``So many things were looted. The whole antiquities department, the library -- full of historical books, and the city's ancient archive -- were stolen then burned. Why did they burn it?'' asked Omran while standing in one of Nebuchadnezzar Museum's four large rooms where workers were busy painting the walls and fixing the miniature model of Babylon.
The Coalition Provisional Authority, headed by L. Paul Bremer, is spending thousands of dollars to renovate and repair the damage.
So far, the coalition has invested US$60,000 and plans to spend about that much more, Marrero said.
``The first phase of reconstruction was to insure that the museum was protected so we installed an alarm system in the museum. We repainted it, repaired it, fixed the roof ... cleaned it up after the looters,'' he said.
The souvenir shop, a small ticket office and the police station were repaired as well.
More than two decades of war, UN sanctions and international ostracism of the Saddam regime nearly killed tourism to Iraq's unparalleled archaeological sites.
Yet the nonpaying tourists -- more than 10,600 US Marines, sailors, soldiers, aid workers and journalists -- have passed through ancient Babylon since April 26, Marrero said.
Those who visit the ruin in the years to come will be reading the name of Saddam, stamped into the bricks used in reconstructing Nebuchadnezzer's Southern Palace, the seat of the king's ancient empire.
When reconstruction began, the palace walls had crumbled to a fourth of their original height. On Saddam's orders the walls were reconstructed between 1982 and 1987.
Bricks that brag
Some of the mud bricks in the original wall carried the seal of Nebuchadnezzar. The bricks used in the Saddam reconstruction, not to be outdone by the likes of the ancient king, read:
``The City of Babylon was reconstructed during the era of the victorious Saddam Hussein, President of the Republic, protector of the great Iraq, the modernizer of its renaissance and builder of its civilization.''
The Marines are getting ready to leave the area soon and will hand security over to Polish troops, Marrero said. But until then US troops are enjoying the site.
``I think its pretty cool. I mean, I used to watch the discovery channel but never thought I'll actually be where they are. It's kind of cool. I enjoy it,'' Marine Lance Corporal Rod Brooks of Chicago, said as he looked at the 2,600 year-old Lion of Babylon, symbol of Babylon's strength against invaders.
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