Insider's tale of greatest art theft in history
Indigo Ace
Insider's tale of greatest art theft in history
14.11.05
By David Randall
BAGHDAD - The story of what really happened inside the Iraq Museum
when thousands of valuable antiquities were stolen in the immediate
aftermath of the 2003 United States invasion has been revealed in a
new book.
Written by the chief investigator, it says there were three separate
thefts, at least one of which was an inside job, another the work of
professionals, and a third the fault of fleeing Iraq military. At
least 13,864 objects were stolen, making it the biggest museum heist
in history.
But the book reveals that, with an estimated 500,000 objects in the
museum and thieves having the run of the place for 36 hours, the
wonder is the loss was not far closer to the original, inaccurate,
reports of 170,000 items.
And the efforts of Iraqi, US and Italian officials, plus police and
customs worldwide, have so far led to the recovery of 5400 items,
nearly 700 from inside the US and Britain.
All this is told in Thieves of Baghdad by Matthew Bogdanos who has
been described, with only a minimum of hyperbole, as a real-life
Indiana Jones.
The Marine and lawyer lost his New York home in the September 11
attacks. Weeks later, he was a Marine Lieutenant-Colonel, on
operations in Afghanistan, and thence, by 2003, to southern Iraq.
It was here, on April 18, in Basra, he heard the Iraq Museum had been
plundered. Bogdanos - a keen amateur classicist - requested permission
to investigate, put a team together, and hurried to Baghdad.
He arrived at the museum compound on April 20. It had been used as a
fighting position, Iraq Army uniforms were scattered all around, as
were expended rocket-propelled grenades. And, above the centre door to
the main building, was a sign saying "Death to all Americans and
Zionist pigs".
Saddam's forces had abandoned the museum on April 10. Two days later
senior curators returned, chasing off the last of the looters that had
numbered 300 to 400 at their height. It was in this window of 36 hours
that the thefts occurred.
The first area entered by the US team was the administrative offices
where the destruction was "wanton and absolute". But, in the public
galleries, the damage was less. Of 451 display cases, only 28 were
damaged, but nearly all were empty.
To his relief, Bogdanos learnt their contents had been removed by
staff ahead of the invasion. But 40 antiquities - including some of
the best, such as the Sacred Vase of Warka, the Mask of Warka,
Bassetki Statue and the 8th-century BC ivory Lioness Attacking a
Nubian - were stolen. The thieves, says Bogdanos, were "organised and
selective".
The above-ground storage rooms told a different story. The looters had
swept entire shelves of items into bags, and the result was 3138
missing items, such as jars, vessels and shards.
On May 2, Bogdanos and companions crept down a hidden stairwell and
found chaos in the unlit basement storage area. Missing were 4795
cylinder seals, 5542 coins, glass bottles, beads, amulets and
jewellery. As Bogdanos wrote: "It is simply inconceivable that this
area had been found, breached and entered ... by anyone who did not
have an intimate insider's knowledge of the museum."
An amnesty started within two days. Word was put out that anyone
returning an item would be asked only one question: "Would you like a
cup of tea?"
An Arabic-speaking member of Bogdanos' team was posted on the gate to
solicit returns, and the team walked the streets, drank endless cups
of tea in cafes, and played backgammon with anyone who looked as if
they might know something.
In one, Bogdanos, still a keen amateur boxer at 45, created a
diversion by sparring with a local champion while a colleague quizzed
an informant.
The response was almost immediate. Bags containing an item would be
dropped off; items allegedly taken for "safe-keeping" were brought in
by hand; some were left at mosques, others simply handed to a
patrolling US soldier.
The Sacred Vase of Warka, after two weeks of negotiation, was returned
in June in a car boot, along with 95 other artefacts. All but 101 of
the 3138 items stolen from the storage rooms have been recovered, yet
at least 8500 pieces are still missing.
About 2000 recoveries were the result of raids, the biggest being at a
farmhouse on September 23. Under a foot and a half of dirt in the
backyard was the Mask of Warka. In November, two raids on the same day
produced the Bassetki Statue, which had been covered in grease and
hidden in a cesspit.
More of the stolen items started to be seized abroad, 1395 by the end
of 2003. Some 669 were seized in 2003 when four FedEx boxes, addressed
to a New York art dealer, were impounded by US Customs.
And Bogdanos? Early next year he will be back at the district
attorney's office, conducting investigations into worldwide
antiquities trade.
All the royalties from his book are being donated to the Iraq Museum.
- INDEPENDENT
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10355016
--
Anne
indigoace at goodsol period com
http://www.goodsol.com/cats/