SPK MAGAZINE ENGLISH 80 EDITORIAL IN FOCUS 81 DEAR READERS, THE OBLITERATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE t was this brick tile fragment that the Vorderasiatisches picture puzzle with Adolph Menzel, reconstruct Berlin’s con- Destruction, illegal excavations and illicit trade: The IS terrorist Museum received in the post last spring. A private indi- cert scene over recent decades and take a look at how work attacks on world cultural heritage sites have put the protection of vidual had decided on this unusual form of contact in or- is progressing on our major construction projects – the Mu- I cultural heritage on the political agenda. But the problems are der to make a gift to the museum. The tile, so we were told, seum Island Berlin, the Humboldt-Forum and soon also the came from South Iraq and had been taken from there in the Kulturforum. not restricted to the Near East. Insight into a global phenomenon 1980s ‘as a souvenir’. The museum’s scientific analyses con- As you can see, SPK Magazine appears in a new guise. cluded that the gift was a fragment of a tablet dating from This face-lift enables us to bring you our reports on the foun- the third millennium B.C. – with a dedication inscription of dation’s activities in a way that is not only more concise and the ancient Mesopotamian ruler Amar-Suena, who speaks of telling with a scientific approach, but also more entertaining. Isin, southern Iraq: having built a temple to the god Enki. We immediately con- Moreover, because the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz holes left behind after tacted the Iraqi Ambassador in order to return the object to has such a wealth of stories to tell, SPK Magazine will now be illegal excavations By Hermann Parzinger are not only rife in Syria and Iraq; they its place of origin. published twice a year. p. 22 are a global problem. Whether in Mex- This story illustrates what this issue will address: the I hope our magazine makes enjoyable and informative ico, Greece, Columbia, Mozambique, protection of cultural property. While this concept is seem- reading! Peru, Italy or even Germany – archae- ingly accepted worldwide as a matter of course, in these days ological objects are consistently being of shocking news from the Near East it is in fact sorely ne- osul, Nimrud, Nineveh – illegally stripped from the ground all glected. Illegal excavations and trade have been a matter of these places have by now over the world. The contexts of the finds concern for cultural institutions worldwide for years. For this M come to symbolise the de- are irretrievably lost in the process and, reason, late last year the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz struction of cultural heritage. Earlier (SPK) (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation) in associa- this year in Mosul and Nineveh, hench- tion with the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut (German men for the Islamic State (IS) used ham- Archaeological Institute) coordinated a benchmark-setting mer and drill to destroy objects dating conference. Now that the inconceivable destruction wrought Hermann Parzinger back thousands of years. Then in April, by the terrorist militia Islamic State has become woefully top- President of a video emerged showing the demoli- ical, the global community must address the question of what the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz tion of an Assyrian royal palace in the it is actually doing in order to protect cultural property, and ancient city of Nimrud: a powder keg do so before everything is destroyed. Thus the production of is rolled into a room decorated with il- this issue of SPK Magazine is coloured by the events that have lustrations of deities; a massive explo- taken place in Mosul, Nineveh, Nimrud, Hatra and elsewhere. sion follows – and the viewer surmises Thanks to the good relationships maintained by the Vordera- that little remains of the erstwhile capi- siatisches Museum (Museum of the Ancient Near East) and tal of the Assyrian Empire. The IS claim the Museum für Islamische Kunst in Iraq (Museum of Islamic that they are thereby destroying images Art) and with Syria, we can not only report on what the IS has and symbols of idolatry. At the same done there, but also on what is now expected from museums time, the publicly staged iconoclasm worldwide – for instance with regard to saving Babylon. also sends a provocative message to the Apamea, Syria: traces of Further, our magazine leads you on the trail of ruthless Western world and its cultural identity. illegal excavations antiquities dealers and shows how Germany deals with ille- Reports regularly state that the IS gal treasure hunters. Because the protection of cultural prop- is funded for the most part by the illegal erty is not just a matter for others, we show you how we put trade in the antiquities that it takes from moreover, these finds are no longer it into practice – from the digitalisation of Islamic scripts to conquered sites. This allegation above available for scientific research. The the ‘back-up’ filming of files from the Geheimes Staatsarchiv all others has meant that the cultural networks for the illegal trade in cultural (Secret State Archives). destruction in the Near East has be- artefacts encompass the globe. This is We naturally have much to report from our institutions, come a mainstay of journalistic reports. not a recent development. For decades, which you can once again learn about in this issue. We solve a But illegal excavations and illicit trade illegal excavations and illicit trade have Krak des Chevaliers, Syria: damage caused by looting and wilful destruction 85 Aleppo, Syria: Al Zirb Souq, burned and destroyed as a result of fighting 86 IN FOCUS IN FOCUS 87 been part of everyday life in many coun- presentation of the required export li- every-day basic necessities. Evidently, still visible. But today it is a ruin, where tries, on countless archaeological sites. cences and evidence that the seller has the interest in culture remains intact. children play. There would also be plenty AMIR MUSAWY The underlying reasons for this de- researched all the available registers of The people want to protect their cultural to do at Ishtar Gate, where for instance has lived and worked in Germany velopment are complex and occur on stolen cultural artefacts. The new legis- heritage – the heritage of all mankind. the already excavated foundations of for 15 years. For four years he was many levels: In many regions civil wars lation might best be summarised as ‘no Meaning that the destructive acts in the gate must be secured. Moreover, the head of the cultural department or the collapse of old nation states in re- trade without duty of care’. Mosul and Nineveh are also an attack whole site should also be made acces- of the Iraqi Embassy in Berlin. He gions dominated by ethnic groups have Our magazine is also an outcome on the cultural identity of Iraq, on a has also worked as a journalist for resulted in political instability. The ef- of this conference. We have noted the heritage that could be a unifying Associated Press and Deutsche fective protection of archaeological discussions, the reports from the cri- force for the whole country because Iraq lacks a solid Welle and in the Ministry of Foreign sites in these places is nigh impossible sis regions and the latest developments it recognises no religious or ethnic Affairs (Iraq) in Baghdad. He is due to the security situation, at least in and integrated them in our core theme. boundaries? education system for currently head of the Berlin office the short term. Moreover, cultural her- Indeed. Politicians in Iraq have archaeologists of Iraq TV. He is passionate about itage is becoming increasingly ideolog- now recognised this opportunity: At- archaeology and antiquities and ically and politically charged. In those tempts are being made to put this into is active in their protection. places where societies attempt to find Basra, Iraq: burned books in practice in every-day life in order to sible to visitors. A huge amount can be their cultural identity by way of a new the university library generate a new, different agenda for na- done in this respect and Iraq urgently MARKUS HILGERT nationalism or by rewriting the past, tional unity, which rises above religious needs and wants support. is an Assyriologist and director of the remnants of the past are often in- influences. Mosul is a predominantly In recent months the Stiftung Preuß‑­ the Vorderasiatisches Museum of strumentalised in order to strengthen Sunni city with few Shiites, but despite ischer Kulturbesitz has repeatedly the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – social and ethnic ties. The objects them- this, the grief, the anger about what emphasised the necessity of capacity Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz selves, as well as research into and transpired in Mosul is also felt in Shi- building vis­à­vis the research and (Museum of the Ancient Near East around them, therefore also invariably ite-dominated areas like Babylon and protection of archaeological cultural of the National Museums of Berlin – have a political dimension. On the other Najaf. I believe that this cultural prop- assets, and noted its own competen­ Cultural Heritage Foundation). From hand, there is a large and still growing erty is meaningful in a way that tran- cies and possibilities in this area. In 2007 to 2014 Hilgert was Professor demand for antiquities in the West. Mu- scends religion. which fields do you see the greatest of Assyriology at the Ruprecht- seums build on their collections and The Stiftung Preußischer Kultur­ demand? Karls-Universität Heidelberg. There among collectors, antiquities are still besitz (Prussian Cultural Herit­ Very clear priorities have to be in 2013 he founded the Heidelberg seen as prestige objects.