The official opening of the Basra Museum on the 19th of March 2019, is the culmination of over a decade of planning and hard work and is a prime example of the success of local efforts and expertise supported by the international community.

The Basra Museum has had a turbulent history. The museum was looted and damaged both during the Gulf War and 2003 U.S.-led invasion. In 2005, Former Director of the Museum, Mudhar Abd Alhay was shot and killed, while his successor and Basra’s current Director of Antiquities and Heritage, Qahtan Al-Abeed narrowly escaped with his life during the incident. After 1991, the remaining antiquities were moved to Baghdad and housed in the National Museum but were once again subjected to looting when the National Museum was ransacked during the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The surviving objects from the original Basra Museum now sit on a single shelf in the Basra Gallery.