Iraqi Museum Restores Treasures Destroyed by Militants

A worker helps reassemble an artifact bearing cuneiform inscriptions at the Mosul museum in northern Iraq. AFP
A worker helps reassemble an artifact bearing cuneiform inscriptions at the Mosul museum in northern Iraq. AFP
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Iraqi Museum Restores Treasures Destroyed by Militants

A worker helps reassemble an artifact bearing cuneiform inscriptions at the Mosul museum in northern Iraq. AFP
A worker helps reassemble an artifact bearing cuneiform inscriptions at the Mosul museum in northern Iraq. AFP

Left in ruins by militants, Iraq's once-celebrated Mosul museum and its 2,500-year-old treasures are being given a second life thanks to restoration efforts backed by French experts.

Ancient artifacts in the museum were smashed into little pieces when ISIS fighters seized the northern city of Mosul in 2014 and made it their seat of power for three years.

"We must separate all the fragments... It's like a puzzle, you try to retrieve the pieces that tell the same story," said restoration worker Daniel Ibled, commissioned by France's famous Louvre museum, which is supporting Iraqi museum employees.

"Little by little, you manage to recreate the full set."

When the ISIS militants were in control, they filmed themselves taking hammers to pre-Islamic treasures they deemed heretical, proudly advertising their rampage in a video published in February 2015.

The largest and heaviest artifacts were destroyed for the sake of their propaganda, but smaller pieces were sold on black markets the world over.

The scars of their destruction remain today.

On the ground floor of the museum, the twisted iron bars of the foundation poke through a gaping hole.

In other rooms, stones of various sizes are scattered, some bearing etchings of animal paws or wings. Others show inscriptions in cuneiform script.

The smallest of these fragments -- no bigger than a fist -- are lined up on a table, and experts are hard at work sorting through them.

For now, their efforts are focused on a winged lion from the city of Nimrud, jewel of the Assyrian empire, two "lamassu" -- winged bulls with human heads -- and the base of the throne of King Ashurnasirpal II.

These pieces, many dating back to the first millennium BC, are being revived with financing from the International Alliance for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Conflict Areas (ALIPH).

Alongside the Louvre, efforts are also being made by Washington's Smithsonian Institution, which provides training for the museum's teams, as well as the New York-headquartered World Monuments Fund, which is tasked with restoring the building.

The base of the Assyrian king's throne, covered in cuneiform writing, appears almost fixed.

Some pieces are held together by elastic bands or small metallic rings.

"The base of the throne was pulverized into more than 850 pieces," said museum official Choueib Firas Ibrahim, an expert in Sumerian studies. "We have reassembled two-thirds of them."

For some pieces, writing fragments or straight lines help the teams put them together like a giant jigsaw.

"We read the inscriptions on this base, and we were able to restore the pieces to their place," restorer Taha Yassin told AFP.

But other pieces without "a flat surface or inscriptions" make them virtually indistinguishable and are more complicated, Yassin added.

One year after Iraqi troops recaptured Mosul in 2017, the museum received an urgent grant in a bid to restore it to its former glory.

After delays due to the coronavirus pandemic, museum director Zaid Ghazi Saadallah said he hopes the restoration works will be finished within five years.

But many gaps will remain, and posters on walls identify the lost artifacts.

"Most pieces are destroyed or looted," Saadallah said.

Iraq has suffered for decades from the pillaging of its antiquities, particularly after the US-led invasion in 2003, as well as during the later ISIS takeover.

But the current government says it has made the repatriation of artifacts a priority.

The Louvre has tasked 20 people to help the restoration efforts, said Ariane Thomas, director of the Louvre's Department of Near Eastern Antiquities.

After three missions this year, seven French experts will take turns visiting Iraq to help guide the restoration process, undertaken with about 10 museum employees.

Once the restoration work is complete, an online exhibition will be held to unveil the work.

"When we said that with time, money and know-how, we could revive even the most damaged of works, this proves it," Thomas said.

"Works that were completely destroyed have started to take form once again."



