Reclaiming a Plundered Past Archaeology and Nation Building in Modern Iraq by Magnus T. Bernhardsson (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006. 327 pages.)

Abstract

“Stuff happens.” United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s
laconic comment on the widespread looting triggered by Baghdad’s fall in
early April 2003 arguably marks the lowest point in Iraqi archaeology, a
field already stained and tarnished by the ugliness of international geopolitics.
Priceless treasures were plundered by well-informed gangs of thieves
who smashed or ignored replicas on display and went straight for the concealed
originals, while the more opportunistic looters simply made off
with whatever they could seize. Despite briefings by archaeologists before
the war, the American government did not order its military to intervene, and
thereby allowed the damage to Iraq’s cultural patrimony to accelerate beyond
repair.
In a fitting introduction, Magnus Bernhardsson uses this preventable disaster
as a segue into the theme of his work: the largely unfortunate sublimation
of the archaeological record to nationalism and nation building. As he
aptly notes, “nationalism influences the kinds of questions archaeologists
have been willing to ask and determines what sort of historical sites to ...