Iraq Museum facts for kids
Entrance of the Iraq Museum
|
|
| Established | 1926 |
|---|---|
| Location | Baghdad, Iraq |
| Collection size | 170,000 – 200,000 |
| Visitors | Open |
The Iraq Museum (which means "The Iraqi Museum" in Arabic) is Iraq's main national museum. It is located in Baghdad, the capital city. This important museum holds amazing treasures from ancient civilizations. These include items from Mesopotamia, the Abbasid period, and Persia.
Sadly, the museum was looted during and after the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Many valuable items were stolen. Even with help from around the world, only some of these stolen artifacts have been found. After being closed for a long time for repairs, the museum officially reopened in February 2015.
Contents
How the Iraq Museum Started
After World War I, many archaeologists from Europe and the United States began digging in Iraq. They found many ancient treasures. To stop these findings from leaving Iraq, Gertrude Bell started collecting them. She was a British traveler, spy, archaeologist, and writer.
In 1922, Bell began gathering artifacts in a government building in Baghdad. In 1926, the Iraqi government moved this collection to a new building. They named it the Baghdad Antiquities Museum. Gertrude Bell became its first director. She passed away later that year. Sidney Smith then became the new director.
In 1966, the museum's collection moved again. It went to a large, two-story building in Baghdad. This building is about 45,000 square meters (484,000 square feet) in size. It is located in the Al-Karkh district, on the east side of the Tigris River. When it moved, the museum's name changed to the Iraq Museum. Before that, it was known as the Baghdad Archaeological Museum.
Bahija Khalil became the director of the Iraq Museum in 1983. She was the first woman to hold this important role. She led the museum until 1989.
Exploring the Museum's Collections
Mesopotamia was a very rich area for ancient finds. Because of this, the museum's collections are among the most important in the world. The museum has a great history of showing and studying these items. Since Britain had a connection with Iraq and the museum, all exhibits are shown in two languages. You can read about them in both English and Arabic.
The museum has 28 galleries and vaults. They hold important artifacts from Mesopotamia's history, which goes back over 5,000 years. The collections include art and items from ancient Sumerian, Assyrian, and Babylonian civilizations. There are also galleries with art and artifacts from both pre-Islamic and Islamic Arabian times.
Some of the most special collections include the Nimrud gold collection. This features gold jewelry and precious stone figures from the 9th century BCE. Another amazing collection is the stone carvings and cuneiform tablets from Uruk. These Uruk treasures date back to between 3500 and 3000 BCE.
Damage and Losses During the 2003 War
Before the 2003 Iraq War, experts asked the Pentagon and the UK government to protect the museum. They wanted to keep it safe from fighting and looting. However, no promises were made. U.S. forces did not bomb the museum itself.
On April 9, 2003, the museum staff left the building. Fighting between Iraqi and U.S. forces was happening nearby. Thefts then took place between April 10 and 12. When staff returned on April 12, they tried to stop more looters. U.S. forces arrived to secure the museum on April 16.
A special team started an investigation on April 21. They found that three different groups had stolen items over four days. Museum staff had tried to protect items by storing them safely. This plan had been used during the Iran–Iraq War and the first Gulf War. However, many large statues and carvings were left in the public galleries. They were protected with foam and sandbags.
Forty valuable pieces were stolen from these galleries. By January 2005, only 13 of them had been found. These included three very important items: the Sacred Vase of Warka, the Mask of Warka, and the Bassetki Statue. The Warka Vase was found broken into fourteen pieces, which was how it was first discovered.
Museum officials said looters focused on the most important exhibits. These included the Warka Vase, a 5,000-year-old Sumerian alabaster piece. Also stolen was a 5,000-year-old bronze Uruk statue and the headless statue of Entemena. The Harp of Ur was pulled apart by looters who took its gold parts. The bronze Bassetki Statue, a life-size statue from 2300 B.C., was also taken. Another stolen item was a stone statue of King Schalmanezer from the eighth century BC.
The museum's storage rooms above ground were also looted. About 3,100 smaller items, like jars and pottery, were stolen. Around 3,000 of these have been recovered. The thieves did not seem to pick items carefully. For example, they stole a shelf of fake items but left a more valuable shelf untouched.
The underground storage rooms were also targeted. Thieves tried to steal small, easy-to-carry objects. These had been stored in the most hidden part of the museum. In one corner of the furthest room, cabinets held 100 small boxes. These boxes contained cylinder seals, beads, and jewelry. Evidence showed the thieves had special keys. However, they dropped them in the dark. Instead, they took 10,000 small objects that were on the floor in plastic boxes. Only about 2,500 of these have been found.
