In early April, Donny George, head of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage in Baghdad (SBAH), sent a team to investigate both claims. He determined that a door socket with an inscription and four other stones had in fact been removed and taken to the Nasiriyah museum. However, he found no evidence to support the claim that 500 tablets had been discovered at Eridu.

When contacted for this article, Dr. Chiodi's assistant, Mara Murgia, wrote that Dr. Chiodi is "convalescing due to a recent delicate operation to her leg. Professor Pettinato is unreachable at present as he is abroad and does not use email."

This is not the first time an archaeological team from an occupation country has tried to excavate in Iraq following the 2003 war. In 2004, a Polish team was invited by the South Central Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) administrator, Mike Gfoeller, to dig at Babylon, which was within the Polish area of control. When John Russell, Deputy Advisor for Culture for the CPA, learned of their plans, he managed to stop the work before the team arrived.

The 1954 United Nations Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict prohibits countries from conducting archaeological excavations during occupation. Article 9:B: states, "a Party in occupation of the whole or part of the territory of another Party shall prohibit and prevent in relation to the occupied territory: any archaeological excavation, save where this is strictly required to safeguard, record or preserve cultural property." Italy and Poland have both ratified the convention, while the United States has not.

Under Iraqi law, it is also a crime to excavate without the approval of the Iraqi government. During Saddam Hussein's regime, illegal excavation was punishable by death. In the 1990s, Saddam Hussein televised the execution of ten men who were caught trying to smuggle the head of an Assyrian lion out of the country.

Archaeologists in the US are puzzled by Pettinato's claims, some suggesting that Pettinato made up the tablet find in order to hold onto a large grant from the Italian government that he received to study tablets in Iraq.

"I think he found the Eridu dig house," suggested Elizabeth Stone, Professor at SUNY Stony Brook. "He says he found inscriptions from the Ur III period. But Eridu wasn't inhabited during the Ur III period. The Eridu dig house, however, was built from stamped bricks taken from Ur. That would explain the surface finds as well, since you don't tend to find tablets lying around the surface of a site."

Pettinato, no stranger to controversy, sparked outrage from the Syrian government in the 1970s and 80s for publishing translations of cuneiform tablets found at Ebla (Tell Mardikh), suggesting a connection between Ebla, a third millennium B.C.E site, and the Bible. His claims were later discredited.

"He is a wonderful scholar," Donny George said in his defense, reflecting on the situation, "I don't understand why he would make these claims." Donny George had granted permission for the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) to create a virtual museum on the web. Giovanni Pettinato and Silvia Chiodi were advisors to that project. Donny George has since received an apology from CNR.

The role of the Italian forces in the incident remains unclear. The Italian Carabinieri, based in Nasiriyah, have often extended themselves to protect the cultural resources in the Dhi Qar province, at times conducting patrols to protect the archaeological sites, and more recently training civil guards and funding the rebuilding of the Nasiriyah Museum. The museum reopened on January 27, 2006 in an elaborate ceremony with U.S. and Italian forces in attendance.

"Unfortunately, when you build a museum, the first thing people tend to want to do is fill it, and that is the last thing we need," remarked John Russell, speculating on why the Italians would bring a door socket from Ur to the Nasiriyah Museum. "The timing is interesting."

In a strongly worded email to Pettinato on April 6, Dr. George wrote, "as for the act of extracting the stones, especially the door sockets, from the city of Ur, this is a complete unaccepted act and subject, because you were in Ur just for taking photos for the virtual museum project that we've agreed on in our meetings in Italy last February, you were not there to dig things up, this is a clear violation of the Iraqi Antiquities Law, this means that you may be taken to an Iraqi court!"

With the growing influence of fundamentalism in southern Iraq, being taken to an Iraqi court is not a threat to be taken lightly. In fact, while the Italian team was removing the foundation stone at Ur, the Inspector for Antiquities for the Dhi Qar province, Abdul Amir Hamdani, was himself awaiting sentencing by a local Nasiriyah judge. He has been accused of corruption in what many believe is a coordinated attempt by individuals tied to Al Fadilah, the Islamist "morality" party, to take control of the Nasiriyah antiquities office. Al Fadilah, rapidly gaining power in the south, won the governorship of Basra on March 12, and has already taken over three public offices in Nasiriyah.

