In some ways it would be a shame if war breaks out with Iraq, but by the same token it would give a chance for a whole lot of these folks to work on long overddue site monographs. I can think of some folks who haven't done their publications for digs they conducted in the 1970s in Iran...
Best, MEH
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War in Iraq would Halt Archaeology in the
Mideast
John Noble Wilford NYT
Wednesday, February 26, 2003
Digs on hold - looting is feared
War in Iraq would halt archaeology not just in that country but
across the Middle East, experts say, and could result in some of
the earliest cities of Mesopotamia being bombed or looted into
ruins of ruins.
Researchers with long experience in Iraq say they are worried that
postwar looting could cause even more damage to the antiquities
than combat. They also fear that some art dealers and collectors
might try to take advantage of any postwar disarray and change in
government to gain access to more of Iraq's archaeological
treasures. After the Gulf War of 1991, ancient treasures were
plundered and sold illegally in international markets.
Fear of war has already had a widespread effect. All European
research teams left Iraq months ago, indefinitely suspending
excavations along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers at places like
Uruk, Assur, Nimrud and Nineveh.
Others doubt that they will return this year to dig sites in Syria,
Jordan and some places in southern Turkey. In many cases it is
impossible to get insurance for staffs and students. Researchers in
Egypt are growing wary, and nascent plans for reviving
long-suspended operations in Iran have been abandoned.
Archaeology in Israel, already curtailed by internal hostilities, is
expected to suffer further interruptions, with almost none of 30
American excavations likely to be operating soon. At one of the
largest sites, the ruins of the old Philistine city of Ashkelon,
archaeologists have not dug a pit for two years and will not return
this summer.
Even Israeli teams that often work through the worst of times have
decided not to dig this year.
"Everybody's nervous, and virtually everybody's canceled," said
Rudolph Dornemann, executive director of the American Schools
of Oriental Research, which coordinates archaeological work in
Israel, Jordan, Syria and elsewhere in the region.
Even those who have not yet called off this summer's dig season
say they will have to make a decision in the next few weeks. They
are not optimistic.
"I want to go into the field, but I don't want to walk into a war
zone," said Richard Zettler of the University of Pennsylvania, who
has directed excavations in Syria at Tell Sweyhat, once considered
safely distant from the Iraqi border.
Rest at
http://www.iht.com/articles/87865.htm