Ancient Ur Still Standing as Another Regime Topples

As the world mourns the looting of invaluable antiquities from the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad, farther south, curator Dhief Muhsen calmly recounted how he remained at his post here throughout the war to protect the Sumerian temples and burial ruins of this ancient city.

Ur, located near the Euphrates River about 190 miles southeast of the capital, survived unscathed despite its location astride the Tallil military air base, in large part because most Iraqi soldiers fled before U.S. and British soldiers arrived.

Although some bombs and artillery fire landed near the ruins, Muhsen said, fighting was relatively light in this part of what was once ancient Mesopotamia, the site of what are believed to be among the world’s oldest surviving buildings.

“I closed the gate and we didn’t have trouble,” the 44-year-old Muhsen said.

Watching over Ur is more than a job for the Muhsen family, which has lived in and around this historical site for three generations. Muhsen’s grandfather worked on a major excavation of the area by British archeologist C. Leonard Woolley that lasted from 1922 to 1934, and Muhsen’s father was a curator at the site. Muhsen and his brother now give guided tours of the grounds.

On Tuesday, as Muhsen recalled how the temple site escaped the war’s damage, potential Iraqi leaders were gathering in Nasiriyah with U.S. military and civilian officials to discuss the country’s uncertain future following the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s regime.

During much of his three-decade reign, Hussein showed little interest in Ur, part of which was discovered by a British archeologist in 1850. Iraq’s former president, Muhsen said, preferred to devote any funds spent on archeology to sites in and around what had been Babylon, an area closer to the capital and his source of power.

In 1998, however, the strongman changed his mind and gave the go-ahead for further excavation. Although only 20% of Ur has been explored, a new visitor rest house was built and reconstruction began on the ziggurat, a terraced pyramid that originally boasted seven levels. The project came to a halt a month ago with the outbreak of war.

Hussein’s newfound interest in Ur followed Pope John Paul II’s expressed desire to visit the grounds because of its link to Abraham, a patriarch revered by Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

Hussein ultimately turned down the pope’s request, but the possibility of a papal visit ultimately brought more money to the project.

The grounds’ most striking structure is the ziggurat temple built by Ur-Nammu, the founding king of the third Sumerian dynasty. Ur-Nammu restored order to the city after centuries of its being attacked by neighbors, enacted strict laws and revitalized the Sumerian empire, whose highly advanced culture predated the Greek and Roman civilizations by thousands of years. Other major ruins include the Nun Mah, Ningal and Suen Nannar temples, along with Abraham’s house.

In addition to honoring the kings who built them, the sites celebrate the moon god, Suen Ornanar. Although the Euphrates has since shifted course, the many clear desert nights left striking reflections of the moon in the water, Muhsen said, providing an inspiration for worshipers.

The reconstructed house -- said to be the birthplace of Abraham -- has close to 30 rooms, testifying to the wealth of the prophet’s father, who at the time was one of the select few who sold religious idols, Muhsen said. The house even had a basic plumbing system for collecting and storing water.

Ur has what are believed to be among the oldest buildings in the world, which include what some say is the first use of an arch or a vaulted ceiling.

For now, the war has disrupted the tourist trade to Ur. Given its proximity to the air base, the site has been declared off limits by American forces.

The military has started to organize tours for interested troops, which has helped Muhsen and his family. U.S. currency is highly sought after in Iraq, as the value of the local currency, the dinar, has plummeted because of the war. The going rate of $5 to $10 in tips is more in dinar terms than Iraqi teachers or soldiers make in a month.