The Looters by Harold Robbins Read Free Book Online Page A

antiquities that he believed belonged to the collection, he sent a fax to the Iraqi consulate. Nearly ten thousand pieces were expressly missing, but that was from the museum itself. How many thousands more were dug out of the ground by tomb robbers and sold to be smuggled out of the country was impossible to estimate.
    “It’s the Mask of Sammu-ramat,” he told her.
    The news story on television that set him off an hour earlier was about the $55 million auction sale for a Mask of Semiramis.
    “They call it Semiramis,” she said. She had heard his ravings a hundred times about antiquities, especially the one that he felt a personal connection with.
    He was so excited he bounced on the edge of the worn, stuffed couch. “That’s the Greek name, but she is Sammu-ramat to our people. It is the mask that was stolen from the museum.”
    “How can you prove it?”
    That was her immediate response each time he told her he had found a piece taken in the looting of the museum. Officially, the Iraqi government claimed that the museum was looted by a mob. Abdullah’s contention that it had been an organized conspiracy involving Iraqi and American troops had been the reason his daughter and sympathetic friends in Baghdad had helped him get out of the country. The claim had not found favor in Baghdad at a time when the government desperately needed American help.
    “Only one Mask of Sammu-ramat was in the museum,” he said, turning to face Asima. “A mask that is no stranger to me. Your grandfather died for it.”
    She closed her eyes and sighed. Life was hard. She had two small children to support, a husband who had died too soon, and a father who reminded her of the famous Spanish knight-errant who had jousted with windmills.
    Abdullah constantly made the rounds of galleries and museums and had made many claims of looted Iraqi antiquities being held by public and private collections. All the accusations had been ignored.
    This time he was accusing a private museum of buying stolen property. She had heard the name Piedmont and recognized it as the name of one of the rich families of the world.
    Asima and her father were simple people who were barely able to maintain basic subsistence. Much of what they earned went to the attorney who was handling her father’s claim of political asylum. She worried that he would set powerful forces into motion that would harm them.
    “Didn’t you tell me that Sammu-ramat brings bad luck?”
    He waved away her concerns without looking at her, his attention drawn to a news story about the sale at auction being repeated. A reporter was interviewing the Piedmont Museum curator, Madison Dupre, and Abdullah wanted to hear it.
    “You said she brought bad luck.”
    “Shhh. A tale to frighten children.”
    “I don’t think so. Your father was murdered after he possessed it. The museum he gave it to was looted. You were nearly killed and forced to flee. You told me that Sammu-ramat killed her own husband and lovers. I wonder, Father,” a look of concern in her eyes now, “whether you should continue—”
    He slapped his hands and jumped up and down on the edge of the couch.
    “Aha! I have them; I have them. This time I have them for certain. The mask they call Semiramis is the mask that was stolen from the museum.” He stood and beamed at his daughter. “I have the proof.”
    Asima didn’t respond. Her attention was drawn to the mask being shown on the news program. She had expected the mask to have the features of a beautiful woman. But the facial features went beyond beauty, conveying instead something darker and more sinister.
    “Allah be merciful! She’s evil!”

E MERGENCY R ED L IST OF I RAQI A NTIQUITIES AT R ISK
    The International Council of Museums (ICOM) announces the official publication of its Emergency Red List of Iraqi Antiquities at Risk, describing types of objects especially at risk or likely to have been stolen from Iraq….
    Cultural heritage in Iraq has suffered