That is one option noted by the NY Times in an article today on the ancient city. It makes for interesting reading for the archaeologically inclined – even though it includes the all-important anti-American slant for which the formerly great paper is now known.

In this ancient city, it is hard to tell what are ruins and what's just ruined.

Crumbling brick buildings, some 2,500 years old, look like smashed sand castles at the beach.

Famous sites, like the Tower of Babel and the Hanging Gardens, are swallowed up by river reeds.

Signs of military occupation are everywhere, including trenches, bullet casings, shiny coils of razor wire and blast walls stamped, "This side Scud protection."
Babylon, the mud-brick city with the million-dollar name, has paid the price of war. It has been ransacked, looted, torn up, paved over, neglected and roughly occupied. Archaeologists said American soldiers even used soil thick with priceless artifacts to stuff sandbags.

But Iraqi leaders and United Nations officials are not giving up on it. They are working assiduously to restore Babylon, home to one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and turn it into a cultural center and possibly even an Iraqi theme park.

Funny, though, how the article glosses over the extent of SaddamÂ’s rape of the site during his years in power. I guess they wouldnÂ’t want to offend their lefty-readers by suggesting that their hero was a bad guy.

Posted by: Greg at 10:07 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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