Al-Anbar museum reopens after ISIS-era damage

Shafaq News- Al-Anbar

Al-Anbar Cultural Museum reopened after decades of closure and damage during the years of conflict, including the ISIS period, bringing more than 530 archaeological and heritage pieces back to the western Iraqi province from the Iraq Museum in Baghdad.

Al-Anbar Governor Omar Mishaan Dabbous described the reopening as a step toward restoring part of the province’s historical memory.

The returned collection includes artifacts from the Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian civilizations and the Kingdom of Hatra through the Islamic era and more recent periods, alongside a collection of rare coins.

Lama Al-Douri, director-general of Iraq’s Department of Museums, told Shafaq News that the museum, closed since the 1990s, was rehabilitated by the Culture Ministry after suffering damage at the hands of armed groups, including ISIS. Most of the exhibits originate from Al-Anbar, while pieces from other provinces were added to provide visitors with a broader chronology of Iraq’s civilizations.

Provincial authorities also plan to establish a larger museum dedicated to Al-Anbar’s archaeological, historical and cultural identity, Dabbous said. The province has thousands of archaeological and heritage sites, including locations yet to be explored, and is coordinating with the Culture Ministry and international archaeological missions to develop excavation and preservation work.

Read more: Al-Anbar’s next chapter: Resort opens after ISIS era

Al-Anbar was among the Iraqi provinces hardest hit during the war against ISIS. The group seized Ramadi, the provincial capital, on May 17, 2015, forcing tens of thousands of residents to flee. By the time Iraqi forces recaptured the city in late 2015 and early 2016, more than 3,000 buildings and nearly 400 roads and bridges had been damaged or destroyed, while local officials estimated that about 80% of the city had been reduced to rubble.

Read more: Al-Anbar's Ramadi remembers what remains undone after ISIS