Iraq's treasures

The current issue of the Smithsonian magazine features an article about the looting of ancient artifacts in Iraq, how extensive it was, and what is being done to recover and repair stolen artifacts. The article also has some nice summaries about the history and archaeological significance of various Iraqi or ancient Mesopotamian cities—Uruk, Ashur, Babylon, Hatra, and Samarra. (It's in a .pdf file so the accompanying color photographs are preserved in the online version.)