
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The museum houses libraries of cuneiform&nbsp; documents, including ancient written archives from Uruk and Sumerian literary texts from Mesopotamian schools that date to 2500 BC. according to the National Geographic.<o:p></o:p>
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Anticipating the danger to Iraq’s heritage,&nbsp; over 100 academics have circulated a declaration in “Science” magazine asking that these should be protected without fail. Reports quoting from the declaration say that the academics have called on both the US-led forces and the Iraqi government to take care of the heritage sites and archaeological marvels of the country.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p>
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The danger may come in not just from the bombing but also looting that could occur if law and order completely breaks down during the conflict.&nbsp; In the last Gulf war,&nbsp; there was a flourishing black-market trade in antiquities, many of which consequently went missing. <o:p></o:p>
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The scholars have asked the US and United Kingdom to uphold the validity of Iraq’s existing, strong antiquities law.&nbsp; The Brussels-based Blue Shield organization which represents four international bodies for libraries, museums, archives and monuments, has called on the two governments to respect Iraq’s heritage.
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The organization has said the invading forces should take into account the 1954 Hague convention that upholds protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict.
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Al Jazeera' xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> <TABLE id=AutoNumber5 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> <TBODY> <TR> <TD> <TABLE id=AutoNumber5 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD dir=ltr width="100%"><A href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/xml/topics/printarticleda2a.xml?cu_no=1&item_no=841&version=1&template_id=277&parent_id=258"><IMG hspace=5 src="article-heritage-sites_files/print.gif" align=right vspace=5 border=0></A><IMG onmouseover="this.style.cursor = 'hand' ;" onclick=SendByEmail(); onmouseout="this.style.cursor = '' ;" hspace=5 src="article-heritage-sites_files/email.gif" align=right vspace=5 border=0></TD></TR> <TR> <TD height=5></TD></TR> <TR> <TD class=articalTitle>Bombing endangers invaluable heritage sites across Iraq</TD></TR> <TR> <TD height=15></TD></TR> <TR> <TD id=artical vAlign=top></TD></TR> <TR> <TD height=12></TD></TR> <TR> <TD width="100%" background=article-heritage-sites_files/h-dotedline-bg.gif><IMG height=1 src="article-heritage-sites_files/spacer.gif" width=1></TD></TR> <TR> <TD height=10></TD></TR> <TR> <TD dir=ltr width="100%"><A href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/xml/topics/printarticleda2a.xml?cu_no=1&item_no=841&version=1&template_id=277&parent_id=258"><IMG hspace=5 src="article-heritage-sites_files/print.gif" align=right vspace=5 border=0></A><IMG onmouseover="this.style.cursor = 'hand' ;" onclick=SendByEmail(); onmouseout="this.style.cursor = '' ;" hspace=5 src="article-heritage-sites_files/email.gif" align=right vspace=5 border=0></TD></TR> <TR> <TD height=5></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.2 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> if(document.all.artical) document.all.artical.innerHTML = document.all.articalText.value ; </SCRIPT> </TD> <TD width=10></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD> <TD dir=ltr width=1 bgColor=#cccccc><IMG height=1 src="article-heritage-sites_files/spacer.gif" width=1 border=0></TD> <TD vAlign=top width=202> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD colSpan=3 height=10></TD></TR> <TR> <TD width=10></TD> <TD><A href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/index.html"><IMG src="article-heritage-sites_files/homepage.gif" border=0></A></TD> <TD width=10></TD></TR> <TR> <TD colSpan=3 height=8></TD></TR> <TR> <TD width=10></TD> <TD></TD> <TD width=10></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER></DIV> <SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.2> if( document.all.date1 ) { docDate = document.all.date1.value ; } </SCRIPT> <SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="article-heritage-sites_files/HomeMenu.js"></SCRIPT> </BODY></HTML>