Image copyright Reuters Image caption The museum originally opened in 1920, but has been closed for six years

Part of Syria's national museum has reopened to the public six years after civil war forced its closure.

The world-renowned antiquities museum in Damascus closed in 2012 to protect its ancient artefacts from damage.

Most of the collection was then evacuated and kept at secret locations to keep exhibits safe.

The decision to reopen part of the museum comes as the Syrian government maintains normality is returning to the conflict-wracked country.

Earlier this year, the capital was secured by President Bashar Assad's forces, but fighting still continues in some areas of the country.

The seven-year conflict in Syria has left more than 350,000 people dead, and devastated many historic cities and sites across the country.

Culture Minister Mohamed al-Ahmad said the reopening of the museum sent a "genuine message" that the country's rich cultural heritage was not destroyed by "terrorism", the Associated Press reports.

Only part of the National Museum of Damascus opened to visitors on Sunday, but the museum's deputy director said authorities were working on reopening it all.

Image copyright EPA

"We will exhibit a group of artefacts from all periods from prehistory, the ancient east and the classical and Islamic eras in this section," Ahmad Deeb told the media.

The museum's gardens stayed open to the public during the conflict, but the building was closed as Damascus fell under rebel rocket fire.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption An estimated 300,000 artefacts were protected by the government around the country

Image copyright EPA Image caption The inauguration ceremony was organised by the culture and tourism ministries

Syria, as one of the most centrally placed locations for trade routes throughout ancient history, is renowned for its rich and diverse heritage.

Some of its famous sites, including the Unesco world heritage site at Palmyra, fell into the hands of the Islamic State militant group and were intentionally damaged.

Others, like the ancient heart of Aleppo, were destroyed by fierce and relentless fighting.

An unknown number of antique items are suspected to have been smuggled abroad and sold since the conflict began - with accusations falling on all sides.

Government officials have said thousands of artefacts have been successfully recovered from militant-held areas or on the border.

Earlier this month hundreds of these recovered artefacts were put on display at the Damascus Opera House.</s>Damascus: Syria's National Museum of Damascus has opened its rich trove of antiquities to visitors again, seven years after war forced it to close and months after the government recaptured all rebel areas near the capital.

Only part of the museum, and its collection drawn from the civilisations that have ruled Syria over the millennia, will be reopened immediately, its deputy director Ahmad Deeb said on Sunday.

"We will exhibit a group of artefacts from all periods from prehistory, the ancient east and the classical and Islamic eras in this section," he said.

The reopening is a sign of the government's attempts to restore normality in the capital after a succession of Russia-backed army victories since 2015 that have ended the threat to President Bashar al-Assad's rule.</s>DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian officials, foreign archeologists and restoration specialists attended the reopening ceremony of the Syria’s National Museum in the heart of Damascus on Sunday, more than six years after the prominent institution…

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian officials, foreign archeologists and restoration specialists attended the reopening ceremony of the Syria’s National Museum in the heart of Damascus on Sunday, more than six years after the prominent institution was shut down and emptied as the country’s civil war encroached on the capital.

The reopening of the museum was hailed as a return to normal life by Syrian officials, eager to cash in on the Syrian armed forces’ military victories against armed groups, who had only recently shelled Damascus and threatened the seat of the government in the capital, coming only miles from the presidential palace.

Over successive military advances, and with the backing of allies Russia and Iran, Syrian troops moved in on rebel holdouts on the outskirts of Damascus expelling the armed groups to the north and restoring calm.

“The opening of the museum is a genuine message that Syria is still here and her heritage would not be affected by terrorism,” Syrian Minister of Culture Mohamed al-Ahmad told reporters and visitors. “Today, Damascus has recovered.”

Among the antiquities on display are murals from the 2nd century Dura-Europos in Syria’s east, textiles from central Palmyra and statues of the Greek goddess of victory from the south.

Syria’s conflict, raging since early 2011, has been detrimental for the country’s rich heritage.

Authorities shut down museums and safely stored away over 300,000 artifacts, but some sites were still destroyed by the Islamic State group, damaged by the fighting or looted.

Head of the General Directorate for Antiquities and Museums, Mahmoud Hammoud, said four of the five sections of the museum will be opened to showcase hundreds of archaeological findings that date back to the prehistoric, historical, classical and Islamic eras. He said some artifacts restored or seized by Syrian authorities will also be on display.

