[Abcdxxxx]

Uh, no I'm not downplaying the collections importance no matter what it was. it's likely your Egyptian coworkers had the type of exposure to these babylonian artifacts denied most Western curators... but it's common sense.... look at Iraq and look at Iraq's cultural climate, and it's doubtful that the credibility of this collection was preserved. For example, It's doubtful that artifacts representative of Babylonian Jewry were preserved while the community itself was cleansed.... and it's doubtful that the same man who tore down ancient palaces would see the merit in historical archeaology.

On a side note - Fox News (I'm watching a lot of it today for some reason) is reporting this story in length with the Director of the NY Met commenting. Apparently the Pentagon were aware of these museums and their importance and warned of this.