Nat CastañedaApril 07, 20161 Comment

Iraqi museum refuge for relics of the past

Nat CastañedaApril 07, 20161 Comment

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.

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.

A guard looks up at an Assyrian relief sculpture inside Iraq's national museum, in Baghdad, on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. Google is documenting the treasures of Iraq's national museum, home to priceless artifacts from the Stone Age through Islamic periods, and will make the photographs available online early next year, the company's chairman said Tuesday. (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. Ten years after Iraqís national museum was looted and smashed by frenzied thieves during the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein, it's still far from ready for a public re-opening. Work to overcome decades of neglect and the destruction of war has been hindered by power struggles, poorly-skilled staff and the persistent violence plaguing the country, said Bahaa Mayah, Iraq's most senior antiquities official. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

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)

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. Ten years after Iraqís national museum was looted and smashed by frenzied thieves during the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein, itís still far from ready for a public re-opening. Work to overcome decades of neglect and the destruction of war has been hindered by power struggles, poorly-skilled staff and the persistent violence plaguing the country, said Bahaa Mayah, Iraqís most senior antiquities official. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

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 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. 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)

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 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 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. It's 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, 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)

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. They remain some of the only treasures from Hatra, which the Islamic State group destroyed along with several ancient sites in Iraq and Syria as part of its campaign to cleanse the territory it controls of items the extremists deem as non-Islamic. After the destruction wreaked on archaeological sites by Islamic State group, the collections at the Iraqís 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 extremistsí hands. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Recovered antiquities are displayed at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad, Iraq on Sunday, April 27, 2008. The Iraqi National Museum has welcomed home 701 artifacts that were stolen during looting after Saddam Hussein's ouster in 2003. Syrian authorities have turned over items ranging from golden necklaces to clay pots that were seized by traffickers in the neighboring country. (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 preservation work even more critical. (Iraq National Museum via AP)

Text from the AP news story, AP PHOTOS: Iraqi museum refuge for relics of the past.

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