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Cultural Resources
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The spiral minaret at Abu Dulaf, 15 km north of Samarra. © Iraqi State Antiquities Authority. |
Khorsabad - Excavation of Gate A in the citadel of King Sargon II (721-705 B.C.). Photo from the 1933-34 expedition, Oriental Institute, Chicago. |
Prehistoric Baked-Clay Female Figurine, Ubaid Culture, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. |
Lyre decorated with gold bands and inlays (carnelian, shell); bull head in front made of gold sheets, from the Royal Cemetery at Ur, Oriental Institute, Chicago. |
Threatened Heritage Worldwide
The loss of cultural treasures is wide spread. These examples demonstrate the crucial value of virtual preservation when cultural properties are under threat.
We must work together to preserve both physical and digital heritage.
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Now stolen, this picture of a Hindu site was taken in 1990 in Kathmandu when the sculpture was intact. Courtesy of the Huntington Photographic Archive of Buddhist and Related Art. |
Photo of the same site taken in 1994 shows that the sculpture has been hacked out of its frame and removed. Courtesy of the Huntington Photographic Archive of Buddhist and Related Art. |
Cliff in Afghanistan with the Buddha carvings at Bamiyan. |
Buddha carvings at Bamiyan were destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001. |
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Threatened Heritage in Iraq
The cultural heritage of Iraq is currently under threat.
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This white marble head of a woman from the Uruk site, dated ca. 3000 BCE, was recently recovered. Image from The Oriental Institute, University of Chicago collection. |
A fresh looter's pit at the ancient southern Mesopotamian city of Larsa. Photograph by Steve McCurry, copyright 2003 National Geographic Society. |
Display case for Warka Vase in Baghdad Museum, 2003. Photo from Unesco report. |
Photo of the vase in original condition from Oriental Institute collection and one of the recovered pieces. |
ECAI
The ECAI community is working together to develop a shared infrastructure and technology. ECAI Iraq provides an opportunity for linking and sharing global information on Iraqi cultural history and the status of cultural properties.
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ECAI is working with collaborators on digital preservation projects around the globe. |
ECAI is a community of over 800 affiliates with skills, technology, and experience. ECAI’s community is collaborating to link data by using time and space for integration. |
ECAI has created a clearinghouse that links to over 1000 cultural datasets located on servers around the world. A map viewer allows browsing by time and place and dynamic map creation. |
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Distributed Content
The ECAI Iraq website contains timelines, maps, profiles of historical sites and eras, cultural artifacts, and preservation information. It includes mapping of topography, religious traditions, rivers, cities, empire boundaries, mercantile routes, and satellite imagery. This information has been collected from over 100 online and print resources.
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1846 map of Persia and Arabia, part of the David Rumsey Collection. |
Aerial picture of the Sasanian city of Firuzabad from the ECAI Sasanian website. |
Hatra
(Parthian Capital) |
Page from a dispersed Divan of Mahmud cAbd al-Baki, 1590–95; Ottoman, Iraq (Bagdhad). From the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gift of George D. Pratt, 1925 (25.83.9) |
Multimedia and Dynamic Maps
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Video of the Mongol empire. Mongol armies seized Baghdad in 1258, and Iraq became a frontier province of the Mongol empire. (23.6 mb) |
A video shows the spread of Islam from 600 to1100 CE. It includes various Islamic states that existed during that period. Video can be created from the dynamic map application with temporal change shown through animation. |
Dynamic Java maps allow integration of resources in using time and place. |
Cultural Atlas of Iraq
An ongoing collaboration.
With our collaborators and sponsors, this initial portal for exploration of Iraqi resources will be expanded into a online cultural atlas for use in teaching, research and preservation. URL: http://ecai.org/iraq
