Related:

How the restoration of ancient Babylon is drawing tourists back to Iraq

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45236473

Skimmed that thread but saw no mention of why the site is in such a bad shape.

It's because the usians made a tank and helicopter parking lot out of it when they arrived, angering scholars and enthusiasts all over the world, and then the polish built a military base there, at which point the anger had mostly turned into exhaustion.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jan/15/iraq.arts1

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/24/669272204/in-iraq-a-race-to-p...