IW&A Blog: Dorothy & Donny

November 22, 2006

Dorothy & Donny

I'm glad to see that Dr. Dorothy King got to know the real Dr. Donny George: "I can't go into details of my interview of Dr. George today as I promised it to Minerva*, but I will say that I have changed my mind about the man completely. He had solid answers for every question, and the evidence he showed during his lecture [at the British Museum, see my November 17 post Donny George moving to Stony Brook] clarified a lot of issues I had had with press reports about the looting of the Iraq Museum. There is nothing more that he could have done to safeguard the Museum, and the Americans had other priorities. And the worst 'evidence' I was given against him was frankly rather silly. There is propaganda on both sides. ... the man is brilliant and came across as being honest and deeply committed to Iraq and Iraqi archaeology. I was very impressed with all the work he is continuing to do for Iraqi archaeology, still collaborating with those now in charge, and that he has maintained friendly relations with his successors, contrary to press reports. They all want to do their best for Iraqi archaeology rather than get involved in politics. I've hugely miss-judged the man, and apologise for it. I'm often surprised how little some American officials I meet know about Islam/Muslim culture or the Middle East. If the State Department and Pentagon have any sense, they'll get Dr. George to advise them."

Reference
• D. King, "Iraqi Archaeology and Donny George," in PhDiva, online, November 17, 2006

# posted by Francis Deblauwe @ 9:10 PM

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Site links

A few web links

• Lost Treasures from Iraq (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago)
• Iraqcrisis (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago)
• The Threat to World Heritage in Iraq (Oxford University)
• Informed Comment (Dr. Juan Cole, University of Michigan)
• The Guardian, Iraq section
• The New York Times, Iraq War section
• The New Yorker, From the Archive: The War in Iraq
• Iraqi Press Monitor(Institute for War & Peace Reporting)

IW&A Documents series

1 - A. Riedlmayer, Yes, the Oil Ministry Was Guarded!, May 7, 2003, updated May 17, 2003
2 - D. George, Iraq Museum Policy for Access to the Collection for Study, December 8, 2004
3 - J.M. Russell, Notes from Iraq session at AIA meeting in Boston, 1/8/05, January 10, 2005
4 - F. Deblauwe, Attending RAI 51. Observations on the 51e Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale in Chicago, July 17-23, 2005, August 5, 2005, last updated September 16, 2005
5 - R. Teijgeler, "So Yesterday Was the Burning of Books" — Wartime in Iraq. ..., October 5, 2005
6 - F. Deblauwe, Note on John Russell's Lecture 'Recovering Iraq's Past' in St. Louis on November 5, 2005, November 16, 2005
7 - An Appeal for the Release of Susanne Osthoff, December 4, 2005, updated December 8, 2005
8 - R. Parapetti, Partial Reopening of the Iraq Museum, Work in Progress, March 27, 2006
9 - F. Deblauwe, The State of Preservation of the Neo-Assyrian Reliefs at Khinnis/Bavian, May 14, 2006
10 - F. Deblauwe, Donny George's Exile and the State of the SBAH, November 11, 2006

Running tally of sites looted and damaged in the course of the Iraq War

(very preliminary and grossly incomplete list based on the articles listed on this web site; modern name followed by possible variants between square brackets and, if known, by ancient name(s) between parentheses; initial "el-" does not count for alphabeticizing; look up names with and without an initial "Tell") ($ = looted; # = damaged)

Abbas el-Kurdi $
Abu Shahrain (Eridu) #
Abu Skehr $
Adr el-Sa'id $
'Ana #
Babil (Babylon, Babel) $#
→ Bavian - see Khinnis
Birs Nimrud (Borsippa) $
Bismayyah (Adab) $
→ Chokha - see Tell Jokha
Dahaileh $
Dair Mar Elia [St. Elijah's Monastery] #
Dhahir [el-Dhaara?] (Dubrum) $
Drehem (Puzrish-Dagan) $
Fara (Shuruppak) $
Farwa $
el-Hadr (Hatra) $#
Ishan Bakhriyyat (Isin) $
Khinnis [Khines, Khuns, Bavian] (Khunusa) #
Kirkuk [Kerkük] (Arrapha) #
Kuyunjik [Koyunjuk] (Nineveh, Ninua) $
el-Meda'in [Madaen, Salman Pak, Sulman Pak] (Ctesiphon, Tisfun) $
el-Medinah [Tell el-Meda'in] (Bad-Tibira) $
Nimrud (Kalkhu, Calah) $
Nuffar (Nippur) $
el-Qusair $
→ Salman Pak - see el-Meda'in
Samarra (Souma, Sumere, Sumra, Surra Man Ra'a) #
→ St. Elijah's Monastery - see Dair Mar Elia
Tal Afar [Telafar] #
Tell Abu Antik [Abu Antiq] $
Tell Abu Duwari (Mashkan-Shapir) $
Tell Ibzeikh (Zabalam) $
Tell Jokha [Chokha] (Umma) $
Tell el-Lahm [Tal Laham, al-Lham] (Kisiga) $
Tell el-Muqayyar (Ur) $
Tell el-Namil [Tell Naml/Neml, el-Namel] $ *
Tell Senkereh (Larsa) $
Tell Shmid [Shmet] $
Tell Sifr (Kutalla) $
Tell el-Wilayah (Larak) $
Telloh (Girsu) $
Umm el-Aqarib [Um el-Ajareb, Um Alkarab] $
Umm el-Hafriyyat $
Umm el-Hashin $
Warka (Uruk) $
el-Yusufiyyah #

• ? (subsite of Kish excavated by a Japanese team; possibly Akkad) $

• Unidentified sites in the Diyala province $

• Early historic village site near Tell el-Ubaid $

• Smaller sites a few km from Warka (Uruk) $

• Fisk June 3, 2003 also mentions "Tukulti, Tel el-Zabul, ... Tel el-Jbeit, Tel el-Dihab and Kulal-Jabr" but I can't identify or place them properly

• Note: good maps for sites in southern, northwestern and northeastern Iraq can be found at the The threat to world heritage in Iraq site

Please join in these e-mail writing / petition actions:

1) Handelsverbot für Hehlerware aus Raubgrabungen (Prohibition of trade in looted artifacts)
2) Statement read at the Workshop 'The Threat to Iraq’s Cultural Heritage – Current Status and Future Prospects' (July 23, 2005)(at the occasion of the 51st RAI in Chicago)

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