The Department of State is committed to working with the people of Iraq to protect and preserve their rich historic legacy.  Through the Iraq Cultural Heritage Initiative, the Department has engaged many U.S. cultural institutions as partners to collaborate with the Iraqi Ministry of Culture and the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage to improve professional capacity at the Iraq National Museum, and – as described below – to establish a new conservation and preservation training institute in Erbil, and to address preservation concerns at Babylon and other national sites of world importance. These collaborations make manifest the deep respect of the American people for the people of Iraq, who are heirs to a cultural and artistic legacy that is revered throughout the world.

Update (February 2011): Babylon Damage Report

Report on Damage to the Site of Babylon, Iraq [47 MB] (PDF)

This report by Dr. John Malcolm Russell (Special Coordinator for Iraq Cultural Heritage, Cultural Heritage Center) is a compilation of damage assessments carried out between 2004 and 2009, written in response to a congressional request to assess damage to Babylon caused by military presence. It is based on personal visits to the site by the author, reports prepared by Iraqi and Coalition personnel at the site, satellite imagery, maps, and photographs taken by Iraqi and Coalition personnel. Dr. Russell investigated two periods of destructive intervention at Babylon: the first during the 1980's at the order of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, and the second between April 2003 and January 2005 from the use of the archaeological site as a Coalition military base. The report contributes important documentation for the plan for the management and preservation of Babylon, which is being developed by World Monuments Fund in partnership with the Iraq State Board of Antiquities and Heritage.

Iraq Cultural Heritage Project

Iraq National Museum, Baghdad (Photo Credit: John Russell, July 2008)

In October of 2008, the Department of State launched the Iraq Cultural Heritage Project.  Through the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, the Department funded this initiative to assist in the preservation of the cultural heritage of Iraq.  A grant of nearly $13 million was awarded to International Relief and Development, the non-governmental organization that administers this ambitious effort.  Additional contributions from the government of Iraq supplement the grant.
The project activities are overseen jointly by the Iraq State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH), the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.   A major activity is the establishment of a new institute, the National Training Institute for the Preservation of Iraqi Cultural Heritage, in Erbil, undertaken as a collaboration among the Walters Art Museum, the Winterthur Museum & Country Estate, the University of Delaware Art Conservation Department, the U.S. National Park Service, and the SBAH.

In addition, improvements are being carried out at the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad to advance its core mission, including the design and installation of conservation and collection storage facilities and exhibition spaces.

Finally, the project aims to advance professional capacity in Iraq’s heritage and museum communities through:

• the development of a training program for Iraqi professionals engaged in preservation of buildings and sites, collections management, objects conservation, education, and museum management, in consultation with the Field Museum of Natural History and the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago;
• the bilingual publication of reports on past excavations by Iraqi archaeologists, in collaboration with The American Academic Research Institute in Iraq;  and,
• the provision of publications to museum libraries in Baghdad and Mosul, a collaboration between Stony Brook University and the Iraq National Museum.

The Future of Babylon

Babylon, the ancient site of the “Tower of Babel” and Nebuchadnezzar’s wondrous “Hanging Gardens,” has been exposed through archaeological excavations beginning in the 19th century.  The site includes open-air ruins and is overlaid with a few reconstructed ancient buildings, extensive areas of modern construction dating to the rule of Saddam Hussein, and several villages.

In 2004, concerns surfaced about damage done to the ancient site of Babylon as a result of the use of parts of the site for military installations.  Several reports on the condition of the archaeological remains were issued, and recommendations for ameliorative actions were broadly vetted.  Recognizing that any actions at such an important site would be best undertaken within the structure of a good management plan, the Department of State has provided $700K to World Monuments Fund (WMF) to work in partnership with the SBAH on the development of a plan for the management and preservation of Babylon.

The SBAH has dedicated a group of professional staff to collaborate with WMF on the planning and fieldwork tasks for the Future of Babylon project.  The management plan will derive from a process driven by the significance of the site and the interests of the Iraqi stakeholders.  Through site visits, focused work groups, and research, team members are identifying the purposes for which the site will be conserved and managed, and specifying goals and policies to direct, guide, and regulate future uses and interventions at the site. This process will produce and implement a plan at Babylon for site management, which can serve as a model to benefit heritage sites throughout Iraq.

The goals of the Babylon project include the development of technologically and culturally appropriate conservation solutions that also meet international standards; incorporation of holistic preservation approaches embracing environmental, social and economic factors; and economic self-sufficiency.

WMF has worked for over 40 years with communities and countries around the world to support the conservation and preservation of endangered cultural heritage sites. Its work on the Babylon site management plan is part of a larger ongoing project being undertaken with the Getty Conservation Institute.