Korean Job Discussion Forums

[The Bobster]

[Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[TheUrbanMyth]

And finally

[Bulsajo]

My First thought was WTF? Was is TUM ressurecting this thread?
Then I read the thread "Why do Liberals Hate Christians?" over in the off Topic forum and saw the connection.
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?p=986080

[thepeel]

Where is Joo anyhow? I enjoyed his posts, sometimes.

[Bulsajo]

[igotthisguitar]

[igotthisguitar]

Anyone else remember the 2003 looting of Iraq's national museum & antiquities?

This story reminded me.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Looting+Of+Iraq+antiquities

Mesopotamian Sculpture Set To Sell For Millions
... In New York
Fri Sep 14, 6:46 PM

NEW YORK (AFP) - A tiny and extremely rare 5,000-year-old white limestone sculpture from ancient Mesopotamia is expected to fetch up to 18 million dollars when it goes on sale in New York later this year.



The carved Guennol Lioness, measuring just over eight centimeters (3 1/4 inches) tall, was described by Sotheby's auction house as an icon of near-eastern ancient art and was due to be sold in New York on December 5.

The piece was acquired by private collector Alastair Bradley Martin in 1948 and has been on display in New York's Brooklyn Museum of Art ever since.

"The successful bidder in the December auction will have the distinction of owning one of the oldest, rarest and most beautiful works of art from the ancient world," Richard Keresey, head of antiquities at Sotheby's, said.

"This storied figure, in its brilliant combination of an animal form and human pose, has captured the imagination of academics and the public since it was acquired by the Martins in the late 1940s," he added.

The figure depicts a standing lioness looking over her left shoulder, her paws clenched in front of her muscular chest.

Experts have speculated that the figure may have played a role in some ancient belief system or mythology in Mesopotamia, which today lies in parts of modern day Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran.

The proceeds of the sale are to go to an unnamed charitable trust.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/070914/entertainment/entertainment_art

[igotthisguitar]

Bush Demands Another $200 Billion
To Further Fuel War ... Plans

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/us_iraq_afghanistan_military_budget

[igotthisguitar]

Baghdad Museum's Slow Recovery
2007 12 16
By Crispin Thorold | news.bbc.co.uk

The Assyrian Hall at the Iraqi National Museum is breathtaking.

Stone panels from the royal palace at Khorsabad run along the walls.



The carvings on the friezes depict daily life in the Assyrian royal court, which at its height about 3,000 years ago controlled a region stretching across much of the modern Middle East.

In one panel a distinctly regal king looks at his subjects as a courtier fans him. Another panel shows priests carrying out religious rituals.

The workmanship on the friezes is delicate. The carefully placed spotlights bring the carvings to life and it is easy for your mind to be transported to ancient Mesopotamia.

Recent work in the hall has included the addition of a modern arch, which is flanked by ancient bulls with eagle wings and human heads.

It forms the entrance to the hall, which gives you the sense of walking into an Assyrian palace.

Looted vaults
Perhaps the Assyrian gallery is so stunning because it is so unexpected in Baghdad.

This gallery, one of only two that are open to visitors to the Iraqi National Museum, gives a hint of the glories that were once in the national collection.

That collection was devastated in the days following the US-led invasion in 2003, when looters emptied the vaults.

The only items that were saved were either too heavy to carry, like those in the Assyrian Hall, or were being stored elsewhere at the time, like the Nimrud treasures.

Since then the museum has been through challenging times. Its controversial director, Donny George, left Iraq after he said that he had received death threats.

The entrances to the museum's galleries were bricked up.

Now those walls have been knocked down and a new director has been appointed.

MORE ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7144701.stm

When asked why the U.S. military did not try to guard the museum in the days after the invasion succeeded, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said "If you remember, when some of that looting was going on, people were being killed, people were being wounded ... It's as much as anything else a matter of priorities." Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who described the period of looting in general as "untidiness", said of the museum's looting, "To try to pass off the fact of that unfortunate activity to a deficit in the war plan strikes me as a stretch." Secretary of State Colin Powell said, "The United States understands its obligations and will be taking a leading role with respect to antiquities in general but this museum in particular."

Dr. Donny George, General Director Research Studies for the Board of Antiquities in Iraq, said of the looting, "It's the crime of the century, because it affects the heritage of all mankind". After the U.S. Marines set up headquarters in Baghdad's Palestine Hotel, George said he went there to plead for troops to protect the remainder of the Museum collection, but no guards were sent for another three days.

Whether or not this is due to continued fighting is "unclear".

Attempts to recover lost items
A few days later, agents of the FBI were sent to Iraq to search for stolen Museum property.

UNESCO organized an emergency meeting of antiquities experts on April 17, 2003 in Paris to deal with the aftermath of the looting and its effects on the global art and antiquities market.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_Iraq