Iraq receives 300 artifacts excavated from Ur

BAGHDAD: The Iraqi Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities announced that it had received 300 artifacts excavated by an American-Iraqi joint team from the ancient city of Ur in southern Iraq.

A statement by the ministry said the minister Abdul Amir alHamdani expressed his pleasure to receive the artifacts excavated from Ur and described them as important.

“The ministry has put a plan for the protection of artifacts and to strengthen the presence of Iraqi excavation personnel and send national teams to work in all the country’s provinces,” the statement quoted al-Hamdani as saying.

Meanwhile, Qais Rashid, the deputy head of the ministry, said “we have received the results of the work of the joint excavation team, which worked for two months in Ur site, and gave us excellent scientific results.”

“The pieces received will find their way to exhibition halls in museums,” the statement said.

Elizabeth Stone, head of the US excavation mission, said “the mission excavated in the (ruins) city of Ur as it is the first city to form the world’s population, and all the research results confirm that people in its society were equal without discrimination to give us a lesson in equality, justice and love.”

“The focus (of the excavation) was on knowing how this city was found, and the living standards of its population,” she said.

According to official statistics, more than 10,000 sites in Iraq are officially recognized as archaeological sites, but most of are not safeguarded and many are still subject to looting on an unprecedented scale.