Britain to send museum experts to help protect Iraqi heritage

The British Department for Culture, Media and Sport Wednesday announced a 3 million pound (4.5 million U.S. dollars) scheme to protect cultural sites from the destructive forces of war and the so-called Islamic State (IS).

The scheme will be carried out by British Museum over five years under which an expert team will be created to assess, document and stabilize affected sites in Iraq.

The team will also help begin reconstruction and preservation work for some cultural artifacts and key archaeological sites such as Nineveh, Nimrud and Hatra.

British Museum said the program will build on many years of cooperation between the museum and its colleagues in Iraq. It said it "intends to recruit two archaeologists for an initial period of five years who have extensive field experience in the region. They will lead a six-month training program to run twice a year."

Five heritage sector Iraqi professionals will be invited for each course, spending three months at the British Museum and three months in Iraq.

It said the program will include techniques of rescue archaeology, 3D scanning, digitization of objects and documents, emergency retrieval strategies, forensic collection and documentation methodologies, multi-purpose photographic training and principles of conservation and restoration.

"This training builds on our collaborations with colleagues in the region and will make a real difference in recording and preserving the cultural heritage currently under threat in Iraq," said Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum. Endit