Dear ICOM Colleagues,
Please read the following in addition to the Blueshield statement sent to
you by the ICOM Secretariet.
I would encourage such strong professional support and committment from
various bodies. Iraq is within the ambit of the ICOM Asia Pacific
Organisation that Chair. I met the officials and lawyers from the Ministry
dealing with Illicit Traffic at the end of last year.
We have a lot of work to do to further our committment for the protection
of cultural heritage in Iraq and also follow up the promises made to
Afghanistan.
Thanks you for your time and consideration,

Professor Amareswar Galla
Chairperson, Asia Pacific Executive Board
International Council of Museums

Director of Studies
Sustainable Heritage Development Programs,
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies
The Australian National University
Canberra, ACT 0200, AUSTRALIA
_____________________________

 Email. [log in to unmask]


===============================
> This Declaration is an initiative of the Archaeological Institute of
> America.
>
> March 19, 2003
>
>
>
> Open Declaration on Cultural Heritage at Risk in Iraq
>
> The extraordinary global significance of the monuments, museums, and
> archaeological sites of Iraq (ancient Mesopotamia) imposes an
> obligation on
> all peoples and governments to protect them. In any military conflict
> that
> heritage is put at risk, and it appears now to be in grave danger.
> Should war take place, we call upon all governments to respect the
> terms of
> the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in
> the Event
> of Armed Conflict, and its First Protocol. We urge all governments,
> institutions, and individuals in a position to act to recognize and
> uphold the
> validity of Iraq’s existing, strong Antiquities Law. To secure the
> long-term
> safety of the archaeological and cultural heritage of Iraq of all
> historical
> periods, and to stop the illicit digging and smuggling of antiquities
> that
> have occurred during the period of the Embargo and that may follow a
> period of
> conflict, the staff of the Department of Antiquities must be returned
> to pre-Embargo numbers in academic and technical fields. Most
> important,  the
> number of guards for individual sites, monuments, and museums must be
> returned
> to pre-Embargo strength.
> As represented by the signatories of this letter, the international
> scholarly
> community is prepared, at the conclusion of the present crisis, to
> support the
> Iraqi Department of Antiquities in strengthening and retraining its
> staff, in
> assessing the conservation needs of artifacts and buildings, and in
> refitting
> laboratories. If asked, international archaeologists are also willing
> to play
> a role in any needed assessment of damage done by illicit digging or
> warfare,
> in salvage operations directed by the Department of Antiquities, and
> in repatriating stolen antiquities.
> The signatories of this letter urge all governments to recognize that
> fragile
> cultural heritage is inevitably damaged by warfare, that irreparable
> losses
> both to local communities and to all humanity are caused by the
> destruction of
> cultural sites, monuments, and works of art, and that it is our common
>  duty to
> take all possible steps to protect them.
>
>
> Signatories
>
> American Association for Research in Baghdad
> Archaeological Institute of America
> Archaeological Institute of America - Canada
> Belgian Archaeological Expedition to Iraq
> British School of Archaeology in Iraq
> Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Near Eastern Studies, Copenhagen
> College Art Association
> German Archaeological Institute/Deutsches Archäologisches Institut,
> Oriental
> Department/Orient Abteilung
> Institute for Cultural Studies of Ancient Iraq, Kokushikan University,
>  Tokyo
> McDonald Institute, Illicit Antiquities Research Centre, University of
> Cambridge
> State Archives of Assyria Project, University of Helsinki
>
>
> Béatrice André-Salvini, Conservateur en chef au Département des
> Antiquités
> Orientales, Musée du Louvre
> Michael Aurbach, President, College Art Association
> Zainab Bahrani, Associate Professor of Art History and Archaeology,
> Columbia
> University
> John Baines, University of Oxford
> Heather D. Baker, START-Projekt, Institut für Orientalistik,
> University  of
> Vienna
> Gary Beckman, Professor of Hittite and Mesopotamian Studies,
> University  of
> Michigan
> Leigh-Ann Bedel, Pennsylvania State University
> Lis Brack-Bernsen, Institut für Philosophie, University of Regensburg
> Walter Bodine, Near Eastern Languages, Yale University
> Marco Bonechi, Istituto di Studi sulle Civiltà dell'Egeo e del Vicino
> Oriente,
> Rome
> Klara Brenova, Oriental Institute, Prague
> Geoffrey Cantor, Professor of the History of Science, University of
> Leeds
> Elizabeth Carter, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures,
