The Mosul Museum () is the second largest museum in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

after the National Museum of Iraq in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

. It was heavily looted during the 2003 Iraq War. Founded in 1952, the museum consisted of a small hall until a new building was opened in 1972, containing ancient Assyrian artifacts. The museums net worth and content value are around 50 to 80 to 250 million according to

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

specialists during 2013 at least. Hikmat Al-Aswad was the director from 2004 to 2011. The current director is Zaid Ghazi Saadallah.

Collection

The museum is mainly focused on finds dating back to the Assyrian and Hellenistic periods, preceding the birth of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

ISIL seizure and destruction spree

In 2014 the

Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

occupied the museum as it was about to reopen after years of rebuilding. ISIL said that its statues were against Islam and threatened to destroy the museum's contents.Christopher Dickey
"ISIS Is About to Destroy Biblical History in Iraq,"
'' The Daily Beast'', July 7, 2014. Retrieved December 22, 2014 On 26 February 2015, a day after burning books from Mosul libraries, the group released a video showing the destruction of artifacts in the museum and at the archaeological site at

Nimrud Nimrud (; ) is an ancient Assyrian people, Assyrian city (original Assyrian name Kalḫu, biblical name Calah) located in Iraq, south of the city of Mosul, and south of the village of Selamiyah (), in the Nineveh Plains in Upper Mesopotamia. ...

, claiming the sites promoted "

Idolatry Idolatry is the worship of an idol as though it were a deity. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic ...

". ISIL stated that they also intended to destroy the historic walls of

Nineveh Nineveh ( ; , ''URUNI.NU.A, Ninua''; , ''Nīnəwē''; , ''Nīnawā''; , ''Nīnwē''), was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul (itself built out of the Assyrian town of Mepsila) in northern ...

. There has been quite some confusion whether artefacts destroyed by ISIL militants were originals or just copies. Mossul's exiled governor Atheel al-Nujaifi said that many of the most important works, except for the larger objects, were transferred to the Baghdad Museum after the 2003

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, the most valuable ones having been sent to Baghdad already after the 1991

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

. Later in March, the director of Iraq's antiquities administration, Fawzye al-Mahdi, however, incorrectly stated that "none of the artifacts destroyed in the video was an original." As al-Nujaifi specified, "there were two items that were real and which the militants destroyed: one is a winged bull and the other was the God of Rozhan." It was revealed that ISIS has turned the artifact warehouse into a tax office – the "Diwan Zakat" – to collect dues from its Islamist fighters. In 2017 the city of Mosul was recaptured by the Iraqi troops; the museum was described as damaged, with some artifacts likely plundered and sold off by ISIS troops, and others damaged or destroyed, sometimes intentionally.

Destroyed displays

*Statue - Representation of Sanatruq. *Winged Lion of Nimrud. *Statue - depicting a Priest of Mosul. *Mask of the city of Hatra. *Winged bull with a human head. * Nergal Gate. The city would be recovered by the Iraqi army after a long

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

on July 9, 2017.

Reactions

In late February,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

director-general Irina Bokova requested an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council "on the protection of Iraq's cultural heritage as an integral element for the country's security".

Post-liberation recovery

In 2018, th
International alliance for the protection of heritage in conflict areas (ALIPH)
committed nearly US$1.5 million to rehabilitate the museum, in partnership with the

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

, the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

, and the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage to implement the project. The first measures were to stabilize the building (shoring up collapsing floors, removing live ordnance from the roof) and to safely store the museum's collection. In cooperation with the Government of Iraq and Municipality of Mosul, the Iraqi civil society organisation Al-Ghad and the Mosul Artists’ Committee hosted the first event in Mosul Museum since the city's occupation in 2014. The art exhibition, ‘Return to Mosul’, opened on 29 January and closed on 3 February 2019, and brought together artistic voices from across Iraq and Mosul and enhanced them with technology including 3D printing and virtual reality experiences. It commissioned and exhibited paintings, photographs and sculpture that told the story of the city's occupation under the extremist organisation ISIS and articulated a vision of the local community's hopes for recovery and reconstruction. The exhibition brought together many different ethno-sectarian groups, previously fractured by the divisive actions and narratives of ISIS, and encouraged them to discuss their vision of a brighter, more tolerant future in Mosul. The exhibition was staged in the newly restored Royal Venue, in the old wing of the museum.

Reopening

On July 10, 2020, Iraq's newly appointed prime minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, reopened the Mosul Museum during his visit to mark six years since the ISIL occupation.

References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures destroyed by ISIL Attacks on museums