In the chaos that ensued during the war in Iraq, the region became susceptible to the looting of its artefacts and archaeological sites. Widespread looting by Western troops occurred in the area in what was called “the greatest cultural disasters in recent Middle Eastern history” by the New York Times.

While experts had advised the coalition on the whereabouts of sensitive cultural and archaeological sites before the start of the war, it was alleged that the US failed to take adequate protection to protect the archaeological sites. The National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad suffered extensive losses of some 15,000 objects between 8th April, when the premises were vacated, and 12th April when the Iraqi staff returned.

By May 2003, local officials sought to assess the damage and recover the looted artefacts. The resources in this Exhibit date to this period and demonstrate the British government's involvement in this matter. These documents contain correspondence from Tessa Jowell, then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport at the time. Jowell describes the situation with regards to the looting of cultural heritage as well as the steps being taken to control it and counter the damage. These comprised measures such as setting up a conference on the cultural reconstruction of Iraq at the British Museum with international support although it stopped short of recognising the complicity of Western troops in some of the looting and destruction.

The looting of Iraqi heritage did not come to a halt even after the war ended and the Western troops withdrew. Scholars have noted an uptick in the sale of illegal antiquities since the war. Many of these were being sold out of London, allowing the British state to benefit from the extraction of the items. Several countries, including the United States and UK, have tried to return them to Iraq subsequently but have delayed the process due to 'security concerns' and paternalistic policies of protection. Most recently, in an ‘unprecedented’ move, the US agreed to return around 17,000 objects to Iraq in “the largest return of antiquities to Iraq”.

The documents in this exhibit would be useful for those researching the destruction of Iraqi cultural heritage during the Iraq War, and would especially help the researcher understand Britain’s response to the aforementioned destruction. 

Researchers will also find it useful to look at the news blogs on our website on this topic:

https://warningsfromthearchive.exeter.ac.uk/2021/08/03/iraq-war-economy-and-cultural-restitution/

https://warningsfromthearchive.exeter.ac.uk/2022/02/10/more-returns-made-on-iraqs-path-to-cultural-restitution-%EF%BF%BC/

Additional Resources

• John F Burns, “A Nation at War: Looting; Pillagers Strip Iraqi Museum Of Its Treasure” The New York Times, April 13, 2003 https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/13/world/a-nation-at-war-looting-pillagers-strip-iraqi-museum-of-its-treasure.html
• Sigal Samuel, “It’s Disturbingly Easy to Buy Iraq’s Archeological Treasures”, The Atlantic, March 19, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/03/iraq-war-archeology-invasion/555200/
• “Fifteen years after looting, thousands of artefacts are still missing from Iraq’s national museum”, The Conversation, April 9, 2018, https://theconversation.com/fifteen-years-after-looting-thousands-of-artefacts-are-still-missing-from-iraqs-national-museum-93949
• “Liberation and Looting in Iraq”, Human Rights Watch, April 13, 2003, https://www.hrw.org/news/2003/04/13/liberation-and-looting-iraq-0
• “US to return 17,000 looted ancient artefacts to Iraq”, The Guardian, August 3, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/03/us-to-return-17000-looted-ancient-artefacts-to-iraq
• “‘Unprecedented’ restitution: US returns antiquities to Iraq”, Al Jazeera, 28 July, 2021,https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/28/unprecedented-restitution-us-returns-antiquities-to-iraq
• Robert M. Poole, “Looting Iraq”, February, 2008, Smithsonian Magazine, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/looting-iraq-16813540/
• Henri Neuendorf, “The British Museum Returns Iraqi Antiquities Looted During the US Invasion”, Artnet News, August 10, 2018, https://news.artnet.com/art-world/british-museum-repatriates-antiquities-iraq-1331390
• “British Museum to return looted treasures from Iraq and Afghanistan”, Returning Heritage, August 29, 2019, https://www.returningheritage.com/looted-treasures-from-iraq-and-afghanistan-to-be-returned-by-british-museum