Will the UN rejuvenate the “Capital of the Ancient World”? That is the dream of many in Iraq. Getting
recognition from the UN as a World Heritage Site would mean a lot of money and
assistance from UNESCO.
On July 17, UNESCO added al-Ahwar marshes in southeastern
Iraq to the World Heritage list. Now, Iraq is seeking to add the 4,000-year-old
city of Babylon to the list, which includes world heritage properties of
special cultural and natural significance.
Hussein Fleih, Babylon’s director of antiquities and member
of Babil’s provincial council, told Al-Monitor, “Babylon will be competing to
earn that recognition in the voting process supervised by UNESCO for 2017.” He
said that naming Babylon a World Heritage site will help to preserve this
historical city by drawing not only local but international financial and
technical support.
In an interview with Al-Monitor, Fleih said, “Both the local
government in Babil and the Iraqi government are working toward adding the city
to the World Heritage list.”
In an expression of popular demand for adding Babylon to the
UNESCO list, a group of journalists and activists launched a social media
campaign June 20 under the hashtag #WeAreBabylon.
Journalist and activist Wissam al-Tai told Al-Monitor, “The
Saddam Hussein regime was unfair to Babylon with investments that served a
political agenda. In 1983, Hussein built a huge and luxurious castle on top of
a high hill there. Ignoring the resulting damage to the historic city, Saddam
further constructed artificial hills and lakes within the historic site to
immortalize his name. The campaign aims to protect this historical city from
negligence and ensure more financial allocations to preserve it.”
Karim Matar al-Zubaidi, head of the history department at the
University of Babylon, told Al-Monitor, “Including Babylon on the World
Heritage list will draw international technical support from experts, and
restoration techniques will help to restore the city according to global standards.
The history department at the University of Babylon is ready to provide
research and consultation to support Babylon in its bid to become a World
Heritage site.”
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