> University of California, Los Angeles
> Jorge Silva Castillo, Profesor Investigador, Centro de Estudios de
> Asia y
> Africa, El Colegio de México
> Antoine Cavigneaux, Professeur de langues et civilisation
> mesopotamienne,
> University of Geneva
> Soraya de Chadarevian, Department of History and Philosophy of
> Science, Unviersity of Cambridge
> John T. Chalcraft, Lecturer, Modern Middle Eastern History, University
>  of
> Edinburgh
> Petr Charvat, Oriental Institute and Charles University, Prague
> Nandini Chatterjee, Faculty of History, University of Cambridge
> Meredith Chesson, Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame
> Cristina Chimisso, Department of Philosophy, Open University
>
> Sophie Cluzan, Conservateur, Département des antiquités orientales,
> Musée du
> Louvre
> Gudrun Colbow, University of Ghent
> Elizabeth J. Cole, Department of History, University of Cambridge
> Jean-Paul Descoeudres, Professor of Classical Archaeology, Vice Dean,
> Faculty
> of Arts, University of Geneva
> Lynn Swartz Dodd, University of Southern California
> Lucy Donkin, Courtauld Institute of Art, London
> Fred M. Donner, Professor, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago
> Jennifer Downes, Department of History and Philosophy of Science,
> University
> of Cambridge
> Renée Dreyfus, Curator of Ancient Art, Fine Arts Museums of San
> Francisco
> Christopher Edens, Resident Director, American Institute for Yemeni
> Studies
> Christine Ehlers, Department of Archaeology, Boston University
> Richard S. Ellis, Professor Near Eastern Archaeology, Bryn Mawr
> College Geoff Emberling, University of Michigan
> Margarete van Ess, Director of the Baghdad Branch, German
> Archaeological Institute
> Patricia Fara, Clare College, University of Cambridge
> Gertrude Farber, Research Associate, Oriental Institute, University of
>  Chicago
> Walter Farber, Professor of Assyriology, Oriental Institute,
> University  of
> Chicago
> Marian Feldman, Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of
> California,
> Berkeley
> Robert Fernea, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Middle Eastern
> Studies,
> University of Texas at Austin
> J. V. Field, Birkbeck College, University of London
> Marina Frasca-Spada, Lecturer, Department of History and Philosophy of
> Science, University of Cambridge
> Steven Garfinkle, History Department, Western Washington University
> McGuire Gibson, Professor, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago;
> President, American Association for Research in Baghdad
> David Nelson Gimbel, Archaeos, New York
> Gene Gragg, Professor, Oriental Institute, Departments of Linguistics
> and Near
> Eastern Languages, University of Chicago
> Donald P. Hansen, Craig Hugh Smyth Professor of Fine Arts, Institute
> of  Fine
> Arts, New York University
> Arnulf Hausleiter, Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Near Eastern Studies,
> Copenhagen
> Jill Heberden, Courtauld Institute of Art, London
> Georgina Hermann, Honorary Professor, Institute of Archaeology,
> University
> College London
> Jens Høyrup, Roskilde University, Denmark
> Blahoslav Hruska, Oriental Institute and Charles University, Prague
> Hermann Hunger, Institut für Orientalistik, University of Vienna
>
> Askold Ivantchik, Ausonius: Institut de Recherche sur l'Antiquité et
> le Moyen-Age, Unversité de Bordeaux
> Anja Skaar Jacobsen, History of Science Department, Aarhus University
> Arthur Jeffes, graduate in Archaeology, Trinity College, Cambridge
> Richard Jennings, Department of History and Philosophy of Science,
> University
> of Cambridge
> Charles Ellwood Jones, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago
> Martha Sharp Joukowsky, Director of the Petra Great Temple
> Excavations,  Brown
> University
> Harmke Kamminga, Department of History and Philsophy of Science,
> University of
> Cambridge
> Ole Knudsen, Professor of the History of Science, University of Aarhus
> Peter Kornicki, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Cambridge
> Stephan E. Kroll, Vorderasiatische Archaeologie,
> Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich
> Curtis E. Larsen, U.S. Geological Survey
> Mogens Trolle Larsen, Professor Assyriology, Copenhagen University
> Paul Larsen, independent scholar
> Peter Machinist, Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental
> Languages,
> Harvard University
> Joy McCorriston, Department of Anthropology, Ohio State University
> David W. McCreery, Department of Religious Studies, Willamette
> University
> Augusta McMahon, Faculty of Oriental Studies and Department of
> Archaeology,
> University of Cambridge
> Ken Matsumoto, Professor, Institute for Cultural Studies of Ancient
> Iraq,
> Kokushikan University; Director, Kokushikan ArchaeologicalExpedition
> to  Kish
> Léon de Meyer, Director, Belgian Archaeological Expedition to Iraq,
> Honorary
> Rector University of Ghent
