British Museum says U.S.-led troops damaged ancient Iraqi city of Babylon

[Judi Lynn]

British Museum says U.S.-led troops damaged ancient Iraqi city of Babylon
By Associated Press, 1/15/2005 04:47

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LONDON (AP) U.S.-led troops using the ancient Iraqi city of Babylon as a base have caused widespread damage and contamination, according to a report by the British Museum.

The report, quoted by the Guardian newspaper on Saturday, said military vehicles had crushed a 2,600-year-old brick pavement and that there were archaeological fragments scattered across the site, including broken bricks stamped by King Nebuchadnezzar.

The dragons at the Ishtar Gate were marred by cracks and gaps where someone tried to remove their decorative bricks, the paper said.
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John Curtis, keeper of the British Museum's Near East department, who was invited by the Iraqis to study the site, also found that large quantities of sand mixed with archaeological fragments have been taken from the site to fill military sandbags and metal mesh baskets, the newspaper said.

''This is tantamount to establishing a military camp around the Great Pyramid in Egypt or around Stonehenge in Britain,'' Curtis said in the report.
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http://www.boston.com/dailynews/015/world/British_Museum_says_U_S_led_tr:.shtml

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