Updated emergency ‘Red List’ of Iraq antiquities at risk released

An emergency “Red List” of Iraqi antiquities at risk from looting was launched at the Louvre in Paris yesterday, 1 June. This follows recent attacks by Islamic State extremists on museums and sites at Mosul, Nineveh, Nimrud and Hatra. The militants filmed their deliberate destruction for propaganda videos, but they may well have also looted more portable objects for sale on the international market. The Emergency Red List of Iraqi Cultural Objects at Risk is an updated version of the original 2003 publication, produced after the looting of the Baghdad Museum. This latest leaflet illustrates and records the type of antiquities that are now especially vulnerable (it is not a listing of specific items known to have been looted). Among the examples cited are cuneiform tablets, cylinder seals, Assyrian reliefs and coins. The list is aimed particularly at customs officials around the world, to alert them to potentially looted Iraqi material. It is published by the Paris-based International Council of Museums, with funding from the US Department of State.