European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 19, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse                                It of -.pi. T k q.iriy0-x a a a Quot . Iii Iii i i1iiil a a Iii ii Quot i Irvy i a.  of time politics take toll on ancient City this 15-year-old photo shows that Little is visible of the grandeur that was Babylon. Today the iraqis Are building new Walls from neatly Cut Bright yellow bricks. Each Brick bears the name of Saddam  Edwin Chen los Angeles times Over the millennia Many calamities have struck Babylon this Cradle of civilization site of the Tower of Babel and the hanging Cardens one of the seven wonders of the world one of the worst occurred in 538 , when Babylon fell to elephant ending persian imperialists and 200 years of decay set m. Some experts say the most recent was when iraqi president Saddam Hussein set out to re create ancient Babylon a in his own  his reign a new Babylon is rising. But it is hardly one that Hammurabi or Nebuchadnezzar would recognize. The euphrates River which once bisected the Square inner Core of Babylon Long ago changed course and now ties Well to the West. In its place is a Plain Concrete ditch filled with shallow murky water nearby a new ishtar Cate barely half the size of the original now stands decorated with friezes of bulls dragons and Lions executed in enamelled coloured Brick. The effect is decidedly More Disneyland than Mesopotamia. And what remains of a Broad Boulevard known As procession Street is now barely discernible a As a narrow dirt path overgrown with weeds instead a new Stone path leads up to the Garish ishtar Cate. Inside the Gate Over the crumbled remains of Babylon s original double Row of defensive Walls the iraqis have put up new Walls perhaps 60 fee tall or higher. The neatly Cut bricks Are Bright yellow a and were dearly mass produced in a modern factory. A each Brick bears Hussein s name. Quot tourism being what it is i suppose it was a natural \ desire to have. Something there for visitors to see Quot lamented one . Archaeologist who specializes in the Middle East. Actually the first Babylonia e. 2100 . Indications that ,. Pitt a remains of old Babylon a and the extent to which the present now intrudes upon the past a emerge Well before one reaches Babylon about 60 Miles South of Baghdad. No matter what direction one approaches the City from it is impossible to miss the bigger than Tife billboards of Hussein the new guardian of Babylon. Quot the Coltof personality reached its Zenith in the restoration of ancient Babylon where Saddam Hussein tied himself to the greatness of Nebuchadnezzar Quot author Sandra Mackey rues in her latest Book on the Middle East passion and politics the turbulent world of the arabs. It was under Nebuchadnezzar ii that Babylon attained its greatest glory. The ancient City dates to at least 2,400 years. Before Christ. At its height g05-5g3 .Babylon was regarded As one of the most Beautiful cities in the world. It was Here in the Fertile Crescent that Mankind first turned from Hunting and gathering to agriculture and began using the seven Day week based on a 24-hour Day. Clay tablets reveal an economic life of amazing complexity for its Day including instalment buying. But the current restoration of Babylon begun in 1978 and interrupted by a sweeping International Trade embargo against Iraq following its 1990 invasion of Kuwait is receiving mixed reviews from experts on Middle East archaeology. In an interview one noted professor of near East archaeology expressed deep disappointment he asked not to be named saying he did not want to incur iraqi Wrath because he Hopes to be invited Back. But prudence Harper curator of the ancient near Eastern Art department at new York s metropolitan museum was less oblique. Quot yes he s stamped the bricks with his name. But that s All right. The babylonians stamped them with their names too Quot she said. Quot but there has been a lot of modern reconstruction Quot she conceded. A _ a the deterioration of Babylon a and its crass modernization a seem symptomatic of a larger mind set throughout Iraq the Home after All of perhaps More Sites that reveal the Story of ancient civilization than any other nation. A a near the Southern port of Basra an Oil refinery now occupies the possible location of the Garden of Eden a suspected one time chemical warfare Plant sits near the a Tomb of Jonah a military air base lies near or the Birthplace of Abraham a. A. But nowhere is the collision of old and new More jarring than in  from the reconstructed ishtar Cate the new double Walls and a few temples and other replicas the site is Little More than a vast expanse of arid Mounds and Hills occasionally dotted by the crumbling remains of original  place is eerily still under the hot Sun. On a tour one recent afternoon a visitor saw no other tourists. And the Nebuchadnezzar museum was padlocked a until a gift store owner shuffled Over to open the heavy wooden doors. A a Quot it s the sanctions Quot the merchant said dismissively referring to the economic sanctions which include a ban on air traffic into and out of Iraq later a Busload of bedraggled jordanians arrived to tour Babylon. Despite the paucity of visitors the site is strewn with a surprising amount of trash a and even some Graffiti. A that so Little remains of old Babylon can be blamed in part on the corrosive effect of the harsh desert climate. On unbaked Clay the prime building material . Over time nearby residents also have freely carted a a. A a continued on Page 4