One of the most valuable items stolen was a headless stone statue of the Sumerian king Entemena of Lagash. This statue is about 4,400 years old. It was the first major artifact returned from the United States. It is also the most important piece found outside Iraq. The statue weighs hundreds of pounds. Looters likely rolled or slid it down marble stairs to remove it. This damaged the steps and other artifacts.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the statue's recovery on July 25, 2006. It was found in the United States. The statue was returned to the Iraqi government.
Global Reaction to the Looting
The U.S. government faced criticism for not protecting the museum after taking control of Baghdad. Dr. Irving Finkel of the British Museum said the looting was "completely expected and could have been easily stopped." Several U.S. officials resigned in protest. They were upset that U.S. forces did not prevent the looting.
The exact number of stolen items was first unclear. News reports said as many as 170,000 items were looted. This was based on a misunderstanding. Many display cases were empty because curators had hidden items before the war. The actual number was around 15,000 items. This included 5,000 very valuable cylinder seals.
On April 12, 2003, The Associated Press reported the museum was empty. It described shattered glass and broken pottery. On April 14, National Public Radio said U.S. troops were very close when the country's heritage was stolen. French President Jacques Chirac called the incident "a crime against humanity" on April 16, 2003.
When asked why the U.S. military did not guard the museum, General Richard Myers said it was a matter of priorities. He explained that people were being killed and wounded. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said "stuff happens" about the looting. He called the period of looting "untidiness." Secretary of State Colin Powell promised U.S. help. However, these promises were only partly kept. Looting at Iraqi archaeological sites greatly increased during the U.S. occupation.
Two weeks after the museum thefts, Dr. Donny George Youkhanna called it "the crime of the century." He said it affected the heritage of all mankind. He personally asked U.S. Marines to protect the museum. But guards were not sent for another three days.
Efforts to Recover Lost Items
.jpg)
A few days later, FBI agents went to Iraq to search for stolen museum property. UNESCO held an emergency meeting in Paris on April 17, 2003. They discussed the looting's impact on the global art market.
On April 18, 2003, the Baghdad Museum Project was started in the United States. Its goal was to help return the museum's collection safely. This group wanted to create an online catalog of all artifacts. They also aimed to build a virtual Baghdad Museum for everyone to see online. They hoped to create a 3D workspace within the virtual museum for design and fundraising. Stolen items from the museum have appeared in nearby countries. They have also shown up in the United States, Israel, Europe, Switzerland, Japan, and even on eBay.
On May 7, 2003, U.S. officials announced that nearly 40,000 manuscripts and 700 artifacts were found. These were recovered by U.S. Customs agents working with museum experts in Iraq. Some looters returned items after being promised rewards and forgiveness. Many items thought to be missing had actually been hidden in secret vaults before the war. On June 7, 2003, it was announced that treasures from Nimrud were safe. They were found in a secret vault in the Iraqi Central Bank. These included necklaces, plates, gold earrings, and rings. However, about 15,000 small, valuable items are still missing.
The museum has been protected since the looting. But other archaeological sites in Iraq were left mostly unprotected. This led to massive looting from 2003 to 2007. It is thought that 400,000 to 600,000 artifacts were stolen. Iraqi sculptor Mohammed Ghani Hikmat led efforts to get back stolen artworks. About 150 of his own pieces were stolen from the museum. By September 2011, his group had recovered about 100 of the museum's works.
United States Marine Colonel Matthew Bogdanos led the search for stolen artifacts for over five years. By 2006, he helped recover about 10,000 artifacts. These included the Warka Vase and the Mask of Warka.
The Oriental Institute (Chicago) was one of the first to tell the world about the museum's looting. They created a webpage called "Lost Treasures from Iraq" on April 15, 2003. This page shared information about lost, stolen, or "status unknown" artifacts. However, this webpage was last updated in April 2008. Over time, many artifacts listed as stolen were found to be safe. Some were even on display in other museums in Iraq before the war. This showed a lack of communication about the artifacts. As of December 2022, the museum's databases on the "Lost Treasures from Iraq" site have not been updated.
Recent Work and Reopening
At various conferences about rebuilding Iraq, the Baghdad Museum Project spoke about protecting Iraq's cultural heritage. On August 27, 2006, Iraq's museum director, Dr. Donny Youkhanna, left the country for Syria. He and his family had received threats from terrorist groups. These groups were targeting Iraqi thinkers and scientists. Youkhanna became a visiting professor at Stony Brook State University of New York until his death in 2011.
