By Anas al-Bar | 2024-10-31

Mosul's cultural landmarks, some of which are thousands of years old, were systematically destroyed by the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) after it seized control of the city a decade ago.

ISIS sought to "erase Mosul's human heritage," Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage head Ali Obeid told Al-Fassel.

But the Ninawa province city "has healed its wounds and is now beginning to regain its civilized face by rehabilitating many archaeological and ancient sites," he said.

The Iraqi government attaches great importance to the restoration of Mosul's heritage and historical landmarks, Obeid said.

"We are determined to exert our utmost efforts in this regard within the framework of a comprehensive rehabilitation plan," he said.

Iraqi teams, with the support of international experts and groups, are working to reconstruct archaeological and heritage sites, artefacts and buildings.

Complex task

At the Mosul Cultural Museum, Iraqi archaeologists and their French counterparts from the Louvre are restoring statues, bas-reliefs and artefacts that ISIS elements smashed into smithereens.

"The restoration task is complex because there is a large number of pieces and stones that must be repaired and assembled with great care," museum director Zaid Ghazi told Al-Fassel.

"These are antiquities dating back to ancient Iraqi civilizations, specifically the Assyrian civilization," he said.

But there has been progress, he noted, with focus on restoring the base of the royal throne of Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BCE), and a massive statue of the lion of the Temple of Ishtar in the ancient city of Nimrud.

Work also is under way at the Wall of Ninawa, which dates back to the Assyrian Empire (700 BCE), and the Nimrud palace built by the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II, which is being rehabilitated with the support of the Smithsonian Institute and the Academic Research Institute in Iraq (TARII).

Projects to repair the shrine of the Prophet Yunus, and al-Nuri mosque and its leaning minaret in Mosul, are supported by UNESCO and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Other historical mosques such as al-Aghawat, al-Raabiya and al-Ziwani are being rehabilitated, along with two Chaldeans churches -- Hawsh al-Baya and of al-Tahira -- with work completed on the latter September 21.

Umm al-Mauna church and school in Mosul's old city, which ISIS had used as its hesba ("religious police") headquarters, also reopened this year.

Mosul is full of historical landmarks that reflect its cultural breadth and diversity, Ninawa governor Abdul Qader Dakhil said during an inspection of rehabilitation work.

Rebuilding its places of worship revives the spirit and heritage of the city, its social fabric and the coexistence the terrorists tried to target, he said.