AANES organizes archeological exhibition in Syria’s Raqqa
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – Raqqa’s Civil Councilaffiliated with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), organized on Saturday an archeological exhibition to rehabilitate the National Museum in Raqqa Governorate, northern Syria.
The Culture and Antiquities Committee of Raqqa’s Civil Council is working on the complete rehabilitation of the museum and the preventive conservation of the existing artifacts and mosaic artworks in collaboration with the local organization of Ru’ya (Vision).
Wissam al-Basha, the Director of the Antiquities Office in Raqqa’s Civil Council, stated that they had been working on the rehabilitation of the National Museum in Raqqa for the past few years.
The museum was looted, vandalized, and destroyed when the city was under the control of armed factions and the Islamic State (ISIS).
In January 2014, ISIS fully captured the city of Raqqa from Syrian opposition factions and later declared it as the de-facto capital of its caliphate. The extremist group was expelled from the city in October 2017 after a four-month battle with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by the US-led Global Coalition.
The local organization restored a number of mosaic artworks and reproduced others that replicate the original ones that were looted to lay for display in the museum.
Al-Basha told North Press that they organized the exhibition to celebrate the rehabilitation of the museum, and is scheduled to last from Nov. 4, to Nov. 30.
The exhibition displayed 40 artifacts, four mosaic artworks, as well as eight gypsum pieces. Additionally, 24 large-sized stone and bronze pieces were exhibited in the museum’s garden, the official added