After the destruction wreaked on archaeological sites by Islamic State group, the collections at the Iraq’s National Museum in Baghdad have become even more important. It’s now one of the only places you can find relics from the ancient cities that fell into the extremists’ hands.
In this Sunday, March 13, 2016 photo, Iraqi workers mop the floor at the Assyrian Hall of the Iraq National Museum Baghdad. Assyria was a civilization located near the modern-day city of Mosul, now held by the Islamic State group, who published videos online showing the destruction of key Assyrian sites Nimrud and Hatra along with many other religious and cultural sites. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
As many as 4,000 archaeological sites are still under the domination of IS and around 100 sites have been destroyed, according to Iraqi Culture Minister Firyad Rwandzi. The sites in their grip show the multiple civilizations that rose and fell during Iraq’s history, ranging from mosques, churches and small shrines to large sites of old cities.
Among the most significant ancient sites the militants captured were several capitals of the Assyrian Empire during its height between the 10th and 6th centuries B.C. — sites known as Nimrud and Khorsabad — as well as Hatra, a well-preserved Roman-era city of temples. Videos put out by the Islamic State group showed its militants blowing up or smashing relics and structures at the sites.
A coin dating back to the Umayyad era is displayed at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, April 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
A statue found in the Sun City of Urban Civilization in Mosul is displayed at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad, Monday, April 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
In this Wednesday, April 3, 2013 photo, a statue from the Kingdom of Nimrod from the ninth century B.C. is displayed at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
In this picture taken on Tuesday, April 2, 2013, Alabaster figurines of mother – goddess tell Es-Sawwan, belonging to the 6th millennium B.C. is displayed at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
In this picture taken on Tuesday, April 2, 2013, a carved stone Vessel found in the Ur area from the early 3rd millennium B.C. is displayed at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
In this picture taken on Tuesday, April 2, 2013, a cosmetic container carved from stone, found near Ur is displayed at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
But some of the relics from those sites had been moved long ago to the National Museum. In its Assyrian Hall tower two great winged bulls with human heads, protective deities known as Lamassu, framing a statue from the temple of Nabu, the god of wisdom. Along the walls run bas-reliefs from the palace of King Sargon in Khorsabad.
Rwandzi said museums are more important than ever. “A nation without a museum is like a human without eyes,” he said.
Here is a series of photos of the museum’s halls and relics by Associated Press photographers.
In this Monday, March 7, 2016 photo, Iraqis visit the Assyrian Hall surrounded by ancient artifacts of at the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad. After the destruction wreaked on archaeological sites by Islamic State group, the collections at the Iraq’s National Museum in Baghdad have become even more important. It’s now one of the places you can find relics from ancient cities that fell into the extremists’ hands. As many as 4,000 archaeological sites are still under the domination of IS and around 100 sites have been destroyed, according to Iraqi Culture Minister Firyad Rwandzi. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
This file photo taken on Monday, Sept. 15, 2014, shows a detail of a statue of Lamassu, the great winged bull from the Assyrian period displayed at the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
In this Monday, March 14, 2016 photo, Iraq’s Culture Minister Firyad Rwandzi speaks to The Associated Press in Baghdad, Iraq. At a time when the Islamic State group has taken control of and destroyed many key archaeological sites in Iraq and Syria, Rwandzi says museums are more important than ever. “A nation without a museum is like a human without eyes,” he said. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
In this Wednesday, July 29, 2015 photo, an Assyrian artifact is displayed at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad, Iraq. After the destruction wreaked on archaeological sites by Islamic State group, the collections at the Iraq’s National Museum in Baghdad have become even more important. Itís now one of the places you can find relics from ancient cities that fell into the extremists’ hands. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
In this Sunday, March 13, 2016 photo, stone figures from the ancient site of Hatra line a corridor of the Iraq National Museum the Iraqi capital. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
In this Sunday, March 13, 2016 photo, a detail of a stone wall panel fo at the Assyrian Hall of the Iraq National Museum Baghdad. Assyria was a civilization located near the modern-day city of Mosul, now held by the Islamic State group, who published videos online showing the destruction of key Assyrian sites Nimrud and Hatra along with many other religious and cultural sites. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
In this Sunday, March 13, 2016 photo, two women visit the Islamic Hall of the Iraq National Museum the Iraqi capital. Iraq was home to some of the most important cities of early Islam including Kufa and Karbala, and Baghdad was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate during its golden age in the 8th and 9th centuries. The Islamic hall displays pieces of Islamic art and architecture, including a burial casket of Imam Moussa Kadhim, a major figure in Shiite Islam. Elaborate stonework from the Grand Mosque in the northern city of Mosul, now under the Islamic State group’s control, is also housed here.(AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Recovered antiquities are displayed at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad, Iraq on Sunday, April 27, 2008. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
