Today, Thursday, the Mosul Museum in northern Iraq announced the launch of the “last restoration work,” pending its reopening in the summer of 2026, after it was looted and destroyed by the terrorist organization ISIS.
With the support of the Louvre Museum in the French capital, Paris, and the World Monuments and Heritage Fund, the Mosul Museum opened today a temporary exhibition that reviews its history and plans for restoration, through interpretive panels and pictures.
“We are celebrating today in the dear Umm al-Rabeein to launch the project to rehabilitate the Mosul Civilizational Museum,” said Laith Majeed, head of the General Authority for Antiquities and Heritage, in a press conference during the opening ceremony.
He added, “This museum, which was one of the icons of Iraq’s museums, was subjected to a blind barbaric attack by gangs that fought civilization, heritage and originality, and looted and destroyed antiquities with blind hatred.”
For his part, Khairuddin Ahmed Nasser, director of the Antiquities and Heritage Inspection of Nineveh Governorate, said that this is the “second and final phase” of the “reconstruction of the Mosul Civilizational Museum, which will include the complete reconstruction and rehabilitation of the building.”
ISIS extremists destroyed ancient monuments and statues that were housed in the museum, dating back to the history of Mesopotamian civilizations, and in February 2015 they published video clips showing the destruction process.
For about two years, restorers from the Louvre Museum, along with their Iraqi counterparts, have been working to restore these antiquities, which date back more than 2,500 years, with funding from the International Coalition for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas (ALEF).
Among them, the winged lion of Nimrud, which is one of the symbols of the Assyrian empire, as well as two winged bulls, and the base of King Ashurnasirpal II.
The restoration work is supposed to be completed in early 2025, according to Barbara Cutoro, responsible for the Oriental Antiquities Department at the Louvre Museum.
“Out of the five pieces, three are very advanced,” she said.
“The parts have been identified and connected and now they have to be collected. They are sculptures that weigh a few tons, and that requires very complex processing,” she adds. “In any case, they will be ready when the museum opens in the summer of 2026.”
The exhibition, which was inaugurated today, Thursday, carries great symbolism, as it is the first time that the museum has received visitors since 2003, that is, more than 20 years ago.
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