Plundered, Stolen and Destroyed. The World Heritage of Mesopotamia in a historical perspective

Gebhard J. Selz

(University of Vienna)

This paper will apply a historical perspective to the role of plundering in Mesopotamia. It shows that history and memory are always connected to the political sphere, from which we have to discuss the changing reasons for this sort of continued barbarism. It will be argued that world-wide preservation of the cultural heritage must be based on a concept of a common World Heritage.