Friends and colleagues,
The latest news from Dr. Saad Eskander, Director-General of the Iraq National Library and Archive, is that he and the department heads have met. Despite the fact that the security situation is not one whit better than it has been of late, they have decided to re-open their institution. Dr. Eskander has divided the librarians and archivists into two groups; each group will work a three-day week, permitting access throughout the week. As he put it in an e-mail ,communication, "We all felt that it was vital to serve our people regardless of the security situation." Given that all citizens of Baghdad--and other places in Iraq--face many challenges simply trying to make their way, day to day, our Iraqi colleagues deserve sympathy, admiration, and honor for risking their lives in service of their institution and the commonweal.
Jeff
--
******************************
Jeffrey B. Spurr
Islamic and Middle East Specialist
Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture
Fine Arts Library, Harvard University
Fogg Art Museum
32 Quincy St.
Cambridge, MA 02138-3802
Phone: (617) 495-3372
Fax: (617) 496-4889
http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/finearts/collections/agakhan.html
http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/finearts/islamicclass/index.html
http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/finearts/collections/semitic.html
http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/finearts/collections/semitic_access.html
http://archnet.org/lobby.tcl
http://archnet.org/library/documents/one-document.tcl?document_id=6041
http://archnet.org/library/documents/one-document.tcl?document_id=6042
Assyriologi - om oldtidens Irak, og den irakiske kulturarv
Irak-krigen har været en katastrofe for Iraks før-islamiske kulturarv.
Arkæologiske sites er bogstavligt talt blevet gennemhullet af røvere på jagt efter genstande, der - ofte på bestilling - kan afsættes til rige samlere i Vesten.
Resultatet: De gamle byhøje er forvandlede til nøgne månelandskaber; frarøvet den rige kulturarv, som de har bevaret i årtusinder.
For forskningen betyder det en uoprettelig skad. Historie uden kontekst!
Uden at vide, hvor og i hilken sammenhæng, som genstandene har indgået, bliver vi frataget den unikke mulighed, som vi har for at studere en af menneskehedens ældste højkulturer. Det avr her, at byer og skrift første gang så dagens lys for over 5000 år siden.
Her kan du se en film, om situationen i Irak: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3519855663545752103&q=The+Real+Iraq%3A&pr=goog-sl
Ingen kommentarer:
Send en kommentar