Remains of Ancient Civilization Barely Survive the War

“Hold up, stay there!” 100km south of Baghdad stands Babylon, the treasure house of human history where many Mesopotamian kingdoms rose and fell from the city state of Summer in 2300 B.C. through the sudden death of King Alexander of Macedonia in 323.

I encountered with American troops while scaling the steps of the huge amphitheater, a building built by King Alexander, near the entrance of the site of magnificent remains.

American forces were expanding their occupation into 500m east of the amphitheater after seizing Hussein`s one of presidential palaces nearby, which was built in the shape of the divine tower of Babel.

Three soldiers were pointing their guns at me, while one crawled down toward me and searched my body in a hurried way. I suddenly felt scared thinking this American could become a target of an Iraqi sniper hidden somewhere nearby.

The name `Babylon` came from the world `Bab-ili,` which means `the gate of God.` The remains of Babylon that have survived until now are mostly from the New Babylonia Age under King Nebuchadnezzar II (605 B.C. through 562 B.C.), who is well known for the Babylon Captivity.

After searching my body at one corner of the stage of the theater, the Americans began to smoke cigarettes. This is the place where King Alexander gave his forces time for rest after defeating the strong foes from Persia to take Mesopotamia.

Seeing burnt-out woods on the ground, I asked the Americans whether there was a combat, and they said, “No.” It must have been looters then. When I went further into the site after looking around the theater. I could find a model of the Blue Gate and the Museum of King Nebuchadnezzar II.

A souvenir shop at the corner was left looted and burnt out. Across the street, I found a model of the Hammurabi Stone built to remember the king who made the first mankind`s book of laws.

The stone harboring many great secrets of the ancient Babylonia Kingdom was sent to Paris in 1902 by a French scholar studying an ancient capital city of a kingdom that once ruled Babylonia. Iraqis, therefore, had to make a copy to keep it in the museum.

A war destroys the past as well as the present. When I passed through the back door of the museum and walked toward the north, I could see the marching road from the New Babylonia Age on the right and the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar on the left.

President Hussein rebuilt the palace, which had been almost destroyed after looting and natural disasters for thousands of years. On every hundredth block used to rebuild the site, there was an inscribed sign `rebuilt by President Saddam Hussein in 1989`.

It is said that Nebuchadnezzar built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon for his queen Amitis, but there I could not find any of its trace. It is also speculated that the Summer tried to build a new tower somewhere near this site in 2010 B.C. only to give up facing the wrath of God. All that I could see there, however, were American troops riding on armored tanks.

The great remains of human history were losing their glory facing the strong wind of the desert, wars, lootings and greedy rulers. The war on Iraq was seen as a disaster to archeologists. Luckily, however, many cultural remains were able to avoid destruction, except for the Baghdad Museum completely ravaged by looters. It must be because there was nothing to make money out of it.

Kadimine Temple in Kadimine, a village 6km north of Baghdad, is the most magnificent and sacred place in Baghdad harboring tombs of royal families such as Al Manssure. Islamic temples usually have a circle dome at the center and two minarets on the right and the left side respectively. But here in Kadimine, I could find two golden domes at the center and four minarets at every corner.

There were many signs of bombing on the nearby residential area, but this temple could spare itself from the attacks. There were a large number of Muslims gathering at the square in front of the temple on Friday April 18, an Islamic holiday.

Al Shuhada Bridge up north is one of the three bridges hanging across the Tigris River, and the largest Islamic university of Mustansirya, built during the Abas Ruling in 1233, stands right across the bridge on the east side. Now it has turned to a tourist attraction, but it had contributed greatly to mankind by teaching Arab language, Koran, law, logics, astrology, arithmetic and medicine.

“I was so worried about bombing during the war, but luckily it remains intact,” said Hussian, a 54-year-old manager of the university building. Just behind the university, however, many buildings such as Saher Al Shappi Shopping Center were left completely destroyed after bombings and lootings.

Cultural remains survived the war but many innocent lives had to go away, which is an irony of a war.