Iraq's Mosul rises from Islamic State ashes to rebuild minarets, museum

MOSUL, Iraq — Emad Zaki Mohammed, 55, a local Moslawi imam, would regularly go to chant the call to prayer at the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul, Iraq, until the Islamic State (IS) blew up both the historic building and its distinctive "hunchback" leaning minaret in June 2017. It was the terrorist group’s last stand before declaring defeat during a protracted war against a US-led coalition of Iraqi forces. 

In 2014, when IS took over the city of Mosul, it was in the Great Mosque of al-Nuri that IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed an Islamic caliphate. That fateful day, and during the battle, which began in October 2016, Mohammed lost both his beloved mosque and his son. The people of Mosul experienced one of the most violent urban conflicts since World War II. Nothing was left untouched by the horror of the war.

But now, nearly a decade later, Mohammed's voice can again be heard emanating from the mosque during the call to prayer, transcending the cacophony of sounds from the reconstruction not just of the Great Mosque of al-Nuri but other historic buildings, religious sites and museums in Mosul.

Mohammed began to return to the mosque two years ago to pray. “The city is returning to us now; the situation is better. All the people of Mosul want now is a better life,” he told Al-Monitor. Mohammed, like other Moslawis, fled the city during the battle. In recent years, as a consortium of international organizations rebuilds the city, his family and many others have returned.

Yet Mosul — Iraq’s second-largest city and one of the most important in ancient history as it was once the capital of the Assyrian Empire — still lies in ruin. Glimmers of its once-beautiful architecture can be glimpsed in its bomb-blasted structures; its historic buildings remain collapsed in piles of debris and bullet-holed facades.

Every street is haunted by war-torn structures that are slowly being resuscitated as Iraqis and international groups work tirelessly to bring the city back to life.

Since 2018, a host of global players have begun to rebuild Mosul, especially its famed monuments. Al-Nuri Mosque is being rebuilt under UNESCO’s “Revive the Spirit of Mosul” project, which seeks to breathe new life into one of the world’s oldest cities. 

The Emirati government contributed $50.4 million to the program, which UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay lauded as an “unprecedented cooperation to rebuild cultural heritage in Iraq.” It includes the restoration of the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, Al-Saa’a Church, and 800-year-old Al-Tahera Church — symbols of Mosul’s diversity — due to be completed by the end of this year.

Renovating "the identity of Mosul"

The Mosul Cultural Museum, the second-largest museum in Iraq after the National Museum in Baghdad, is also being reconstructed, slated to reopen in 2026.

Dubbed by Moslawis “the identity of Mosul,” the cultural museum was targeted in 2014 and nearly demolished by IS, which damaged and destroyed major Assyrian monuments, including a colossal lion from Nimrud, two lamassu (guardian) figures, the Banquet Stele and the throne base of King Ashurnasirpal II. Over 28,000 books and rare manuscripts were also burned.

Starting in 2018, the museum is being renovated by a consortium led by Iraq’s State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH), part of the Ministry of Culture that is overseeing the restoration project alongside the Musee du Louvre, Smithsonian Institution, World Monuments Fund and cultural heritage foundation ALIPH.

The Mosul Cultural Museum is being rebuilt in the likeness of its original structure, which was designed by famed Iraqi modernist architect Mohamed Makiya. It was inaugurated by King Faisal II in 1952 to tell the story of northern Iraq, in galleries dedicated to prehistory, Hatra, Assyria and Islam. It opened to the public in 1974.

“We are reconstructing the museum according to its original design but also leaving some parts in their state of destruction,” said Zaid Ghazi Saadallah, director of the Mosul Cultural Museum, as he motioned to a giant crater in the museum’s Assyria Hall, the area most damaged by IS when it detonated a bomb in the floor. Nearby are the remains of intricate cuneiform carvings and winged Assyrian sculptures that the museum staff and restorers at the Musee du Louvre are trying to salvage.

“IS was trying to destroy the memory of Iraq and of the Iraqi people,” Saadallah told Al-Monitor. “But the people of Mosul want the memory of the destruction to remain. They want to not forget what happened. They want to remember how we rebuilt the city.”

