The construction of a large police barracks close to the Great Mosque of Samarra and its famed spiral minaret is imperiling another of Iraq's precious historical sites, UNESCO and senior archeologists have warned.
Work on the building and a training center for 1,500 Iraqi policemen is continuing in Samarra, north of Baghdad, despite the addition this summer of the ninth-century remains of the capital of the Abbasid dynasty to UNESCO's list of endangered world heritage sites.
There are fears that the police compound will prove an irresistible target for insurgents and that the construction and operation of the barracks will damage the Samarra Archeological City, one of the country's largest and most valuable historical areas, the Art Newspaper reported in its current issue.
UNESCO officials said the dire security situation in Samarra had prevented them from taking any measures to protect the site. Neither UNESCO's office for Iraq, which is based in Amman, Jordan, nor Iraq's board of state antiquities and heritage, had been consulted about the location of the new barracks.
There were similar protests after reports of damage to ancient sites by US forces in Babylon and Nineveh and international experts say the future looks bleak for Iraq's ancient heritage. Conservation projects in Iraq have stalled and many archeologists have left the country.
Samarra's department of antiquities was looted and burned in May.
Nearly 50,000 packs of playing cards meant to help US troops avoid unnecessary damage to ancient sites and curb the illegal trade of stolen artifacts are to be shipped to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as training sites in the US. Each card displays an artifact or site and gives a tip on how to avoid damaging historic treasures.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS