A refuge for relics from ancient times
baghdad — After the destruction wreaked on archaeological sites by Daesh 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.
As many as 4,000 archaeological sites are still under the domination of Daesh and around 100 sites have been destroyed, according to Iraqi Culture Minister Firyad Rwandzi. The sites in their grip show the multiple civilisations 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 Assyr- ian 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 Daesh group showed its militants blowing up or smashing relics and structures at the sites.
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 deity of wisdom.
Rwandzi said museums are more important than ever.
“A nation without a museum is like a human without eyes,” he said. —