From mid-May until June 1, "The Mosul Cultural Museum: From Destruction to Rehabilitation" exhibition took place in the newly restored former Royal Hall next to the museum, marking the first showcase of its artifacts from its collection since the war.

While the museum’s latest destruction by IS is its harshest, the cultural museum has been closed on and off for 20 years — a sign itself of Iraq’s woeful history and intense suffering, from sanctions and war to ongoing militant attacks.

“The museum is symbolic because it tells the story of Mosul and the entire northern Iraq region,” said Ariane Thomas, director of the Department of Ancient Middle Eastern Antiquities at the Musee du Louvre. She told Al-Monitor that the process hasn’t been easy. During an assessment in 2019, they discovered an active bomb on the roof. “The challenge was to see how and what we could salvage and restore from the destruction,” Thomas said, noting how Iraqis also had to be trained to restore the building and its artifacts.

“They were so motivated, and the work is not easy. How do you deal with millions of pieces that have exploded, some heavy and some light? In many ways, the reconstruction is a miracle,” she added.

According to Saadallah and other specialists, there are still many looted and damaged artifacts belonging to the museum that are yet to be found or returned.

Reconstruction brings new economic possibilities 

According to a report by the United Nations Development Program in 2019, the reconstruction of Mosul had the potential to generate around 80,000 direct jobs and 120,000 indirect jobs over the course of five years. This demonstrates the scale of employment opportunities that can arise from infrastructure development alone in the city.

“The revitalization of Mosul is taking place across all areas of city life,” Alessandra Peruzzetto, regional director of Middle East and North Africa at the World Monuments Fund, told Al-Monitor. “The creation of new infrastructure is leading to employment in construction and engineering and the expansion of the service industry to support the growing economy. Cultural initiatives, such as the rehabilitation of the Mosul Cultural Museum, are an important element of the city’s regeneration that will bring people into the center not only to visit the museum but to eat in restaurants and stay at hotels.”

“People view Mosul as a recipe for success despite the efforts made by Kurdish parties to delay the process as it does not align with their interests,” an Iraqi in Mosul told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity.

“Many residents of Mosul were displaced during the conflict and require new or repaired housing,” said Qassim Abdulrahman Khudhur, an Iraqi translator working in Mosul. “The rehabilitation process can involve rebuilding homes and providing support for housing projects. This would involve a range of job opportunities [for] carpenters, masons, plumbers, electricians and other skilled tradespeople,” he told Al-Monitor.

Challenges remain

A host of corrupt officials and institutional weaknesses remain. A few remaining IS cells can be found in the country, largely in rural areas, and there have been some kidnapping attempts in recent years.

Iraq’s politics remain chaotic and corrupt, and any renewed tension could cause disruption to Mosul’s reconstruction.

A major challenge to the reconstruction is the number of active mines in the city.

Inside the Tutunji House — an impressive Ottoman palace built between 1808 and 1817 with a central courtyard featuring sumptuously decorated marble bas reliefs — Moslawi craftsmen work to repair the intricate decorations.

A symbol of the city's past as a flourishing center of international trade, it was nearly destroyed by IS during the liberation of Mosul in 2017.

Since 1981, the house has belonged to the SBAH and was newly renovated just prior to when IS took over Mosul in 2014. It was then used by the group as an explosive factory and suffered considerable destruction.

Now, the University of Pennsylvania is working closely with SBAH and Mosul University to restore the emblematic house.

Mosaab Jassem, the Iraqi site manager from the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities, said restoring the house has been challenging yet very rewarding.

The project includes a stone-carving workshop to produce the unique Mosul marble relief tiles and support the preservation of the craft through the restoration of the famed house. As a result, Mosul residents are employed.

Following complicated mine clearance operations carried out by the Iraqi army, conservation works started in 2020. Active mines to this day remain in the city — where walls are labeled “safe” in locations where de-mining has taken place and colored with a red line where de-mining still needs to occur — having resulted in numerous injuries and even the death of several children.

“We are risking our lives to rebuild our city and to see it alive again,” Jassem told Al-Monitor. “It is hard work, but the results are beautiful.”