Friends and colleagues: A stunning collection of jewelry and other precious
artifacts was recovered in the late 1980s from Assyrian royal tombs near
Mosul
in northern Iraq.  Although they have been compared to the contents of
Tutankhamun's tomb, these artifacts disappeared for nearly 13 years.
Finding the
Treasures of Nimrud, the latest audio feature on our public education
website,
The Archaeology Channel (www.archaeologychannel.org), is the story of how
this
collection was rediscovered in the Central Bank of Iraq after the fall of
Baghdad.

In the aftermath of the looting that took place following the demise of the
Saddam Hussein regime, many feared that this collection was lost forever
along
with countless other priceless objects from the National Museum and other
places in Iraq.  Early in June 2003, film-maker Jason Williams and his
National
Geographic camera crew succeeded in locating and recovering the Treasures of
Nimrud and other precious heritage objects in the Central Bank of Iraq,
where in
1990 they had been placed for safekeeping.  Meanwhile, looting is reportedly
continuing at archaeological sites elsewhere in the country.  In our
exclusive
interview, recorded via telephone on 31 July 2003, Mr. Williams recounts
this
remarkable story and offers his perspectives on the heritage crisis in Iraq.

This and other programs are available on TAC for your use and enjoyment.  If
you feel that this project is a worthy endeavor, please participate in our
Membership (http://www.archaeologychannel.org/member.html) and Underwriting
(http://www.archaeologychannel.org/sponsor.html) programs.  Only with your
help can
we continue and enhance this nonprofit public-education and
visitor-supported
service.  We also welcome new content partners as we reach out to the world
community.

Please forward this message to others who may be interested.

Richard M. Pettigrew, Ph.D., RPA
President and Executive Director
Archaeological Legacy Institute
http://www.archaeologychannel.org

_________________________________________________________________
Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*.
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail