The National Museum in Baghdad—An Update

The National Museum is back from the brink but still in a fragile state.

The building has been repaired, with new desks, chairs, toilets, computers, air conditioning and a few coats of paint. Germany donated high-quality cabinets for storing cuneiform tablets. Italy funded the extensive renovation of the conservation laboratory. The stolen but recovered Early Sumerian Warka Vase (showing the damage sustained by the vase while it was missing) and the Lady of Warka mask (held by the Iraq minister of culture, Mufid el-Jaza’iri, in the photo) are some of the many artifacts now being restored and conserved by technicians with the Iraqi-Italian Institute of Archaeological Sciences, who are working in the lab (and training Iraqis). Japan is paying for a new analytical lab, where archaeologists will analyze materials and techniques used by ancient craftsmen, date objects and perform other scientific tasks. The contract for a new and improved security system has been awarded. As of last May, according to museum director Donny George, $4 million had been received in donations from abroad, including $1 million from the U.S. State Department.