Looted Antiquities from The National Museum of Iraq — A Provisional List

A provisional list of artefacts confirmed to have been looted from the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad was released on 29th April during a meeting of experts on Iraqi Cultural Heritage convened at the British Museum. The 26 objects listed clearly represent the tip of the iceberg, but prior to accessing the master inventory databases on damaged and destroyed computers in Baghdad, the precise scale of pillage and identification of further objects will remain a matter of speculation. For this reason UNESCO is organising a mission comprising eight high-level experts to formulate a preliminary assessment of the situation in the National Museum of Iraq and to specify immediate actions to be taken to enable UNESCO to ‘ensure the appropriate institutional framework and its coordination role in the safeguarding of cultural heritage in Iraq.’

Bearded head of king, probably Naram-Sin.
Nineveh/Kuyunjik, Akkadian Dynasty, c.2300-2200 BC.

  thanks to Counterspin Central