The view from the top of Eanna ziggurat in Uruk, Iraq, shows ancient building foundations exposed to the elements. A 2008 archeological survey of the area revealed erosion rather than looting to be the primary cause of concern for preservation of the site, photographed in June.

"The ongoing problem is not so much looting or military damage, it is the fact that these sites have faced 30 years of neglect," said Paul Collins, curator of later Mesopotamian collections at the British Museum, which led the survey.

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