Gertrude Bell and the Chronicles of the Iraq Museum (1920 - 2015)

The emergence of the modern state of Iraq is closely connected to Gertrude Bell (1868-1926), a British archaeologist, writer, traveller and later colonial diplomat. Because of her mastery of the Arabic language and her knowledge of the tribes, geography and politics of the region, she became highly influential to British imperial policy-making. It was Bell, who suggested to the British Hussein ibn Ali, Sherif of Mecca, to lead the Arab Revolt in 1916 against the Ottoman Empire during World War I, and to appoint his son Faisal as the first king of Iraq. Her knowledge was a result of various travels throughout the region and her work as an archeologist. In 1909, she conducted the excavations at Al Ukhaidir Fortress near Karbala in Iraq and published the first major report on the remains.

The land between the two rivers has a long history of many important archeological sites. During the Ottoman Rule, many excavations took place without being officially registered anywhere. Shortly after capturing Baghdad in 1917, a proclamation was issued to regulate the preservation of archeological sites and the antiquities trade. The Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1922 included the execution of the Law of Antiquities based on the rules annexed to articles 421 of the 1920 Treaty of Peace signed at Sèvres. Shortly after, the Department of Antiquities was created with Bell as Honorary Director. She immediately started to work on the law which was finally ratified in 1924. The law was very lenient towards foreign archeologists and the practice of having the Director General choose the objects to be given to foreign excavators – an issue that was highly controversial. At the same time, it ensured that the museum was stocked with superb objects in a very short time and at a minimum of expense to the Iraqi government.

In 1923, Gertrude Bell managed to convince the administration to give her two rooms in the Government Offices in the Serai Building (today’s al-Qishla) – the Iraq Museum was born. Due to the continued growing of the collection, Bell was searching for a bigger location to house the collection. In 1926, the first wing of the Iraq Museum opened its doors in a two-storey building in Maamoun Street (today’s Baghdadi Museum). Bell passed away shortly after the opening. As the Honorary Director of Antiquities of Iraq, she modernised procedures and catalogue findings that became standard worldwide.

In 1936, a new Antiquities Law ensured that all antiquities and its sites in Iraq became the property of the state. The museum continued to receive artefacts and the Directorate General of Antiquities decided to build a museum complex to display the whole collection as well as to house its administrative offices. By 1939, it acquired the land from the Directorate of Railways comprising 45,000 sqm in Salihiyah District, the museum’s present location. The German architect Werner March designed the museum complex in an art deco structure that followed the plan of traditional Iraqi houses., Construction began before World War II but was put on hold from 1940-1955 due to the war. In 1957, King Faisal II laid the foundation stone of the new complex, which was completed in 1963. 

From 1963 until 1966, the museum staff arranged the display of over 100,000 pieces in 15 exhibition halls, all organised in chronological sequences. Additionally, the complex contained a rich multilingual library with an auditorium for 250 people. The Iraq Museum was officially opened in 1966. In 1984, the museum complex was expanded with a new annex (the New Museum), comprising 8 exhibition halls. The Iraq Museum was closed in 1991 when it was damaged due to a bomb attack on the nearby telecommunication centre and television station during the US-led Operation Desert Storm, but reopened in 2000. Following the US-led invasion in 2003, the museum and its collection fell victim to plundering carried out across the entire country. After years of restoration work accomplished with the aid of international support, the Iraq Museum was able to reopen in February 2015. It is currently operated by the Iraqi Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Antiquities.

This article was written by Hella Mewis and is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.