On June 9, 2009, the Iraq Museum's treasures became available online for the first time. Italy launched the Virtual Museum of Iraq. On November 24, 2009, Google announced it would create a virtual copy of the museum's collections. They would make images of thousands of years of treasures available online for free. Google's Street View service was used to photograph much of the museum. These images became available online in November 2011.
In 2017, forty ancient Iraqi artifacts from the Iraq Museum were shown at the Venice Biennale. These items spanned six thousand years, from the Neolithic Age to the Parthian Period. Most of these objects had never left Iraq before. Some were recently found after the 2003 looting. This exhibition, called 'Archaic,' was very popular and praised by critics.
Official Reopening
The museum was only open sometimes between September 1980 (during the Iran-Iraq War) and 2015. After the U.S. invasion, it was rarely open. It opened briefly on July 3, 2003, for journalists and officials. In December 2008, it opened for a photo opportunity. On February 23, 2009, the museum opened at the request of the Iraqi prime minister. This was to show that things were getting back to normal. Many archaeological officials protested this opening. They felt it was not yet safe enough. The museum's director was fired for speaking out.
At the reopening ceremony, Iraq's tourism and antiquities minister said only 6,000 of the 15,000 items looted in 2003 had been returned. A book published in 2009 estimated that 600,000 archaeological pieces were looted by groups allied with the United States since 2003. In September 2011, Iraqi officials said the renovated museum would permanently reopen in November. It would have new climate control and security systems. The United States and Italian governments helped with the renovation.
On February 28, 2015, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi officially reopened the museum. The museum also has items from the Mosul Museum. This is because ISIS took over the Mosul Museum.
Recovery Efforts
On September 7, 2010, the Associated Press reported that 540 looted treasures were returned to Iraq.
Another 638 stolen artifacts were returned to the Iraq Museum. They were found in the office of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
On January 30, 2012, Germany returned 45 relics to Iraq. These included a 6,500-year-old Sumerian gold jar, the head of a Sumerian battle axe, and a stone from an Assyrian palace. At that time, the museum's director, Amira Eidan, said up to 10,000 pieces were still missing.
On August 3, 2021, news sites around the world reported that the U.S. had returned 17,000 looted ancient artifacts to Iraq.
Gallery
-
Warka Vase
-
Sumerian worshiper from Tell Asmar
-
Sumerian Statues from Eshnunna and Khafajah of Diyala region, Iraq Museum
-
Statue of Entemena
-
The Great Golden Lyre from Ur
-
Terracotta lion from Shaduppum (Tell Harmal)
-
The lady at the window, part of the Nimrud ivories
-
Ivory statuette, part of the Nimrud ivories
-
The Assyrian gallery at the Iraq Museum
-
Throne dais of Shalmaneser III from Fort Shalmaneser
-
Statue of Sanatruq, king of Hatra
-
Iraq Museum, Baghdad, Iraq
Images for kids
-
Cylinder seal from Tell Agrab, Iraq, on display at the Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraq since 1961.
-
Head of a Sumerian male worshipper from Tell Asmar (Eshnunna), Iraq, on display at the Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraq since 1961.
-
Headless statue of a Sumerian male worshipper, from Khafajah, Iraq, on display at the Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraq since 1961.
-
Male Statuette from Khafajah, Iraq. On display at the Iraq Museum.
-
Quadriga from Tell Agrab, Iraq. On display at the Iraq Museum.
,_Iraq._Early_Dynastic_Period,_c._2400_BCE._Sulaymaniyah_Museum,_Iraq.jpg)
See also
In Spanish: Museo Nacional de Irak para niños
- Sulaymaniyah Museum
- Erbil Civilization Museum
- Basrah Museum
- Art of Mesopotamia
- Lyres of Ur
- Taha Baqir
- Damage to Baghdad during the 2003 Iraq War
- Archaeological looting in Iraq
News and Editorials
- The Ghost in the Baghdad Museum, The New York Times, April 2, 2006 by Roger Cohen.
- Thousands of Iraqi artifacts found, CNN, May 7, 2003.
- Missing Antiquities: Loss Estimates Are Cut on Iraqi Artifacts, but Questions Remain, The New York Times, May 1, 2003.
- Relics: Experts' Pleas to Pentagon Didn't Save Museum, The New York Times, April 16, 2003.
- Antiquities: Curators Appeal for a Ban on Purchase of Iraqi Artifacts, The New York Times, April 16, 2003.
- Hundreds of looted items returned to Iraqi museum, CNN Web Site, November 11, 2003.
- Iraq and Ruin, The Guardian, May 2, 2003, Neal Ascherson interview with Donny George.
- Donny George: A Real-Life Treasure Hunt, Newsweek, March 21, 2005.
