Damascus National Museum Reopens Following Years of Closure because of Terrorist War on Syria

 DAMASCUS, (ST)- Following years of closure because of the terrorist war on Syria, the National Museum in Damascus was re-opened on Sunday for visitors and archeologists to confirm Syria’s steadfastness and the return of life to Damascus.

The event, held under the patronage of the Minister of Culture Mohammed Al-Ahmad, will be accompanied by an international symposium entitled “the Situation of Syrian Museums and their Role in Sustaining the Consciousness of National Belongingness” in which a number of Foreign and Syrian archaeologists take part. Some exhibitions and various artistic activities will also be held on this occasion.

 At the opening ceremony, the culture minister said that foreign archeologists came to Damascus to express their sympathy with Syria whose archeological heritage was vandalized and exposed to systematic destruction by terrorist organizations.

“The National Museum in Damascus is one of the world’s important museums that contains artifacts documenting the Syrians civilization and telling about their efforts in building this civilization and about their ability to give and adhere to their land,” al-Ahmad said.   

“Reopening the museum is a message stressing the victory of rightness over falsehood,” added al-Ahmad, expressing the ministry’s readiness to continue inviting archeological missions as to carry on their excavations in Syrian archeological sites in order to further reflect the depth of the Syrian civilization.

On his part, Director General of Antiquities and Museums GDAM Mahmoud Hammoud said that reopening the museum means restoring brightness to the cultural life in Damascus. The event is important as it comes following seven years of closure in order to protect the artifacts. He pointed out that the antiquities and archeological places in different parts of Syria have been exposed to looting and vandalism.

He hailed the contribution of the Tourism Ministry and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to the event.

David Akopyan, Director of the UNDP in Syria said on his part that the event is very important for the Syrians and for the entire human civilization because the museum contains many artifacts that date back to thousands of years and that belong to different civilizations. He hailed the efforts exerted by the GDAM and the United Nations to recover stolen Syrian antiquities.

Hamda Mustafa