This Saturday, March 19, 2016 photo shows an inaugural leaflet from the grand opening of the Iraq Museum on Nov. 9, 1966. Established after WW1, the country’ national museum contains treasures from Mesopotamian civilization. Gertrude Bell of Britain began collecting the artifacts in a government building in Baghdad in 1922 and eventually became the director of the museum. In the chaos that arrived along with U.S. troops in 2003, many treasures were looted or destroyed. More than a decade late, the Islamic State group has looted and destroyed several ancient sites in Iraq and Syria, making the museum’s preservation work even more critical.(Iraq National Museum via AP)
In this March 1, 2015 photo, Aaman at Iraq’s National Museum in Baghdad walks past two ancient Assyrian winged bull statues. Islamic State militants “bulldozed” the renowned archaeological site of the ancient city of Nimrud in northern Iraq on Thursday, March 5, 2015, using heavy military vehicles, the government said. Nimrud was the second capital of Assyria, an ancient kingdom that began in about 900 B.C., partially in present-day Iraq, and became a great regional power. The city, which was destroyed in 612 B.C., is located on the Tigris River just south of Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, which was captured by the Islamic State group in June. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
A guard looks up at an Assyrian relief sculpture inside Iraq’s national museum, in Baghdad, on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
In this Wednesday, April 3, 2013 photo, a panel composed of glazed nicks showing in bas relief a lion, symbolizing Ishtar, the goddess of love and war, from the Ishtar gate, Babylon dating to Nabuchadnessar.(650-562.B.C.) is displayed at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
In this Sunday, March 13, 2016 photo, a detail of a figure at the Assyrian Hall of the Iraq National Museum Baghdad. Assyria was a civilization located near the modern-day city of Mosul, now held by the Islamic State group, who published videos online showing the destruction of key Assyrian sites Nimrud and Hatra along with many other religious and cultural sites. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
In this picture taken on Tuesday, April 2, 2013 a limestone slab showing in the center the water god, Ea, receiving a minor deity, is displayed at the national museum in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
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2 thoughts on “Iraqi Museum Refuge for Relics of the Past”
These artifacts should be moved to europe for safe keeping before ISIL terrorists destroy them in the Baghdad Museum.
I am sure that Hormuz Rassam, as well as the european archaeologists who discovered these treasures would want them moved out of the country for the time being while ISIL is still stronger than ever.
I am sure the Assyrian people want their cultural treasures removed from Iraq for safe keeping.
This stuff does not belong to the Arabs of Iraq. Enough political correctness. What sense does it make to keep assyrian artifacts in a non-secure museum in baghdad? At least move them while ISIL is a threat. But seriously, this stuff does not belong to the arabs. Iraq has tried to steal babylonian jewish artifacts as well, even though they belong to Israeli Jews of Babylonian origins, Why would they belong to the arabs who carried out the farhud against the jews?
ISIL already destroyed Nineveh, Nimrud, and Dur-Sharrukin among other beautiful sites.
Enough with the Zainab Bahranis of the arab world. Thanks to people like her, more assyrian and jewish artifacts will be destroyed. They are apologists for the worst cultural theft and terrorism, and I am tired of their sanctimonious platitudes.
She acts like being born in a modern invented country of Iraq makes her the heir of the artifacts of non-arab minorities. She hates Israel, thinking of it as a made up state, even though Iraq is just as made up, as are most of the borders in the near east and north africa.
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These artifacts should be moved to europe for safe keeping before ISIL terrorists destroy them in the Baghdad Museum.
I am sure that Hormuz Rassam, as well as the european archaeologists who discovered these treasures would want them moved out of the country for the time being while ISIL is still stronger than ever.
I am sure the Assyrian people want their cultural treasures removed from Iraq for safe keeping.
This stuff does not belong to the Arabs of Iraq. Enough political correctness. What sense does it make to keep assyrian artifacts in a non-secure museum in baghdad? At least move them while ISIL is a threat. But seriously, this stuff does not belong to the arabs. Iraq has tried to steal babylonian jewish artifacts as well, even though they belong to Israeli Jews of Babylonian origins, Why would they belong to the arabs who carried out the farhud against the jews?
ISIL already destroyed Nineveh, Nimrud, and Dur-Sharrukin among other beautiful sites.
Enough with the Zainab Bahranis of the arab world. Thanks to people like her, more assyrian and jewish artifacts will be destroyed. They are apologists for the worst cultural theft and terrorism, and I am tired of their sanctimonious platitudes.
She acts like being born in a modern invented country of Iraq makes her the heir of the artifacts of non-arab minorities. She hates Israel, thinking of it as a made up state, even though Iraq is just as made up, as are most of the borders in the near east and north africa.
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