cultural heritage

Visitors with the Bil Weekend tourism company take photographs inside the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon, in the area around the Ishtar gate. The animal on the walls ins a dragon-like creature associated with the Babylonian god Marduk.

World News

'It Was Like Magic': Iraqis Visit Babylon And Other Heritage Sites For 1st Time

2:44pm February 23, 2021

by Alice Fordham

Domestic tourism has been strong in Iraq's northern Kurdish region, but sites in more impoverished, insecure areas tend to be visited less. A few Iraqi tourism companies are trying to change that.

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Iraqi National Museum Deputy Director Musin Hassan holds his head in his hands as he sits amid destroyed artifacts in the Baghdad museum in 2003.

World News

In Iraq, Authorities Continue To Fight Uphill Battle Against Antiquities Plunder

1:49pm August 20, 2020

by Jane Arraf

Heritage experts say hundreds of thousands of pieces have been looted at archaeological sites and museums. As the illegal trade in antiquities continues, Iraq is trying to get objects returned.

Screenshot of video on Facebook showing an Egyptian sarcophagus with mummy inside for sale. According to the ATHAR Project, the video is from an area known for extensive antiquities looting. Facebook bans trade in antiquities and human remains, but relies

World News

Facebook Has Moved To Ban Sales Of Looted Antiquities. Will It Make A Difference?

2:47pm July 31, 2020

by Jane Arraf

Archaeologists have ID'ed 100-plus Facebook groups offering looted and illicit antiquities for sale. New rules ban the sale of "historical artifacts" on Facebook but critics want more enforcement.

A woman prepares couscous in a small Amazigh (Berber) hamlet on the eastern slopes of Morocco's High Atlas Mountains.

World News

Couscous: A Symbol Of Harmony In Northwest Africa, A Region Of Clashes

7:00am June 27, 2019

by Jeff Koehler

Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania have a turbulent history. But they've created a joint bid to secure world heritage status for a food with deep roots and cultural meaning across the region.

Archaeologist Koji Iesaki holds a carved roof ornament excavated at the former site of the Jyokyo-ji temple in Kyoto, Japan. Iesaki and other archaeologists have their hands full as a pre-Olympic building boom has helped reveal centuries-old artifacts fro

Ahead Of 2020 Summer Olympics, A Building Boom In Kyoto Is Yielding Ancient Artifacts

7:26pm February 06, 2019

by Anthony Kuhn

Archaeologists are rushing to uncover, document and preserve centuries-old objects as new hotels and office buildings go up in the ancient former capital of Japan.

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Ownership of "Statue of a Victorious Youth," a bronze sculpture of ancient Greek origin, is being disputed. An American museum is trying to keep it.

Italian Court Orders Getty Museum To Return Statue To Italy

5:07pm December 05, 2018

by Camila Domonoske

The Getty Museum in Los Angeles says it has no intention of returning the "Statue of a Victorious Youth," a piece of art from ancient Greece discovered off the Italian coast in the 1960s.

Digicel Reggae On The Hill 2016. -© Life After Gravity - http://www.fb.com/LifeAfterGravity

Gussie Clarke Says Reggae Spreads A Universal Message

6:44pm December 02, 2018

by Michel Martin

Reggae music was added to the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. One of the pioneers of reggae, music producer, Augustus "Gussie" Clarke, shares how the genre impacts the world.

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This image on a panel along the Archaeological Nature Trail in the 'Opunohu Valley on the island Mo'orea shows a taro farmer at work.

A Cultural Project In Polynesia Has The Power To Teach Us All

11:55am November 30, 2017

by Barbara J. King

Polynesia was colonized by the French and, even today, Polynesians are taught more about French history than their own. A new archaeological project aims to help change that, says Barbara J. King.