‘Life-Threatening Cold’ Expected as Polar Vortex Stretches across US After Deadly Weekend Flooding

 Portions of Basil Griffin Park in Bowling Green, Ky., Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, sit submerged after heavy rainfall. (Jack Dobbs/Daily News via AP)
Portions of Basil Griffin Park in Bowling Green, Ky., Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, sit submerged after heavy rainfall. (Jack Dobbs/Daily News via AP)
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‘Life-Threatening Cold’ Expected as Polar Vortex Stretches across US After Deadly Weekend Flooding

 Portions of Basil Griffin Park in Bowling Green, Ky., Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, sit submerged after heavy rainfall. (Jack Dobbs/Daily News via AP)
Portions of Basil Griffin Park in Bowling Green, Ky., Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, sit submerged after heavy rainfall. (Jack Dobbs/Daily News via AP)

Harsh weather moved west on Monday as a polar vortex was expected to grip the Rockies and the northern Plains after winter storms pummeled the eastern US over the weekend, killing at least 10 people, including nine victims in Kentucky who died during flooding from heavy rains.

The National Weather Service warned of “life-threatening cold” into Tuesday, with temperatures in northeastern Montana predicted to dip as low as 45 degrees below zero (-42.7 degrees Celsius) with wind chills down to 60 below (-51 degrees Celsius).

Dangerously cold wind chill temperatures as low as 50 degrees below zero (minus 45.6) were expected in most of North Dakota, which remained under an “extreme cold warning” along with large swaths of South Dakota and Minnesota, according to the weather service.

Meteorologists said several states would experience the 10th and coldest polar vortex event this season. Weather forces in the Arctic are combining to push the chilly air that usually stays near the North Pole into the US and Europe.

Kentucky, Appalachia battered by flooding

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced Sunday that the death toll in his state had risen to nine and at least 1,000 people stranded by floods had to be rescued. President Donald Trump approved Kentucky's request for a disaster declaration, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate relief efforts throughout the state.

In Atlanta, a person was killed when a large tree fell on a home early Sunday, raising the overall death toll from harsh weather to 10.

Parts of Kentucky and Tennessee received up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain, Bob Oravec, a senior forecaster with the National Weather Service, said Sunday.

Water submerged cars and buildings in Kentucky and mudslides blocked roads in Virginia over the weekend. Flood warnings extended throughout Tennessee and Arkansas.

In West Virginia, 13 southern counties were under a state of emergency for flooding and some areas were cut off to vehicle traffic Sunday. Several volunteer fire departments dealt with flooding in their own buildings while answering rescue and evacuation calls.

Rockies, Midwest, Northeast hit with snow storms

Ice and snow made road travel treacherous in large swaths of Michigan, which remained under a winter weather advisory until Monday afternoon. Michigan State Police reported 114 crashes Sunday around the Detroit area since snow started falling Saturday.

“Fortunately, most were one-car spin outs and there were no serious injuries,” Michigan State Police said on X.

Authorities in Colorado reported eight people were killed in fatal vehicle crashes since Valentine’s Day and warned drivers to be cautious as the weather made driving more difficult. The causes of the fatal crashes weren’t immediately known.

Also in Colorado, three state patrol cruisers that had pulled over along roadsides were struck by other vehicles, including one on Sunday where a trooper had stopped as officials prepared to close a road because of ice. In each case the troopers were out of their cruisers at the time and were uninjured.

Avalanche warnings were issued for numerous areas of the Rocky Mountains stretching from Colorado to Washington state, with the danger rated highest in Utah.

Part of Detroit is submerged in water after pipe burst

Parts of a southwest Detroit neighborhood are submerged after a nearly century-old water main burst early Monday.

The 54-inch (137-centimeter) transmission main was built in 1930 and has left several feet of water over streets, sidewalks and yards, according to the Great Lakes Water Authority.

Crews and contractors were in the area attempting to isolate the break. It was not clear what caused the main to burst, but temperatures late Sunday into Monday morning were well below zero degrees Fahrenheit (minus 17 degrees C).

No injuries have been reported. Firefighters used a ladder to help one person from the roof of a car in waist-deep water and a bulldozer was used to navigate a flooded street and help people leave a home, according to the fire department.

Mayor Mike Duggan says people impacted by the flooding can shelter in place if they have power and feel safe. Those who want to leave can call 911 and fire crews will help them from their homes and take them to a temporary shelter.

Avalanche warnings for Rockies and elsewhere

Avalanche warnings were issued for numerous areas of the Rocky Mountains stretching from Colorado to Washington state, with the danger rated highest in Utah.

The Mount Washington Avalanche Center issued an avalanche warning Monday for several places in the White Mountains — including Tuckerman Ravine, Gulf of Slides, Huntington Ravine, and Great Gulf — in the state of New Hampshire.

Two ice climbers were rescued in the White Mountains on Sunday after they triggered an avalanche and one of them became partially buried in the snow, the New Hampshire Fish and Game said in a statement.