In an ominous sign indicating the amount of power that these groups wield, no one contacted for this article in Baghdad or Nasiriyah would speak publicly on the issue for fear of retribution. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior Iraqi official said, "I am so worried, if [the fundamentalists] gain control I don't know what will happen, if they gain control, the south might end up like the Taliban."

Most of the archaeological sites in the Dhi Qar province are pre-Islamic, primarily from the Ubiad, Sumerian, Akkadian and Babylonian periods dating roughly from 6000 B.C.E to 1000 B.C.E. The work of the Nasiriyah Museum and the Dhi Qar Antiquities Inspectors office is largely focused on protecting those sites, and preventing the looting that has ravaged the area.

Attacks on culture are not limited to the looting of ancient sites. Sumerian inspired modern sculptures in the city Nasiriyah have been destroyed on several occasions by militants during fighting between the militants and the Italian forces, as well as by vandals opposed to what are considered pagan works showing women in dress that expose the leg below the knee.

Each of Iraq's eighteen provinces has its own inspector of antiquities, who is responsible for protecting archaeological sites within the province. The inspector of antiquities in turn reports to the national State Board of Antiquities and Heritage. With the looting of archaeological sites in southern Iraq still a thriving business, control of the antiquities department is a significant prize.

A link between Islamic militants and looting has long been suspected, but difficult to prove. In May of 2004, the Nasiriyah museum was burned and looted during a Mahdi Army uprising. Militants came to the front door in the evening during intense fighting with Italian forces, telling the museum guards they were "here to kill Mr. Hamdani." The guards ran and hid on the roof while the militants burned the museum and stole computers and office equipment. Anti-coalition graffiti appeared on the destroyed guard towers at looted archaeological sites. A "hidden fatwa", that made it OK to loot if the money was used to buy arms to fight the coalition, was rumored on the streets of Nasiriyah. Fajr, the center for Iraq's illicit antiquities trade, was also a hotbed of the militants in the south.

And this isn't the first time Mr. Hamdani has had to face charges of corruption. Similar charges were leveled eighteen months ago as he worked tirelessly to battle the looting at the archaeological sites under his care. At that time, the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage sent a delegation to investigate and found the claims baseless.

For Donny George, his has been a battle to maintain control of the provinces. In October, 2005, during the final days of the drafting of the Iraqi constitution, as Shi'ite political parties pushed for federalism, it appeared that control of the antiquities offices would become the domain of Iraq's eighteen provinces. Only as a result of demonstrations led by Donny George outside of the Baghdad Museum, and last minute negotiations, was the wording of the constitution changed, and control of the country's cultural heritage kept at the national level.

"Our national wealth of archaeological riches will be divided among these regions and subject to the whims of their governors and administrations," warned Donny George. For the moment, the national government has retained control of the provinces, but with the increasing sectarian conflict, his fears may yet be realized.

Even at the National level, things are not so simple. The SBAH currently reports to two ministries; the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. With the recent formation of the new Iraqi government, Donny George is hopeful that the SBAH will only have to report to Ministry of Culture.

On April 18, Mr. Hamdani went to court to face eight corruption charges, and found himself sitting across from two men caught looting a month earlier. The charges ranged from stealing gas to bribery to Mr. Hamdani burning his own museum, which militants had videotaped themselves doing in May, 2004. A lawyer from the Ministry of Culture in Baghdad came to represent Mr. Hamdani. In a heated confrontation with the judge, the lawyer argued on Mr. Hamdani's behalf, telling the judge that there was a conspiracy to send Mr. Hamdani to jail.

The judge dismissed five of the eight charges, but sent Mr. Hamdani to jail while investigating the remaining three, including bribery, stealing gas and giving antiquities to the Italian forces. Exasperated, the lawyer collapsed and had to be taken to a hospital for treatment.

It appears that the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in southern Iraq portends a very dark future for archaeological sites still under siege by looters.

As of May 9, 2006, Mr. Hamdani remains in Jail in Nasiriyah, and work protecting the archaeological sites has stalled.

Micah Garen is co-author, with Marie-Helene Carleton, of American Hostage; a memoir of a journalist kidnapped in Iraq and the remarkable battle to win his release.