Syria's ancient heritage on show again: National Museum of Damascus reopens doors

Only part of the museum and its collection will be reopened, according to its deputy director

A visitor takes a picture with his mobile phone during the reopening of Syria's National Museum of Damascus. Syrian officials have reopened the country's National Museum in Damascus, more than six years after the prominent institution was shut down. Syria's Culture Minister Mohamed al-Ahmad told reporters Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018 that the reopening sends a "genuine message" that Syria's heritage has not been affected by "terrorism." Photo / Reuters

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, antiquities are displayed during the reopening ceremony for Syria's National Museum, in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018. Syrian officials, foreign archeologists and restoration specialists attended the Sunday reopening ceremony in the heart of Damascus more than six years after the prominent institution was shut down and emptied as the country's civil war encroached on the capital. Photo / SANA via AP

Visitors leave the national antiquities museum in the Syrian capital Damascus after visiting it on October 28, 2018. Syria reopened a wing of the capital's famed antiquities museum today after six years of closure to protect its exhibits from the civil war. Photo / AFP

Polish archeologist Bartosz Markowski sits in front of the Lion of al-Lat, an ancient statue from the temple of the same name in Palmyra, during his visit to the national antiquities museum in the Syrian capital Damascus on October 28, 2018. Photo / AFP

In this Feb. 23, 2016 file photo, Jihad Abu Kahrlah, an archaeologist at Syria's National Museum, holds an artifact delivered from the Daraa Museum to Damascus, Syria. Photo / AP

Visitors look at sculptures displayed during the reopening of Syria's National Museum of Damascus, Syria October 28, 2018. Photo / Reuters

A visitor takes photos during the reopening ceremony for Syria's National Museum, in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018. Photo / SANA via AP

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, a visitor looks at ancient artifacts during the reopening ceremony for Syria's National Museum, in Damascus, Syria, Sunday.

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, a visitor looks at ancient artifacts during the reopening ceremony for Syria's National Museum, in Damascus, Syria.

Visitors tour the antiquities museum in the Syrian capital Damascus on October 28, 2018. Syria reopened a wing of the capital's famed antiquities museum today after six years of closure to protect its exhibits from the civil war. / AFP / LOUAI BESHARA

Priests visit the national antiquities museum in the Syrian capital Damascus on October 28, 2018.

A priest and a woman visit the national antiquities museum in the Syrian capital Damascus after on October 28, 2018. Photo / AFP

People take pictures during the inauguration ceremony for the reopening of the National Museum in Damascus, Syria, 28 October 2018. Photo / EPA

A visitor uses her mobile phone to take a selfie during the reopening of Syria's National Museum of Damascus. Photo / Reuters

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency, SANA, people attend the reopening ceremony for Syria's National Museum, in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018.

Syria's National Museum of Damascus opened its rich trove of antiquities to visitors again on Sunday, seven years after war forced them to close and months after the government recaptured all rebel areas near the capital.

Only part of the museum, and its collection drawn from the civilisations that have ruled Syria over the millennia, will be reopened immediately, its deputy director Ahmad Deeb said."We will exhibit a group of artefacts from all periods from prehistory, the ancient east and the classical and Islamic eras in this section," he said.

The fate of Syria's ancient heritage has hung in the balance for much of the conflict, as fighting erupted in major sites such as the Old City of Aleppo and others, including the desert ruins of Palmyra, fell into the hands of iconoclastic jihadists.

As the insurgency began to spread in 2011, the government evacuated the museum's collection, one of the most important in the Middle East, along with those of provincial museums, hiding their artefacts far from the battlefield.

In Aleppo, where the museum lay near the front line, the huge ancient statues outside were too large to transport, and were boarded up in giant crates filled with cement against shrapnel damage.

"The masterpieces were hidden straight away," said Deeb. Army trucks carried antiquities from sites across the country to stash in safety, he said. The collection of Deir al-Zor museum, isolated by fighting, was airlifted to Damascus.

In the capital, the empty museum continued to be used by the General Directorate of Antiquities as an office, and was hit by mortar fire, but not badly damaged.

As the rebel presence around Damascus weakened in recent years, some statues were put on display to the public in the museum garden, including the Lion of Elat, a massive piece from Palmyra that was damaged by the Islamic State and later restored.

Other objects, recovered by the government after they were seized by insurgents or smuggled overseas, were put on display this month in the Damascus Opera House, a testament to the looting of heritage that has characterised much of the war.

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