'looted Iraqi museums'

 

THE IRAQ MUSEUM AND ITS TREASURES

The relics of the past serve as reminders of what has been before, and as link in the chain of communication between past, present and future .This is what awakes the interest of a nation in its antiquities ,whether they be standing monuments , movable objects or historical written documents . The awareness of a society for its past depends on the amount of relics surviving from it ,and the society which possesses many and fine museums has a corresponding stronger historical memory than the society with out of them. The national Iraq museum is one of the important museums in the world which has the most important historical
treasures not only for Iraqis but also for all the humanity ,treasures of the Iraq Museum ,will extend a genuine invitation to the museum’s visitors to strike up a real friendship with its exhibits.

Mode of Display


The display of exhibits is executed in a simple way intended to appeal to visitors but taking full advantage of modern technical means. The exhibition is arranged chronologically.
The exhibits are distributed among twenty halls, according to their cultural periods. Visitors begin with Hall-1 on the upper floor where the earliest antiquities are displayed and are led from one hall to another with the guidance of notices and pointers until the visit is concluded at Hall-20 on the ground floor. The distribution of antiquities in the Halls are as follows:
 
Hall- 1 , Corridor- 2
STONE AGE AND PREHISTORIC CULTURES
These Halls contain the collections of objects and materials belonging to early man. The period involved covers 100,000 to 10,000 years ago and is termed the Old Stone Age or the Paleolithic Period. In these halls there are some of the finest examples characteristic of village and town culture from both north and south of Iraq. The period of these cultures commonly termed the Prehistoric Ages, ends in the middle of the 4th millennium B.C. .
Hall- 3 , Corridor- 4
SUMERIAN CIVILIZAION
In these halls visitors see select examples of precious objects unearthed by Iraqi and foreign expeditions in such sites as Eridu, Kish, Uruk, Ur, Nippur, Shurupak, Eshnunna, Khafaji and also from other Sumerian cities. The emergence of writing in this period was the most significant development in the realm of civilization.
Hall-5 , Corridor- 6
AKKADIAN, BABYLONIAN AND KASSITE CULTURE
Among the important exhibits is the Akkadian bronze head of Sargon, an alabaster relief and a fine collection of cylinder seals. The Old Babylonian Period is particularly marked by the collection and documentation of historical, social, literary and religious information; Knowledge and culture were widely dispersed and the city of Babylon became a great center of teaching and Culture .
At Tell Harmal near Baghdad, the Directorate General of Antiquities found more than 3000 inscribed clay tablets from this period, with contents relating to mathematical, literary, administrative and legal matters.
Hall- 7
This Hall displays a collection of precious coins totalling 1600 in number. The coins are mounted in chronological order and according to their provenance, or kingdom, and the caliph, sultan or king who ordered their mintage.
EDUCATIONAL SECTION
Hall- 8 , Hall- 9
Before moving down to the ground floor, visitors are reminded that there are two other exhibition rooms which form the Museum’s Cultural and Educational Section (Halls 8 and 9) . Both are used for lectures and the study of photographs and original specimens of Iraqi antiquities and are accessible from the spiral stairs in Hall-12 on the ground floor.
   
Hall- 10
THE ASSYRIAN SCULPTURES
The Hall of Assyrian Sculptures is the largest in the Iraq Museum. It houses colossal statues and sculptures which once graced the walls, facades and courts of the royal palaces, and the gateways of the cities of Khorsabad and Nimrud. Among them are the colossal winged bulls and huge statues of Assyrian kings and gods.
Hall- 11
SEASONAL EXHIBITION HALL
This hall, which actually constitutes the building’s high tower, is assigned for seasonal exhibitions held occasionally on the accumulation of new finds. Such new finds are shown to the public before being distributed for permanent exhibition in the halls of the Iraq Museum and to other museums of the country.
   
Hall- 12
EXHIBITS OF THE ASSYRIAN OBJECTS
Exhibited in this hall are various Assyrian objects found at the four Assyrian capitals and elsewhere.
   
Hall- 13
THE IVORIES
This hall is devoted to the ivories discovered at Nimrud by the British expedition under the directorship of Professor sir Max Mallowan.
The Iraq Museum is indeed proud to be the possessor of a large and priceless collection of ivories, which may be classified into three major styles or industries, the Assyrian, Phoenician and Egyptian industries.
   
Hall-14
EXHIBITS OF THE CHALDAEAN AND ACHAEMENID PERIODS
This hall contains objects and artifacts dating to the first millennium B.C. . Among them are Luristan bronze objects, sets of jewels and ornaments in gold and silver, cylinder seals and a variety of other objects.
   
Corridor- 15
This corridor is made by the space between the Assyrian halls and the Hatra hall and is occupied by a round stone table, supported by three legs, modeled like lion’s legs. This table is one of fourteen, in two rows of seven, used for offering sacrifices, which were found in ”Sibitti” Temple at Khorsabad.
   
Hall-16
HATRENE- PARTHIAN CIVILIZATION
This hall contains remains from the civilizations which followed the fall of Babylon at the hands of Alexander the Great (331 B.C.). Most of the exhibits of this hall, particularly the big sculptures, were brought from the city of Hatra.
Hall-17
EXHIBITS OF THE SASSANIAN
This hall houses antiquities of the Sassanian period, some of which have already been encountered in the previous hall. In particular this hall has architectural decorative elements which adorned royal palaces, and other objects found at Ctesiphon and Kish in particular.
   
Halls 18, 19, 20
ARAB ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION
The antiquities on display in the three Islamic halls of the Museum date from different periods of Islam. Hundreds of books have dealt with the subject of Islamic art such as the finest examples of the achievements of Islamic architects in Iraq are to be found at Kufa, Wasit, Baghdad, Samarra and Mosul, with their mosques , minarets, domes, schools, and palaces decorated with the typical geometrical and floral designs in cut brick, mosaic, or stucco, The Islamic ceramic industries reached a very high level of technical and artistic excellence, The Islamic glassware also achieved a high degree of perfection, The metal vessels into fine works of art, The textile industry, The wooden furniture And the Islamic Calligraphy
ALBAGHDADYIA ......doing the best even in the smallest things