The cultural destruction of Iraq

Erasing Memory: The Cultural Destruction of Iraq is a 28-minute film from the Archaeology Channel which documents the plundering of Iraqi archaeological sites and looting and destruction of priceless artifacts.

This destruction of Iraq's heritage has been going on since the U.S. invaded the country in March 2003, and continues to this day. The looting of artifacts from the Iraq museum in Baghdad, which took place soon after the U.S. began its military action, was widely publicized, but the mass media now makes no mention of the subject.

In the last few years, many objects looted from various sites have appeared on the black market. It isn't clear exactly who is ultimately responsible for the looting, but at least some of the blame must surely lie with the U.S. military, for its acquiescence in the matter.

The image is of a copper life-size head of a king from the Akkadian period (2,300- 2,159 BC); it comes from this recent article in the Seattle Times.