IRAQ’S NATIONAL museum has partially reopened nearly six years after it was pillaged as Baghdad fell to US forces.
A reinauguration ceremony was attended by prime minister Nuri al-Maliki and senior officials who said they wished to demonstrate that the capital was secure and normal life was returning. Tourists and organised school and university groups will enter from today.
Mr Maliki’s party was guided by Amira Edan, director of the collection, which contains exhibits illustrating Iraq’s role as the cradle of civilisations.
The officials toured the hall containing massive Assyrian winged bulls with the heads of men and delicately carved wall reliefs showing combat and daily life and the gallery displaying Islamic artefacts.
The gold jewellery and ceremonial objects from the royal tombs of Ur and Nimrud remain in an undisclosed, secure location.
There was a special exhibit of the 4,000 items that have been recovered out of the 15,000 looted from the galleries and the vast storage rooms over several days while US troops stood by because they had no orders to intervene.
After an international outcry, Washington banned the import of Iraqi antiquities and has made a serious effort to track down and seize artefacts.
Only eight of the 29 galleries are open, due to a dispute between the ministry of tourism, which favoured reopening, and the ministry of culture, which opposed, creating a climate of controversy and confrontation.
Former director Donny George, who fled Iraq in 2006 after his family was threatened, and leading foreign archaeologists appealed to the US and the Iraqi authorities to postpone the reopening, citing concern for the safety of the priceless exhibits and of visitors.
The museum has no security systems, fire alarms or air conditioning and the bulk of the huge collection has not been catalogued due to insufficient staff numbers and the lack of electricity in the storage areas, They date from the period of British colonial rule.
While Italy donated €1 million for the refurbishment of the Assyrian and Islamic halls and Washington has provided $14 million for upgrading, these sums have not repaired cracked ceilings or provided modern settings for exhibits.
The Iraqi government, which has more pressing demands on its resources, does not give the museum priority while Shia and Sunni fundamentalist factions argue that Islamic exhibits should be showcased and pre-Islamic material, the bulk of the collection, should not.
