Google To Digitise Iraq's National Museum Archives
Google will soon begin digitising artefacts and documents at Iraq's National Museum, chief executive Eric Schmidt said on a visit to Baghdad. Some 14,000 digital images taken from the museum will be freely available online from the beginning of next year.
The National Museum of Iraq - opened in 1924 with a focus on objects from the Ur excavations and home to an extraordinary collection of Babylonian, Sumerian and Assyrian artefacts as well as rare Islamic texts - suffered damage and looting caused by the Iraqi war and only reopened to visitors February this year. Some 6,000 artefacts were recovered, but at least that many - some over 10,000 years old - remain missing and are probably in private collections abroad.
The history of the beginning of -literally- civilization is made right here and is preserved here in this museum.
Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt stressed the importance of the National Museum and its collection to world culture: "The history of the beginning of -literally- civilization is made right here and is preserved here in this museum. There's a tremendous amount of information in the Arab world that is neither understood nor broadly available to everyone else."
Schmidt added that the project fits within Google's mission to make information available to everyone. The 14,000 images - plus a few surprises - will be available early 2010.
The project involves digitising and electronically cataloguing artefacts at the museum, with the costs being borne jointly by Google and the US State Department.
When Asked if the Internet search giant was planning any other projects in Iraq, Schmidt replied: "We've started with this one, I'm sure we'll add more."
The Virtual Museum of Iraq
In the mean while, you can still enjoy 'The Virtual Museum of Iraq', an Italian project that showcases more than seventy of the top treasures of the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad. This 'virtual museum' - a multimedia exhibit - was developed by Italy’s Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Virtual Museum of Iraq is presented in Italian, English and Arabic and contains images, movies, maps and timelines ordered by culture in seven different halls. Ranging from the prehistoric era to the Islamic, it contains amongst others a 6,000-year-old alabaster figurine of a female from Samarra, winged human-headed bulls, a glazed brick panel from Babylon's Ishtar Gate and a 3,000-year-old cuneiform tablet. Visit the Virtual Museum of Iraq at virtualmuseumiraq.cnr.it.
If you prefer 'physicial' treasures over virtual ones, you should really check out the Mesopotamian Treasures in the British Museum's upper galleries and make sure not to miss the 'Iraq's Ancient Past - Rediscovering Ur's Royal Cemetery' exhibition at the Penn Museum.
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Is this only being done because they know the museum stands no chance against insurgents/war?
I don't think so. They are mapping (well, err... 'biking') Stonehenge too, and it's quite safe - even if you don't count the druids! ;) We should assume and hope that the worst is over for the Iraqi treasures, and that the main focus is now indexing them again and getting the missing ones home. But most other museums have their own digitalisation, archiving and web projects, whereas the Baghdad Museum only has a website showing no current exhibitions. I assume the possibilities to 'start from zero' are quite appealing. That and people do want to see the treasures, but travelling to Baghdad is a lot less safe than travelling to London?
As for the USA governement involvement, does (re)building a nation not mean also re-building its self-image, identity and 'patriotism'. Valueing and knowing your history is a large part of that, and education a good way to counter fundamentalism?
How much responsibility does the US really have for the museum, though? It could be argued the damage was only done whilst trying to save millions of lives, and once that job's done then the Iraqis can jolly well pick up the pieces themselves. Is the US morally obliged to help out with the museum's rebuild or are is it well within its rights to leave when peace is restored?
An update - well, not really, but additional information ;) - with AP's video of Eric Schmid's announcement.
"The history of the beginning of 'literally' civilisation was made right here and is preserved here in this museum."
"And I can think of no better use of our time and our resources, to make the imagas and ideas of your civilisation - from the very beginning of time - available to a billion people worldwide."
There is some criticism arrising, saying that a large part of the museum was already digitalised by the Italian Research council (see 'Virtual Museum of Iraq' above), but imho that one does not allow that much - for instance looking at objects from different angles, using if need-be QuickTime VR - so an upgrade of the 'digitisation' is still welcome?
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