Canon Andrew White has confirmed that original Hebrew inscriptions and decoration at the Prophet Ezekiel's shrine remain intact.
Canon White, the vicar of St George's Anglican Church in Baghdad, made a special journey to inspect the shrine at al-Kifl in central Iraq following recurrent rumours that the Shi'a wakf, in charge of restoration works, was planning to convert the shrine into a mosque.
Before making the three-hour drive from Baghdad, Canon White requested a 30-soldier escort. During his visit to the tomb, he took pictures and spoke to the local mullahs. Al- Kifl is close to the Sh'ia holy city of Najaf, a frequent target of terrorist attacks, and Canon White himself has had several lucky escapes when his church in Baghdad was bombed. About 1,000 Christians have been killed in Iraq since the US invasion of 2003.
Canon White 'phoned news of the state of Ezekiel's tomb to Sheila Raviv, a longstanding friend in Jerusalem, as she was sitting in a traffic jam. Sheila was so overwhelmed with emotion that she almost bumped into the car in front.
It was reported some months ago that workmen had done 'irretrievable damage' to the shrine when they 'covered over' the inscriptions by accident. The photos taken by Canon White show that the layer of whitewash or plaster covering the lower walls, a feature of the shrine even in Saddam's time, has been stripped back to reveal the original mosaics, floral ornamentation and Hebrew inscriptions. Below, the 'before' photos taken in 2003 show far less of the original character of the shrine than do the 'after' photographs taken by Canon White of the shrine today.
It seems that the authorities, possibly reacting to outside pressure, have made a deliberate effort to strip back plaster and whitewash to reveal the original character of the shrine, and that the damage has not been as irretrievable as first feared.
However, the Jewish character of the shrine cannot be guaranteed to be preserved in the future unless UNESCO takes over control. In order for UNESCO to be involved, the Iraqi government must make an official request.
To see photographs taken by Canon White go to Point of No Return blog:
http://jewishrefugees.blogspot.com/2010/05/canon-white-confirms-ezekiels...