Iraq

‘This is a farce’: heritage activists react as historic minaret in Iraq covered in white plaster

The Zumurrud Khatun Mosque and Mausoleum have undergone a heavy-handed restoration—and there is a risk of further damage to come

'Why can’t this be done in Churchill’s former home?': Mohammed Sami reflects on conflict with Blenheim Palace solo show

The ninth contemporary art exhibition to be held at the palace presents 14 new works by the Iraqi artist

Metropolitan Museum returns ancient Sumerian statue to Iraq

The museum’s latest repatriation comes as it ramps up efforts to audit the provenance of objects in its collection

Iraqi artist Mohammed Sami, witness to war, to take over Blenheim Palace

Goldsmiths graduate will draw inspiration from the 18th-century UK stately home

‘I've never unearthed anything this big in my life’: Assyrian sculpture with rich history dug up in northern Iraq

The 2,700-year-old lamassu—a protective deity—had been excavated previously, in 1992, but was reburied for its protection

Ancient Yazidi heritage still under threat after Isis genocide

Around 200,000 Yazidis remain displaced following attacks, and efforts to restore shrines and other buildings have stalled due to ongoing security concerns and a lack of funding

Iraqnews

Outrage over demolition of 300-year-old minaret in Iraq

Cultural heritage officials are calling for greater protections of historic structures as the Siraji minaret in Basra is torn down for road expansion

After Isis, Mosul Museum is rebuilt from the rubble

The terrorist group almost destroyed the museum in 2014. Less than a decade later, it is beginning to exhibit once again

Two looted antiquities seized in New York will be returned to Iraq

The figurines, which were looted from the ancient city of Uruk, belong to one of the oldest civilisations on earth

Symbols of Iraqi civilisation unveiled at the Basrah Museum

A new project dubbed the “Garden of Civilization” is bringing replicas of iconic Iraqi heritage to the courtyard of the museum in Basra

First major dig in ancient Iraqi city since Isis destruction unearths ‘significant’ palace door sill

The artefact survived both Nimrud's decimation in 2016 and the fall of the Assyrian empire in the 7th century

Archaeologists restoring monument damaged by Islamic State discover ancient stone carvings unseen for millennia

The seven alabaster reliefs document the military conquests of the Neo-Assyrian King Sennacherib

Seven dead after landslide strikes Iraqi Shia shrine

The Qattarat al-Imam Ali shrine, a popular pilgrimage destination, collapsed on 20 August after rubble from a landslide struck its roof

Iraqi artists remove their works from Berlin Biennale over Abu Ghraib photography row

Sajjad Abbas, Raed Mutar and Layth Kareem say curators "prioritise the display of wrongly imprisoned Iraqis"

Iraqi artists decry Berlin Biennale’s display of photographs showing tortured inmates at Abu Ghraib prison

Artists Raed Mutar and Sajjad Abbas protested against the inclusion of Jean-Jacques Lebel's work and have moved their own pieces

Stolen Picasso painting 'worth millions of dollars' found during drug raid, Iraqi authorities claim

Work was in the possession of three suspects who have been arrested for involvement in the trade of narcotics

Archaeologists uncover ancient city and hundreds of artefacts close to Baghdad

Scholar says the new discovery is "significant" as 233 objects are sent to the Iraq Museum

Iraqnews

British tourist’s 15-year prison sentence for antiquities smuggling overturned by Iraqi appeals court

James Fitton, a 66-year-old retired geologist, had been convicted of antiquities smuggling after taking pottery shards from an ancient site

Art crimeanalysis

Jailing of British visitor to Iraq could jeopardise tourism and soft diplomacy

After years of conflict and sanctions, heritage trips have been taking off in the area. But potential visitors may be wary after geologist Jim Fitton was given a 15-year sentence for taking “a few worthless pieces of broken pottery”

New dam could drown ancient Iraqi city of Ashur

Having survived Islamic State, Assyrian capital is under threat once again

Climate change reveals ancient city in Iraq

Worsening drought conditions have extended the period when the 3,400-year-old city of Zakhiku is above water, aiding archaeologists’ efforts to study and preserve the site

Abdulamir Al-Hamdani, the revered archaeologist and former Iraqi culture minister, has died, aged 55

Hamdani, who served as Iraq’s culture minister from 2018 to 2020, played a vital role in rescuing, restoring and cataloguing the country’s ancient heritage

Babylon is coming back to life, with its famed Ishtar Gate to be restored by this summer

A new World Monuments Fund project in conjunction with the US embassy in Baghdad aims to repair Iraqi cultural heritage as part of the Future of Babylon project

Iraqnews

Iraq Museum in Baghdad reopens after three-year hiatus

Treasure trove of ancient Mesopotamian heritage—ransacked after 2003 Iraq invasion—was closed during anti-government protests in 2019

Iraqnews

Sculptures vandalised by Isis return to ancient city of Hatra after restoration

Artefacts had been "smashed into pieces" by Isis militants when they occupied the Unesco World Heritage site as a training camp

US customs agents return ancient cuneiform writing implements to Iraq

The millennia-old prism and tablet were found to lack proper paperwork—one after its owner’s death, the other following an online auction

Latif Al Ani, who photographed Iraq’s mid-century modernising, has died aged 89

The photographer’s images of a cosmopolitan Baghdad before the rise of Saddam Hussein have been rediscovered in recent years

Archaeologists discover 4,000-year-old ancient city in Iraqi desert

Ten teams from international universities and museums will visit the Dhi Qar region in October for further excavations

Mosul Cultural Museum rises from the ravages of Isis

Painstaking reconstruction by multi-agency task force is salvaging what artefacts remain after Islamic State occupation