Restoring Babylon - Restorative Redevelopment of Devastated Ecocultural Landscapes - page 21

floating gardens, were able to handle large influxes of organic waste, and could break
down even the complex molecules of industrial toxins. It was also a restorative sew-
age system, in that it had the ability to return water to the watershed that was cleaner
and more oxygenated than the original source water that was extracted from a river
or lake. Such systems can thus contribute to river and lake restoration.
Tenochtitlan could not, and will not, rise again. Its culture and religion were
merged (via the torture and execution of their priests) with European culture and reli-
gion (although it's said that the indigenous religion altered local Catholicism almost
as much as Catholicism altered it). Likewise, the glory of ancient Babylon is unlikely
to rise again, but this isn't for want of trying on Saddam Hussein's part.
From 1984 to his overthrow by the United States (which had helped him con-
solidate his dictatorial power in the first place), Hussein spent some $800 million
rebuilding the ancient city of Babylon. Hussein's approach to “restoring” the city
paid scant respect to the ancient ruins, which he literally built on top of, rather than
excavating and properly restoring them. The United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) protested this destructive form of “restora-
tion,” as this immense project was obviously meant to be more a new monument to
the restorer than a restoration of ancient Babylon: “Saddam Hussein assumed control
of Iraq in 1979. Soon afterward, he allocated funds toward the restoration of Babylon.
Over the past two decades sixty million bricks have been laid in the reconstruction
of Nebuchadnezzar's fabled city.… He has taken great care to restore the glory of
the ancient city. …By rebuilding Nebuchadnessar's city, Hussein exploited the natu-
ral opportunity to portray himself as Nebuchadnezzar's modern successor” (Dyer
2003). Original bricks at the ancient site are inscribed, “I am Nebuchadnezzar, the
king of the world.” Saddam's bricks say, “In the year of President Saddam Hussein all
Babylon was constructed in three stages. From Nebuchadnezzar to Saddam Hussein,
Babylon is rising again.”
It might well be that Babylon has more value as a ruins than as a rebuilt attrac-
tion. Maybe there's something of value that could be salvaged from that expensive
effort. But if it were to be restored, and if peace were restored, and if the country's
other built heritage were restored, and if Iraq's infrastructure (rural and urban) were
restored, and if its agricultural lands were restored, and if its watersheds and rivers
were restored, and if the marshes were restored, what a wonderful country it could
be … again.
That sounds like an impossibly expensive dream, but for one factor. The oil
that has (at present) turned Iraq into the new Vietnam could fund all of this res-
toration, laying the groundwork for a country that could thrive well after the oil
runs out. Of course, Iraq would have to own and be the primary beneficiary of
its oil, which might not be one of the goals of the current U.S. agenda, but that's
another story. While the United States has been acting more or less unilaterally in
Iraq, the future of international support for Iraq looks good, because restoration
has many political upsides and almost no political downsides. Japan, for instance,
is funding an $11 million project to restore the Mesopotamian marshes, train 250
Iraqis in wetlands management, and provide clean drinking water and sanitation to
about 100,000 marsh Arabs who are living in the marsh area during the restoration
(France 2011).