Iraq National Museum Case Study

Abstract

The Iraqi National Museum was established by the British traveler and author Gertrude Bell and opened shortly before her death in 1926. The Iraqi National Museum contained priceless relics from Mesopotamian civilization; it contains important artifacts from over 5,000 year long history of Mesopotamia. The National Museum of Iraq was looted in April, 2003. Its contents has been illegally scattered around the world through sales to private collectors and museums. Iraq, as of yet, is still trying to reclaim these historical masterpieces. The U.S. Army, which was the occupying power in Iraq at the time, should have anticipated the danger presented to the cultural sites. Further, once looting started it should have acted promptly to protect the museum from further damage and theft. But, as we discovered, and as the looting continued for three days, the American Army did not even move any units to protect the museum until it was too late. This project has focused on examining the conflict arising from the looting of the Iraqi National Museum. Through multiple steps, and while employing restorative justice practices within a conflict resolution scope, the effort is to resolve those conflicts.

Conflict Resolution through History: the
However, he warns, the present can erase outlines of the past “or even willfully destroy its foundations” (p. 8). He cites “the stunning looting of the Baghdad Museum and the repeated rape of archaeological sites throughout Iraq [as] ample proof” of this, explaining “what is stolen is not just so much merchandise for sale, but an entire people’s collective memory, a priceless substance they desperately need to protect them, for a civilized people’s heritage is its best armor against the assaults of barbarism.”