Baghdad, Iraq — February 23, 2009 — Iraq's restored National Museum, which suffered significant looting immediately following the beginning of the war in March 2003, reopened today with a ceremony in Baghdad. The re-opening was made possible through the U.S. Department of State-funded Iraq Cultural Heritage Program implemented by IRD.

"This is a great day for the Iraqis," said CHP Program Director Gordon Davis. "This city, and this museum, is the cradle of civilization, and we're all fortunate to be able to help re-open it to the public."

The Baghdad Museum lost some 15,000 artifacts in the opening days of the war, whith only 6,000 or so recovered. The re-opening of the museum received extensive coverage, including featured stories in the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, NPR, BBC, and the Associated Press.

Through CHP, IRD will assist with the rehabilitation of the museum infrastructure, design, and development of new collections storage facilities, as well as improvements to museum gallery space and to the museum’s conservation laboratory. The work is done in conjunction with the Walters Art Museum and the Winterthur Conservation Program.

IRD will also assist in additional antiquity restoration, as well as developing and training museum staff across Iraq in the restoration and maintenance of cultural antiquities.