Hello ARLIS'ers.
a friend sent me this--perhaps you have already seen it...but maybe some
good news for a change
Anne Haas
Bowdoin College
Originator: [log in to unmask]
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Library's volumes safely hidden
By Patrick Healy, Globe Staff, 5/13/2003
BAGHDAD -- On a rundown street of auto repair shops in oldSaddam =
City, a=20
Shi'ite mosque run by men in tattered clothing has becomea secret safe =
house=20
for Iraqi treasures.=20
Now that coalition forces are arresting lootersin the streets, the=20
mosque's leaders say their story can be told: Contraryto widespread =
belief,=20
the antique books of Iraq's National Library were notstolen by thieves =
last=20
month but were removed for safe keeping by self-appointedguardians of =
Iraq's=20
cultural heritage.=20
Inside a cavernous room at the Al Hak Mosque in the newly=20
namedRevolution City, roughly 400,000 manuscripts, biographies, =
religious=20
works,and graduate-school theses are stacked to the 12-foot ceiling and=20
gatheringdust in the dry, 95-degree heat.=20
In the Judaica-Hebrew section -- a small pile against the southernwall=
=20
-- one history book about Jews in Iraq dates to 1872, and a Talmudictext =
to=20
1880. There are newspapers recording the revolutionary days of July1958, =
when=20
the British-installed monarchy was overthrown and replaced bythe =
republic.=20
One book of folklore was largely indecipherable to the menat the mosque, =
but=20
they said it was almost 500 years old.=20
''We had to protect the Islamic and Arabic heritage, so we actedbefore=
=20
Baghdad fell to chaos,'' said Mohammad al-Jawad al-Tamimi, the mosque'simam=
.=20
''These books, it concerns the whole country.''=20
On April 15 the National Library was looted and set ablaze,compounding=
=20
the agony of many who cherish Iraq's role as an early, importantcivilizatio=
n,=20
and those mourning the loss of precious antiquities from theNational =
Museum.=20
At the time, the media reported that the library was forsaken.=20
International scholars, as well as James H. Billington, librarianof =
the=20
US Congress, have been preparing to come to Baghdad to sift throughthe=20
remains, create an inventory of lost and found works, and help rebuildthe=
=20
library.=20
But Tamimi -- who disclosed the mosque's holdings to a BostonGlobe=20
reporter yesterday and allowed a Globe translator to inspect the holdings--=
=20
smiled as he lifted a book with his parchment-colored fingers and=20
insistedthat all was not lost.=20
The books cannot be authenticated until US and Iraqi officialsinspect=
=20
them; the mosque's leaders plan to extend an invitation soon, oncelooting =
has=20
entirely subsided.=20
The library was believed to contain about 2 million works, includingso=
me=20
from the Abbasid Empire of 750 to 1250 AD that stretched from Portugalto=20=
Pakistan. Copies of most of the books published in Iraq were said to bein =
the=20
library.=20
What is certain is that many tens of thousands of books arelocated =
here,=20
in a variety of languages, ranging from the myths of Mesopotamiaand Iraqi =
war=20
chronologies to scientific papers by university students writtendecades =
ago.=20
Columns of sealed boxes of computer printers and photocopiersare =
in=20
another corner, belonging to the library's staff, Tamimi said. Heinsisted=
=20
that none of the books or equipment had once been stolen; some Iraqilooters=
=20
have been turning over goods to mosques in recent weeks.=20
''We have about 30 percent of the library holdings, and another60=20
percent are hidden [at the library] and elsewhere,'' said the sheik'sbrothe=
r,=20
Mahmoud al-Tamimi. ''We brought them all here to protect our pastfrom=20
thieves.''=20
What happened last month, the brothers and library workers said yesterday,=
=20
was essentially a preemptive rescue operation.
Librarians say that as American troops pressed into Baghdad April9, =
they=20
pleaded with soldiers to protect the site from looters and Kuwaitiarsonists=
.=20
They said the Kuwaitis were bent on revenge for the 1990-91 invasionand =
war.=20
But the troops were involved with the business of the day, topplingSaddam=
=20
Hussein's regime.=20
The library staff then turned to mosques, Mahmoud Tamimi said,and =
came=20
to him. Tamimi and his family began working with Hawza -- Shi'iteleaders =
who=20
loosely coordinate city and regional religious affairs -- torecruit=20
volunteers to protect the library.=20
On April 10, teams of men began moving library shelves at randominto=
=20
trucks belonging to neighbors of Tamimi's mosque 8 miles away. ''Noone =
tried=20
to stop us,'' Tamimi said.=20
The work continued for four days, until the arsonists appeared.Other=
=20
books and artifacts were hidden elsewhere on site, and library workersbelie=
ve=20
that at least some of those items survived the fire and looting.=20
Grim-faced Hawza members are now posted around the clock atthe =
library,=20
where the headless body of a statue of Hussein lies in the frontcourtyard.=
=20
(The head is rumored to be in an office inside.) Yesterday, areporter's =
press=20
pass was not acceptable for passage by three men at thegate, which had =
been=20
wrapped in wires and padlocked.=20
''Come back at 2 o'clock Wednesday when the man with the key arrives,'' =
said=20
one guard.
Another, Hamid Kharban, said he was proud to watch over the=20
librarybecause ''Iraqis have a very close relationship with books.''=20
''I know the value of books, that's why I'm protecting them,'' Kharban =
said.=20
''They are beyond value. Priceless.''
Patrick Healy can be reached at [log in to unmask]
This story ran on page A1 of the Boston Globe on 5/13/2003.
=A9 Copyright=
<3D%22http://www.boston.com/globe/search/copyright.html%22> 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
=20
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