Unearthing the splendour of Ur in Iraq
The buried antiquities of Ur could one day outshine those of ancient Egypt, archaeologists at alarge-scale excavation in Iraq believe.
By Mehdi Lebouachera, in Tell al-Muqayyar for AFP
Published: 11:53AM GMT 19 Feb 2010
With the country ravaged by war and strife since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam
Hussein, Baghdad’s struggling government has had greater priorities than funding large-scale digs at
Ur - the birth place of Abraham and one of the cradles of civilisation - where only small teams have
been working since 2005.
“When the (large-scale) excavations restart, tons of antiquities will see the light of day, filling
entire museum wings,” enthused Dhaif Moussin, who is in charge of protecting a site that has been
prone to looting…“