- BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) -
Two priceless pieces of Iraq's ancient heritage, looted from Baghdad's
main museum in the chaotic days after Saddam Hussein's fall, have been
recovered from a Baghdad cesspool, U.S. officials said Thursday.
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- The Akkadian Bassetki, a copper statue of a seated man
dating from 2300 BC, and an ancient Assyrian firebox that a king would
have used to keep himself warm were recovered by police investigators,
the authorities said.
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- The Bassetki statue is considered the most important
of Iraq's ancient artworks after the so-called Warka Mask of a Sumerian
goddess, recovered earlier this year.
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- "I would describe this as a spectacular find and
we're extremely pleased," John Russell, an art expert who is helping
to restore recovered artifacts, told Reuters.
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- "As far as I can tell their condition is OK, although
they still need a bit of cleaning up," Russell said.
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- No further details were given as to how the pieces were
found or who was involved in the investigation.
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- Investigators believe the Bassetki statue, a 330 pound
cast depicting a man sitting with his legs crossed on the ground, was stolen
to order, like other highly prized works.
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- When it was taken it was dragged across the display hall
and down the Iraqi National Museum's main staircase, leaving deep gouges
in the floor.
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- The Assyrian brazier, carved in wood and bronze dating
from 850 BC, was also highly regarded in the art world and ranked 28 on
the list of 30 most important items stolen in Iraq, U.S. authorities said.
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- While it was initially feared that thousands of ancient
pieces of art were stolen during a days-long orgy of looting shortly after
Saddam's regime was overthrown in April, experts believe the actual number
was much lower.
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- Of the 42 pieces originally reported missing from the
Baghdad museum's public galleries, most have now been recovered and only
a very few were damaged.
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- Several of the most important works, including the fabled
treasures of Nimrud, were removed from the museum and placed in the vault
of the central bank ahead of the war.
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- Before they were discovered there, however, U.S. forces
came under severe criticism for not doing enough to protect Babylon's ancient
glories and other riches as they focused instead on guarding oil plants
and other installations.
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- "The fact is, the looting of the museum was not
nearly as bad as was feared immediately after the war," Charles Heatly,
a spokesman for the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, told
a news conference Thursday.
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- "The number of artifacts left to be recovered are
now few."
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- Cleaning of the Bassetki statue and Assyrian firebox
is expected to be finished shortly and the works will be put back on display
in a few days, Heatly said.
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