Nearly a century after its inauguration, the National Museum of Iraq, one of the most famous in the world, is living a second life, like the promise of a better tomorrow in a country marked by four decades of conflict and significant illicit trafficking. of cultural property.
Since February 24, the museum has finally opened its doors on weekends and free of charge, one year after its official reopening. For the population, including many families and schools, and the few tourists who flock there, it is an open door to the history of Mesopotamia, the cradle of the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian civilizations and of writing. cuneiform.
The tablet of Gilgamesh
Many visitors come here to admire pieces of inestimable value. The oldest are dated 60,000 years. The most famous is undoubtedly the Gilgamesh tablet, 3,500 years old, stolen in 1991 during the first Gulf War and then returned with great fanfare by the United States in 2021 alongside more than 17,000 pieces, from various Iraqi sites. All under the aegis of UNESCO. “The museum teams and all the Iraqi authorities have done an exceptional job of finding these works and making them accessible to the public again. My site visit (this Monday, March 6, editor’s note) aims first and foremost to pay homage to them”emphasizes Audrey Azoulay, Director General of Unesco.
The museum was closed from 2003 to 2015 following the American invasion and the looting which saw nearly 15,000 pieces evaporate in nature – a third of which were found and returned before 2015 – then from 2019 to March 2022 due to the instability of the country and the Covid. “Unesco supported this reopening, by providing equipment, in particular computer equipment, by mobilizing its experts to establish precise inventories of the works and by training the curators”comments Audrey Azoulay.
Iraqi families and children reclaim their culture
Throughout the course of the 24 galleries of the museum, the emotion is palpable in the eyes of certain visitors, for many of whom this is the first visit. This is the case of Fatma Marjaan, a 28-year-old Iraqi who lives in Toronto: “It’s so beautiful and so emotional to see how this heritage has been found and preserved”she enthuses as she arrived in Iraq the day before “for the first time in twenty years”.
It is also a first at the museum for the forty students of the Al-Rouak school, aged 9 to 12 and supervised by their teacher Abdelkarim Al Anbas. “For the education of children, it is essential to teach them the history and culture of their country”explains the professor.
Coming with his grandchildren, Haïdar Al Safar, the graying temples of his well-started sixties, calls out to a guide and asks him if the exhibits on display are genuine. “In Iraq, because of endemic counterfeiting, many here think they see only copies”smiles Nael, the only French-speaking guide in the museum, who continues: “Copies of works, such as Hammurabi’s code kept in the Louvre, can only be counted on the fingers of one hand and are legal. All other pieces in the museum are genuine. » Haïdar’s grandson, Ibrahim, 10, finds “the museum is so pretty” and wonders “how it all came together” in his childish voice.
A rediscovered splendor
“Since the weekend opening last week, we see a lot more families, grandparents with their grandchildren”, notes at the entrance the non-commissioned officer in charge of security, Haïdar Ali Fayçal. He specifies that 4,000 visitors were counted the previous Friday which marked the return of the public at the weekend to the museum “including many tourists from the Gulf but also some British and French”. And indeed, some French people are present in the museum. Two photographers but also a tourist, Jean-Marc Garandeau, 55, originally from Paris. “It really is a secure place with an extraordinary welcome”explains the visitor, who thinks ” keen “ by what he has just seen.
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A jewel in the tumult of history
1991-2000. Closing of the museum following the damage caused by the first Gulf War.
8-12 avril 2003. Looting of 15,000 pieces from the museum after the disorder caused by the American invasion of March 2003.
2003-2015. Closing of the museum.
2015. Reopening with a third of the stolen parts returned by the United States.
2019-2022. New closure due to the Tishreen revolution (October 2019) then the Covid.
July 28, 2021. Restitution by the United States, under the aegis of Unesco, of more than 17,000 items stolen in Iraq.
Mars 2022. Reopening of the museum during the week.
February 2023. Free reopening on weekends.