> Peter A. Miglus, Institut für Ur-und Frühgeschichte, University of
> Heidelberg
> Wolfram Nagel, formerly Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology,
> University of K
> öln
> Karen Nicely, Professor of Medieval Art History, University of British
> Columbia
> Hans J. Nissen, Professor Emeritus, Institute for Near Eastern
> Archaeology,
> Free University of Berlin
> Zoe Opacic, Courtauld Institute of Art, London; University of
> Cambridge Asli Osyar, Department of History, Bogazici University,
> Istanbul Geri Parlby, Courtauld Institute of Art, London
> Simo Parpola, Director, State Archives of Assyria Project, University
> of Helsinki
> Lukas Pecha, Oriental Institute, Prague, and West Bohemian University,
>  Pilsen
> Jana Pecirkova, Oriental Institute, Prague and West Bohemian
> University, Pilsen
>
> Constance Piesinger, University of Wisconsin-Madison
> Richard Plant, Queen Mary, University of London
> Jiri Prosecky, Oriental Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Czech
> Republic
> Wendy Pullan, Head of the Graduate School, Department of Architecture,
> University of Cambridge
> Andreas Puth, Courtauld Institute of Art, London
> Christelle Rabier, Alumna, École Normale Supérieure
> Selma al-Radi, independent scholar
> Furat Rahman, West Bohemian University, Pilsen
> Marcelo Rede, Professor of Ancient History, Federal University, Rio de
>  Janeiro
> Colin Renfrew, Disney Professor of Archaeology, University of
> Cambridge Francis Reynolds, Academic Assistant, School of Oriental and
> African  Studies,
> University of London
> Lauren Ristvet, King's College, University of Cambridge
> Michael Roaf, Institut für Vorderasiatische Archaeologie,
> Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich
> Eleanor Robson, Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford; Council Member of
>  the
> British School of Archaeology in Iraq
> Gary O. Rollefson, Department of Anthropology, Whitman College
> Elena Rova, Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità e del Vicino
> Oriente, Università Ca'Foscari, Venice
> Karen S. Rubinson, Archaeological Institute of America
> John Russell, Professor of Art History and Archaeology, Massachusetts
> College
> of Art
> Agnieszka Sadraei, Courtauld Institute of Art, London
> Walther Sallaberger, Institut für Assyriologie und Hethitologie,
> Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich
> Mirjo Salvini, Director, Institute for the Study of Aegean and Near
> Eastern
> Civilizations, National Research Council, Rome
> Ivo Schneider, Professor of the History of Science, University of the
> German
> Armed Forces
> James Andrew Secord, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science,
> University of Cambridge
> Joe D. Seger, Director, Cobb Institute of Archaeology, Mississippi
> State University
> Gebhard J. Selz, Chair, Ancient Semitic Languages and Oriental
> Archaeology,
> Orientalisches Institut, University of Vienna
> Nancy Serwint, School of Art, Arizona State University
> Payson Sheets, Department of Anthropology, Universtiy of Colorado Ana
> Simoes, History of Science, University of Lisbon
> Kathryn E. Slanski, Department of Near Eastern Languages and
> Civilizations,
> Yale University
> Michael E. Smith, Professor of Anthropology, SUNY Albany
> Jana Souskova, Oriental Section, National Museum, Prague
> John Steele, University of Toronto
> Josephine Anne Stein, School of Cultural and Innovation Studies,
> University of
> East London
> Piotr Steinkeller, Professor of Assyriology, Harvard University
> Elizabeth C. Stone, Department of Anthropology, SUNY, Stony Brook
>
> Eva Strommenger, formerly Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte, Berlin
> David Stronach, University of California, Berkeley
> Ingolf Thuesen, Director, Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Near Eastern
> Studies,
> Copenhagen
> Helga Trenkwalder, Professor of Cuneiform Studies, University of
> Innsbruck,
> Head, Austrian Archaeological Expedition to Iraq
> Karin Tybjerg, Finley Research Fellow in Ancient History, Darwin
> College,
> University of Cambridge
> Jane C. Waldbaum, President, Archaeological Institute of America
> Patricia Wattenmaker, Department of Anthropology, University of
> Virginia Nili Wasana, Department of Bible Studies, Hebrew University,
> Jerusalem Michael Weigl, Professor of Old Testament Studies and
> Syro-Palestinian Archaeology, University of Vienna
> Manfred Weippert, Professor Emeritus, University of Heidelberg
> Donald Whitcomb, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago
> T. J. Wilkinson, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago
> Frances Willmoth, University of Cambridge
> Rita P. Wright, Department of Anthropology, New York University
> T. Cuyler Young, Jr., Director Emeritus, Royal Ontario Museum
> Paul Zimansky, Department of Archaeology, Boston University
>

>

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