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National Museum of Damascus

National Museum of Damascus
الْمَتْحَفُ الْوَطَنِيُّ بِدِمَشْقَ
Front view of the museum
Map
Established1919 (1919)
LocationShukri al-Quwatli Street, Damascus, Syria
Coordinates33°30′45″N 36°17′24″E / 33.512572°N 36.290044°E / 33.512572; 36.290044
TypeArchaeological
Collection sizeOver 300,000[1]
DirectorMahmoud Hammoud (Head of the General Directorate for Antiquities and Museums)
Websitedgam.gov

The National Museum of Damascus (Arabic: الْمَتْحَفُ الْوَطَنِيُّ بِدِمَشْقَ) is a museum in the heart of Damascus, Syria. As the country's national museum as well as its largest, this museum covers the entire range of Syrian history over a span of over 11 millennia.[2] It displays various important artifacts, relics and major finds most notably from Mari, Ebla and Ugarit,[2] three of Syria's most important ancient archaeological sites. Established in 1919, during King Faisal's Arab Kingdom of Syria, the museum is the oldest cultural heritage institution in Syria.[3]

Among the museum's highlights are, the Dura-Europos synagogue,[2] a reconstructed synagogue dated to 245 AD, which was moved piece by piece to Damascus in the 1930s, and is noted for its vibrant and well preserved wall paintings and frescoes, as well as sculptures and textiles from central Palmyra, and statues of the Greek goddess of victory from southern Syria.[4] The museum houses over 5000 cuneiform tablets, among them the first known alphabet in history, written down on a clay tablet, the Ugaritic alphabet.[5][6][3] The museum is further adorned by 2nd-century murals, elaborate tombs, and the recently restored Lion of al-Lat, which originally stood guard at the National Museum of Palmyra, but was moved to Damascus for safeguarding.[7]

The museum temporarily closed its doors in 2012, after the Syrian Civil War engulfed Damascus and threatened its rich cultural artifacts. The museum authorities quickly unloaded more than 300,000 artifacts and hid them in secret locations to safeguard Syria's cultural heritage from destruction and looting. After six years, the museum reopened four of its five wings on October 29, 2018.[1]

  1. ^ a b "Syria reopens national museum in recently-shelled Damascus after six years". The Independent. 28 October 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Darke, Diana (2010). Syria. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 110. ISBN 9781841623146.
  3. ^ a b "Damascus National Museum". The Syrian Digital Library of Cuneiform. SDLC. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  4. ^ Beattie, Andrew; Pepper, Timothy (2001). The Rough Guide to Syria. Rough Guides. p. 94. ISBN 9781858287188.
  5. ^ "Museums for Intercultural Dialogue - Alphabet of Ugarit".
  6. ^ Beattie, Andrew; Pepper, Timothy (2001). The Rough Guide to Syria. Rough Guides. p. 91. ISBN 9781858287188.
  7. ^ Katz, Brigit. "Forced to Close by Civil War, the National Museum of Damascus Re-Opens Its Doors". No. Smart News. www.smithsonianmag.com. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 31 October 2018.

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