The Mosul Cultural Museum (MCM), located in the north of the country, was founded in 1952. Rich in archaeological heritage, it includes treasures dating back to the beginning of written history. With the seizure of power by Daesh in 2014, it has not escaped, like many historical jewels, the looting and looting of the extremist group. In a propaganda video released in February 2015 by the Islamic State, two Assyrian winged bulls and a colossal lion of Nimrud two meters high and more than four tons shatter under the jihadists' sledgehammers and jackhammers. More than 28,000 rare books and manuscripts also disappeared under the flames.
" READ ALSO Daesh is persecuting the treasures of the museum of Mosul
The Iraqi security forces announced in 2017 that they had "reconquered the archaeological museum", in the words of General Raed Chakir Jawdat to AFP. The following year, an international consortium funded by the ALIPH Foundation embarked on the rehabilitation of the second largest museum in the country.
10,000 pieces to pick up
The Louvre is getting its hands dirty alongside the American museum complex Smithsonian Institution to rehabilitate the establishment as soon as possible. The scientists "focused on masterpieces, including the famous lion of Nimrud," says Ariane Thomas, director of the Department of Oriental Antiquities at the Louvre to FranceInfo. The work is colossal, more than 10,000 pieces must be glued back. In 2019, the MCM hosts its very first exhibition since the ransacking in the royal reception room, completely renovated and used for the occasion. Visitors can then discover the works of local or foreign visual artists.
In collaboration with the Parisian museum, the Iraqi institution partially reopened its doors in May to host a temporary exhibition entitled "The Cultural Museum of Mosul: From Destruction to Rehabilitation".
It has also begun the final phase of its restoration and plans to officially reopen in 2026. The Louvre hopes that it "will once again become a center of culture not only for Mosuliotes, but also for Iraqis in general and international visitors.
»
