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The Mask of Warka, also known as the 'Lady of Uruk' and the 'Sumerian Mona Lisa', is one of the earliest representations of the human face.

Marble

Date: ca. 3000 B.C.

IRAQ

On this day one can't help but think of the looting of the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad / April 2003.

When the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, the National Museum of Iraq (where the Mask of Warka was stored) was thoroughly looted. The Mask is thought to have been taken between April 10 and 12 of that year, along with forty other pieces, including the Vase of Warka and Bassetki Statue.

This is one of the pieces that was stolen and later recovered.

We are also reminded of the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas by the Taliban in Afghanistan / March 2001.

Archaeologist McGuire Gibson of the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute said, "People don't understand that Iraq is more important than Egypt in world heritage. The whole country is an archaeological site."