The World's Stolen Treasures

The Guardian newspaper reported this weekend that a crumbling palace built by Saddam Hussein may be restored as a museum in Basra, Iraq. The port city’s original museum was looted in the 1991 Gulf War. Some of its antiquities stretched back some 5,000 years, including pieces from the ancient site of Eridu, thought to be the first city in the world.

Many of the treasures ended up in the British and Baghdad museums - some damaged, some stolen, some dubiously recovered. Unfortunately, war and plunder go hand-in-hand with the antiquities trade. Its history is a long and shady one, involving colonial-era pillaging, rampant tomb-robbing, Nazi looting, crooked dealing, and national identity. Debates rage over where these treasures belong – in the world’s most-visited museums like the Met or the Louvre, or in their countries of origin, where conservation and security may be lax.

Sharon Waxman is former culture reporter for The New York Times, and she's the author of Loot: The Battle Over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World. The new book digs into the dark history and current controversies in the contentious world of humanity’s ancient treasures. Sharon Waxman joins Word of Mouth on the line from her home in southern California.

Sharon will be appearing at the Cambridge Forum in Cambridge, MA tomorrow evening, Dec. 3. There's more information here.