{"id":1090,"date":"2018-09-27T01:18:26","date_gmt":"2018-09-26T23:18:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/syriansforheritage.org\/?post_type=project&p=1090"},"modified":"2018-11-02T21:25:50","modified_gmt":"2018-11-02T19:25:50","slug":"the-idlib-museum-project","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/syriansforheritage.org\/?project=the-idlib-museum-project","title":{"rendered":"The Idlib Museum Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Background<\/h3>\n

The Idlib museum is one of Syria\u2019s most important museums that hosted a large collection of cuneiform tablets from the site of Ebla and valuable artifacts from all periods of the region\u2019s history. In 2012, the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums undertook security measures to safeguard the Idlib museum. All artifacts were moved to secured storerooms in the basement, and walls were built to hide the doors and all openings leading to storage.<\/p>\n

In 2015, Idlib became under the control of the opposition, and hence, the city has been repeatedly bombarded by the government. The bombardment had at least damaged the museum twice in 2015 and 2016, which affected the museum and exposed it to organized looting by armed groups.<\/p>\n

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Preparation of the project<\/h2>\n

Over the course of 2017, prolonged negotiations were held with the powers controlling Idlib in order to provide protection for the Idlib Museum and to allow a civil organization, the Idlib Antiquities Center, to monitor the museum and conduct needed maintenance. Unfortunately, these efforts did not succeed.<\/p>\n

A new opportunity has presented itself when a civilian authority took charge of all civil and administrative matters in the city of Idlib. The Idlib Antiquities Center successfully took advantage of this development and hence, the Idlib Museum was handed over to the Idlib Antiquities Center in February 2018.<\/p>\n

Immediately after becoming in charge of the Idlib Museum, SIMAT collaborated with the Idlib Antiquities Center and took necessary steps to protect and reorganize the museum, starting with setting up a museum inventory committee. The committee consists of a number of civil and legal personnel from the city of Idlib, in addition to members of SIMAT. A preliminary report prepared by the committee on the condition of the museum revealed that the building of the museum has been heavily damaged due to the bombardment, and that the museum storage is in a deteriorating condition due to moisture and water leakage. The report showed also that most of the cabinets and drawers in storage where the artifacts were kept were opened or lying on the floor, and that unfortunately, a considerable number of artifacts is missing. In general, the committee noted the following:<\/p>\n