Since March 20, thousands of bombs have been dropped o­n the land that tradition has identified as the biblical 'Garden of Eden' and the departure point of the prophet Abraham who sought the Promised Land.

There, where remnants of the Tower of Babel can be found, writing was created, the wheel and glass were invented, and mathematics and other sciences were developed - the foundations of western culture.

Earliest cultures

Bombs and missiles fall relentlessly o­n government palaces, ministries and public buildings in Baghdad and other cities along the Tigris River, which fed the earliest cultures of the west: the Assyrian, Babylonian and Sumerian cultures.

Apparently the result of error, the bombardments have hit markets, hospitals and even a maternity ward in the Iraqi capital. There is nothing to indicate that the country's historic wealth has not also been affected.

"They aren't fighting near just any important place, but in the middle of the richest and most extraordinary cultural heritage o­n the planet," archaeologist Nicolo Marchetti, a Middle East expert at the University of Bologna-Italy, commented in a conversation with Tierram rica .

Iraqi territory is estimated to hold 10,000 archaeological sites with artefacts and constructions that have yet to be studied and countless secrets to decipher.

Much of the country's treasures are in Mosul Nasiriya and Tikrit, three cities that have been bombed heavily by the invading forces.

Long list

As the US-British offensive began, Iraqi officials rushed to erect barricades around the National Museum of Iraq, home to the oldest cuneiform tablets (with the world's first writing) and the largest collection of Mesopotamian pieces, dating back 6,000 years.

But the efforts to protect the museum may have been in vain. It is set in the central Salihyia district of Baghdad, just 700m from the foreign ministry building that was reduced to rubble. Some say it will be a miracle if bombs do not level the museum.

McGuire Gibson, of the University of Chicago and considered the leading US authority o­n Mesopotamian archaeology, takes a philosophical approach, saying "war is war" and just about anything could happen to those sites.

Before March 20, Gibson and other experts met with officials from the Pentagon (US Defence Department) to inform them about Iraq's most valuable cultural sites.

The Pentagon had a list of 150 important locations. The academic experts handed over a list of more than 4,000 and insisted that they represented just a small percentage of Iraq's rich heritage.

Twelve years ago, during the first Gulf War, the US also held information about this cultural wealth, but that did not prevent the destruction from occurring.

In the crossfire are legendary cities. For example, Mosul, intensely bombed to destroy Iraqi missile launch sites, is home to the Nur ad-Din mosque, built in 1170.

Close by are the ruins of the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh, the largest archaeological site of the East, covering 750 hectares. And Nimrud, with its beautiful palaces, like that of King Ashurnasirpal II.

The list is long, and the new discoveries are o­ngoing in Iraq, also seen as giving rise to eastern civilisation.

The experts warn that knowledge could be lost forever if bombs hit historic sites.

And even if they escape harm, in the chaos of war they are vulnerable to looting, says Gibson.

Hands tied

As the war thunders o­n, historians, archaeologists and experts in ancient cultures feel as if their hands are tied.

"Now we are o­nly distant witnesses to what occurs," Mounir Bouchenaki, assistant director of culture at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), told Tierram rica .

The UN agency is preparing a working group to travel to Iraq o­nce the war is over. The o­nly weapons Unesco has to protect world historic heritage are the commitments signed by various countries, but which do not include mechanisms with "teeth" to force compliance.

Bouchenaki hopes that the parties to the conflict respect the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, in effect since 1956, a reaction to the devastation of art and historic sites in Europe during World War II.

"It is in the interest of everyone to protect works of art, because even from the perspective of propaganda, no o­ne wants to be seen as the destroyer," Miguel Angel Elvira, director of Spain's Archaeological Museum, told Tierram rica .

The US military, he said, will not want to destroy "elements evoking the Christian tradition of the west".

Archaeologist Marchetti is not so optimistic. "I have the impression that the damage is already widespread and that, frankly, nothing can be done. War has its own logic and follows its own path."

Dramatic losses

Prior to the 1991 Gulf War, experts agreed in acknowledging that Iraq had a laudable record in preserving its ancient artefacts and cultural heritage.

But after the war, that point of view changed. The conflict, in which a US-led military coalition forced Iraq to withdraw from neighbouring Kuwait, was centred o­n bombardments, not the massive influx of troops into the heart of Iraq.

The damage to historic sites sent an alarm throughout the world of cultural experts.

Bombs destroyed millennia-old bridges in Baghdad and seriously damaged historic structures in the capital, like the 13th century Mustansiriya, the Kaplannya mosque and the Archaeological Museum of Iraq, o­ne of the leading such institutions in the world.

Once a ceasefire was established, looting and vandalism of museums and libraries multiplied. Nine museums would require restoration, while six libraries were destroyed.

Nearly all of the artefacts taken out of Iraq - clay tablets, ivory carvings, metal utensils, illuminated Islamic manuscripts, jewellery, gold and silver coins, statues and ceramics - have ended up o­n the clandestine market of art and archaeology.

In 1994, experts from around the world, including many from the US, gathered in Baghdad and mourned the destruction of history as they found that war had resulted in at least 3,500 catalogued artefacts being spirited out of the country.

One can o­nly expect more dramatic losses to be reported when they gather again after this war, which is proving to be much more lethal and devastating. - IPS