Comment by snickerbockers

That's still not the original state. In addition to not always knowing what exactly it was supposed to look like, using non-authentic materials and methods (power-tools) will effect the final outcome. If people are more interested in the experience than the genuine artifact, full-scale replicas can be created offsite without damaging ancient artifacts (BTW there's a 1:1 Parthenon replica in Tennessee, ive never been but I hear its impressive).

Also, the article barely mentioned this but the biggest source of damage to these specific ruins actually isn't being adjacent to major battles in two modern conflicts, it's Saddam-era "restorations". The reason why the zigguraut looks so much more pristine than any other ancient ruins is that what you're looking at was built in the 80s on top of the actual ancient ruins. It wasn't a particularly accurate restoration either; they used concrete and Saddam even made them stamp his face on some of the bricks so future generations would associate him with nebuchanezzar.