National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Neglect, Not Looting, Threatens Iraq Sites, Study Says


Email to a Friend	<< Back to Full Story

A 4,000-year-old ziggurat, or pyramid-like structure, in the ancient Iraqi city of Ur is showing serious signs of neglect and decay, according to a recent survey of several historic sites in the southern part of the country. Ur, pictured in this June 2008 photo, is nearly 200 miles (320 kilometers) south of Baghdad. The city and temples there were bombed in the first Gulf War (1990-1991). Researchers suspect the bombing cracked a protective layer of Kassite temple, next to the ziggurat, allowing water to erode its ancient brickwork.

Photograph courtesy Crown Copyright