Iraq Museum
The Iraq Museum (Arabic: المتحف العراقي) is the national museum of Iraq, located in Baghdad. It is sometimes informally called the National Museum of Iraq. The Iraq Museum contains precious relics from the Mesopotamian, Abbasid, and Persian civilizations.[1] It was looted during and after the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Despite international efforts, only some of the stolen artifacts have been returned.[2] After being closed for many years while being refurbished, and rarely open for public viewing, the museum was officially reopened in February 2015.[3]
Established
Foundation[edit]
After World War I, archaeologists from Europe and the United States began several excavations throughout Iraq. In an effort to keep those findings from leaving Iraq, Gertrude Bell (a British traveller, intelligence agent, archaeologist, and author) began collecting the artifacts in a government building in Baghdad in 1922. In 1926, the Iraqi government moved the collection to a new building and established the Baghdad Antiquities Museum, with Bell as its director.[4] Bell died later that year; the new director was Sidney Smith.
In 1966, the collection was moved again, to a two-story, 45,000-square-meter (480,000-square-foot) building in Baghdad's Al-Ṣāliḥiyyah neighborhood in the Al-Karkh district on the east side of the Tigris River. It is with this move that the name of the museum was changed to the Iraq Museum. It was originally known as the Baghdad Archaeological Museum.
Bahija Khalil became the director of the Iraq Museum in 1983. She was the first woman director[5] and she held that role until 1989.
Cylinder seal from Tell Agrab, Iraq, on display at the Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraq since 1961. The Lost Treasures from Iraq designates it as "feard to be stolen".[26]
![Cylinder seal from Tell Agrab, Iraq, on display at the Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraq since 1961. The Lost Treasures from Iraq designates it as "feard to be stolen".[26]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Cylinder_seal%2C_white_marble._Two_goats%2C_two_shrines%2C_and_stars._Jemdet_Nasr_period%2C_3100-2900_BCE%2C_from_Tell_Agrab%2C_Iraq._Sulaymaniyah_Museum%2C_Iraq.jpg/200px-Cylinder_seal%2C_white_marble._Two_goats%2C_two_shrines%2C_and_stars._Jemdet_Nasr_period%2C_3100-2900_BCE%2C_from_Tell_Agrab%2C_Iraq._Sulaymaniyah_Museum%2C_Iraq.jpg)
Head of a Sumerian male worshipper from Tell Asmar (Eshnunna), Iraq, on display at the Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraq since 1961. The Lost Treasures from Iraq designates it as "status unknown".[27]
![Head of a Sumerian male worshipper from Tell Asmar (Eshnunna), Iraq, on display at the Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraq since 1961. The Lost Treasures from Iraq designates it as "status unknown".[27]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/Limestone_head_of_a_Sumerian_male_worshipper_from_Tell_Asmar_%28ancient_Eshnunna%29%2C_Iraq._Early_Dynastic_Period%2C_c._2400_BCE._Sulaymaniyah_Museum%2C_Iraq.jpg/184px-Limestone_head_of_a_Sumerian_male_worshipper_from_Tell_Asmar_%28ancient_Eshnunna%29%2C_Iraq._Early_Dynastic_Period%2C_c._2400_BCE._Sulaymaniyah_Museum%2C_Iraq.jpg)
Headless statue of a Sumerian male worshipper, from Khafajah, Iraq, on display at the Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraq since 1961. The Lost Treasures from Iraq does not mention any status.[28]
![Headless statue of a Sumerian male worshipper, from Khafajah, Iraq, on display at the Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraq since 1961. The Lost Treasures from Iraq does not mention any status.[28]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/49/Headless_statue_of_a_Sumerian_man%2C_from_Khafajah%2C_Early_Dynastic_Period%2C_2900-2350_BCE._The_Sulaymaniyah_Museum.jpg/162px-Headless_statue_of_a_Sumerian_man%2C_from_Khafajah%2C_Early_Dynastic_Period%2C_2900-2350_BCE._The_Sulaymaniyah_Museum.jpg)
![Male Statuette from Khafajah, Iraq. On display at the Iraq Museum. The Lost Treasures from Iraq designates it as "status unknown".[29]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/Male_Statuette_from_Nintu_Temple%2C_Khafajah%2C_Iraq.jpg/135px-Male_Statuette_from_Nintu_Temple%2C_Khafajah%2C_Iraq.jpg)
Quadriga from Tell Agrab, Iraq. On display at the Iraq Museum. The Lost Treasures from Iraq designates it as "status unknown".[30]
![Quadriga from Tell Agrab, Iraq. On display at the Iraq Museum. The Lost Treasures from Iraq designates it as "status unknown".[30]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Model_of_a_chariot_drawn_by_four_horses_abreast._Quadriga_consists_of_a_chariot_and_a_charioteer_with_four_onagers._From_Tell_Agrab%2C_Iraq._Early_Dynastic_period%2C_2600-2370_BCE._Iraq_Museum.jpg/200px-thumbnail.jpg)
Recent work[edit]
At various Iraq reconstruction conferences, the Baghdad Museum Project gave presentations to the reconstruction community advocating the preservation of Iraq's cultural heritage in rebuilding projects. On August 27, 2006, Iraq's museum director Dr. Donny Youkhanna fled the country to Syria, as a result of murder threats he and his family members had received from terrorist groups that were assassinating all remaining Iraqi intellectuals and scientists.[31] Youkhanna held the position of visiting professor in the anthropology department of Stony Brook State University of New York until his death in March 2011.[1]
On June 9, 2009, the treasures of the Iraq Museum went online for the first time as Italy inaugurated the Virtual Museum of Iraq.[32] On November 24, 2009, Google announced that it would create a virtual copy of the museum's collections at its own expense, and make images of four millennia of archaeological treasures available online, free, by early 2010.[33][34] It is unclear the extent by which Google's effort overlaps with Italy's previous initiative. Google's Street View service was used to image much of the museum's exhibit areas and, as of November 2011, these images are online.
In 2017, forty ancient Iraqi artefacts drawn from the Iraq Museum and spanning six millennia, from the Neolithic Age to the Parthian Period, were shown alongside contemporary artworks at the Venice Biennale.[35] Most of these objects had never previously left Iraq, excluding a few that were recently recovered after the 2003 lootings of the museum. Commissioned by Ruya Foundation, the exhibition 'Archaic' attracted over 5,500 visitors during the preview week of the 57th Biennale, and was critically acclaimed by the press.[36][37][38]
Recovery[edit]
On September 7, 2010, the Associated Press reported that 540 looted treasures were returned to Iraq.[43][44][45]
638 stolen artifacts were returned to the Iraq Museum after they were located in the office of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.[46]
On January 30, 2012, a 6,500-year-old Sumerian gold jar, the head of a Sumerian battle axe and a stone from an Assyrian palace were among 45 relics returned to Iraq by Germany. Up to 10,000 of the Iraq Museum pieces are still missing, said Amira Eidan, general director of the museum at the time of the recovery.[47]
On August 3, 2021, multiple global news sites reported that the US has returned 17,000 looted ancient artifacts to Iraq.[48][49][50]
The Great Golden Lyre from Ur
The Assyrian gallery at the Iraq Museum
Iraq Museum, Baghdad, Iraq
