Several years
ago, there were talks between Athens and Baghdad to intensify cultural cooperation. One point on the agenda was that Athens would provide financial aid to reconstruct the National Museum of Baghdad (see: The Museum of Baghdad, what's new?).
The other point was plans to erect a statue of Alexander the Great in Kurdistan, northern Iraq.
The foreign
ministries of both Greece
and Iraq agreed to honor the
memory of Alexander by building a
statue of Alexander in Mosul, near the ancient site of the Battle
of Gaugamela,
where King Darius (see: The Battle of Gaugamela) was defeated in 331
BC.
It is remarkable to hear Iraq’s
wish to celebrate the victory of Alexander
over the Persian King Darius, which
led to the demise of the Persian Empire that included Iraq as well.
Athens vowed to help the Iraqi government recover thousands of artifacts
looted from Baghdad’s
National Museum after the American invasion in 2003.
These mutual
promises apparently went no further than good intentions by both parties, as
mentioned during a Lecture by Andreas
P. Parpas at the Cyprus Centre of Cultural Heritage in Nicosia on 25 April 2018.
Since then,
nothing more has been heard about this project.
Meanwhile,
looted and stolen artifacts are slowly returning to the National
Museum of Baghdad.
In 2010, 540 treasures were returned, and 638 objects were located in the
office of Iraq’s
Prime Minister. In 2012, 45 relics of Sumerian and Assyrian art were returned
by Germany.
The US
also returned 17,000 looted artifacts in 2021. And in 2023, the FBI was
involved in the recovery of a gold and ivory piece of furniture dated to 5,500
BC. Despite serious efforts, it is estimated that about 10,000 treasures from
the Baghdad Museum are
still missing.
On the other
hand, the US pledged almost
$700,000 to restore the ancient city of Babylon that was damaged by the US
troops using the site as a military base (see: Babylon, victim of war).
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