Preserving the trappings of the past is so integral to the continuity of our cultures. In our families, we identify heirlooms, and we put away things our children might want and what they probably wont want, but just maybe.
Some of us try to keep records for organizations or churches we belong to help future members know their past. Whole communities do that through museums and archives. We cringe sometimes at having to toss things that our instincts tell us ought to stay intact and kept. But, oh, the burden on space to keep things around.
On Thursday, I had an incredible experience hearing an hour-talk by Marine Reserves Col. Matthew Bogdanos, who was assigned to the daunting task of helping to recover the massive quantity of priceless pieces of antiquity taken from the ransacked national museums in Baghdad before and after the start of the war in
Iraq.
The author of Thieves of Baghdad: One Marines Passion to Recover the Worlds Greatest Stolen Treasures (Bloomsbury USA, 320 pages) spoke to Veterans Day-related breakfast, organized by the Kiwanis Nuevo Club of Tempe and held at the Fiesta Inn. Bogdanos, who was co-introduced by Attorney General Terry Goddard and former Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romney, was set up to deliver a compelling speech. No one was disappointed. It was a well-crafted slide presentation and powerfully laid out explanation of what happened.
The one-time assistant district attorney in New York City, with master degrees in both classical studies from Columbia University and in strategic studies from the Army
War College, told how his team masterfully recovered more than 5,000 priceless antiquities from the Iraqi National Museum. Much was made in the media about the chaos and anarchy that came to Baghdad when it fell in 2003 and Saddam Hussein was driven from power. The vast government infrastructure, including community, education and cultural services, became impotent with leadership, bureaucrats and workers scattering. The museums, with their holdings from the Cradle of Civilization in the Tigris and Euphrates river valley, were suddenly vulnerable.
Bogdanos masterfully laid out the magnitude of the losses, with a series of slides of the great works that were missing. Most of the world, he noted, was unaware that the Hussein regime and predecessors had not allowed the huge museum complex to be open for the public to visit and to appreciate their heritage. Corruption had included the sacking of thousands of historical artifacts and selling on the international antiquities underground market that bring billions to its players.
Bogdanos shared countless stories about winning trust among Iraqis and those left in charge of literally picking up the pieces of the vandalism and destruction in the museums and trying to recover as much as possible. A much publicized amnesty program, calling on neighborhood Iraqi who may have been among the looters of the museum, were invited to drop off items for the good of the country no questions asked, no prosecution. Thousands of pieces were returned that way. People were urged to convinced owners of antiquity to turn things in.
The process goes on and an amazing amount of the prices remnants of history are back in safe hands. Of course, the museums restoration is its own huge project. All that Bogdanos earns from his book goes back to help restore the museum and its holdings. The book is in its third printing.
With all the horrors and setbacks of the war in Iraq, this special teams work is a bright spot and underscores that preserving the common beginnings of the human civilization is among the most worthy of undertakings. And Bogdanos perseverance is a true example of what one person can accomplish when the urgency is so great.
