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When Islamic State gunmen stormed the Mosul Cultural Museum and filmed themselves taking sledgehammers to 3,000-year-old Assyrian statues in 2015, museum director Zaid Ghazi watched the images online aghast.

Mr. Ghazi was at his home in Mosul, unable to go to work since the militants had seized the city, one of Iraqs largest, and made it the crown jewel of their self-proclaimed caliphate. He later learned that Islamic State militants had set fire to the museums library of 25,000 books.

It was unbelievable, he said. It showed the deep hatred in their hearts.

The museum is a symbol of a multicultural version of Iraqi society that Islamic State tried to obliterate during the three years it ruled Mosul before being driven from the city in 2017. Founded in 1952, the secular, public institution showcases thousands of years of Iraqs history, including extensive exhibits on pre-Islamic times.

Today, Iraqi authorities, along with Mr. Ghazi and international supporters including the Smithsonian Institution, have begun a painstaking process of rebuilding the museum and restoring its place as a vital center of culture in Iraq.The museum has reopened for individual art events since 2019, but is now closed as administrators plan the next phase of its rehabilitation, which is expected to take years. Its reconstruction offers an opportunity to redress the traumas of Islamic States occupation.

Read more:
Shattered by ISIS, Iraqs Mosul Museum Is Rising From the Ashes - The Wall Street Journal