Iraq can rewrite history books by Romana Schlesingerova

Iraq is still full of hidden archeological artifacts. Historians say, our school books will have to be rewritten in next 10 years or sooner. It is very possible, that the proof of cultures living in this area will be revealed and the boundaries and dates known until today will be moved further. "This land is hiding and enormous history. The biggest part of it needs to be still revealed. Once, we will gain this achievement and once it's done, we will have to reassess our present knowledge from the very core," said John Russel, professor of archeology in Massachusetts. Russel was a leader of a working group in between 1989-1990, in the past center of Assyrian kings, Ninive, at the north of Iraq. Every year, his people found something that moved the era of old civilizations thousand years back. "That's Iraq," said Russel. Iraq is fighting against the thievery of historical artifacts. Those have an extreme value on the black market and most of the times end up in private collections all over the world. They are not satisfied only with robbing the tombs. Several monuments vanished from the National Museum as well. The missing things include valuable alabaster mask, portraying woman`s face and 5000 stone seals, used by workers for labeling ceramic goods. According to Russel, there are 20 unique artifacts missing and around 10 000 minor works. Some of those were probably imported to Switzerland, Great Britain or USA. Iraqian National Museum went trough a major reconstruction and if the security allows, it can be open in few months.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071205/ap_on_re_eu/italy_roman_throne;_ylt=ArUO8P5WOFgneRw8i_VdaF.s0NUE

by Romana Schlesingerova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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