More than 9,000 artifacts were restored and reclaimed since the war began, he said, noting that the museum needs renovation and funds. He said hundreds of thousands of important artifacts and sculptures were smuggled abroad during the crisis.

Visitors would be able to watch as specialists restore hundreds of artifacts reclaimed from Palmyra, which Islamic State militants overtook for months destroying some of the world’s most famous monuments.

Bartosz Markowski, a Polish specialist in conservation of stone sculpture and architectural detail, said he had been working in Palmyra before the war broke out.

“I am saving heritage, mostly in Palmyra, where I have been working before the crisis,” he told The Associated Press. “I came right after liberation and helped with urgent conservation and protection of destroyed objects in Palmyra… There is still a lot of damage in Palmyra.”

For Markowski, reopening the Damascus museum was “symbolic.”

“When life is coming back, we are opening the museums,” he said.

Claus Peter Hasse, the director of the Islamic Art Museum in Berlin, said he felt safe traveling between Damascus and Aleppo, Syria’s commercial heart and ancient city, also damaged by the war.

“Of course, it’s a tragic situation to see so many tragedies around, but at the moment, we don’t see difficulties,” he said.

The former Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums, Maamoun Abdul-Karim, who had overseen the campaign to hide artifacts in safe places, said the country needs years, major capabilities, and millions of dollars to reopen all museums nationwide.

He said hundreds of artifacts would return to the classical wing inside the museum, including those relating to the Greek and Roman period, while other wings would reopen soon.

“In fact, this was a very big victory for the country,” he said. “When all museums reopen nationwide, then we can say that the crisis in Syria ended.”

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery.

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Syria's National Museum of Damascus opened its rich trove of antiquities to visitors again on Sunday, seven years after war forced them to close and months after the government recaptured all rebel areas near the capital.

DAMASCUS: Syria's National Museum of Damascus opened its rich trove of antiquities to visitors again on Sunday, seven years after war forced them to close and months after the government recaptured all rebel areas near the capital.

Only part of the museum, and its collection drawn from the civilisations that have ruled Syria over the millennia, will be reopened immediately, its deputy director Ahmad Deeb said.

"We will exhibit a group of artefacts from all periods from prehistory, the ancient east and the classical and Islamic eras in this section," he said.

The reopening is a sign of the government's attempts to restore normality in the capital after a succession of Russia-backed army victories since 2015 that have ended the threat to President Bashar al-Assad's rule.

A bloody army offensive this spring forced the rebels to surrender eastern Ghouta in April, and the remaining insurgents enclaves near Damascus capitulated in the following weeks.

The conflict continues, with swathes of the country still outside Assad's control, but it has stabilised with a Russian-Turkish deal over the last rebel bastion in the northwest, and U.S. backing for Kurdish-led forces in the northeast.

The fate of Syria's ancient heritage has hung in the balance for much of the conflict, as fighting erupted in major sites such as the Old City of Aleppo and others, including the desert ruins of Palmyra, fell into the hands of iconoclastic jihadists.

As the insurgency began to spread in 2011, the government evacuated the museum's collection, one of the most important in the Middle East, along with those of provincial museums, hiding their artefacts far from the battlefield.

In Aleppo, where the museum lay near the front line, the huge ancient statues outside were too large to transport, and were boarded up in giant crates filled with cement against shrapnel damage.

"The masterpieces were hidden straight away," said Deeb. Army trucks carried antiquities from sites across the country to stash in safety, he said. The collection of Deir al-Zor museum, isolated by fighting, was airlifted to Damascus.

In the capital, the empty museum continued to be used by the General Directorate of Antiquities as an office, and was hit by mortar fire, but not badly damaged.

As the rebel presence around Damascus weakened in recent years, some statues were put on display to the public in the museum garden, including the Lion of Elat, a massive piece from Palmyra that was damaged by Islamic State and later restored.

Other objects, recovered by the government after they were seized by insurgents or smuggled overseas, were put on display this month in the Damascus Opera House, a testament to the looting of heritage that has characterised much of the war.</s>Syrian authorities have reopened part of the National Museum in Damascus to the public, more than six years after it was shut down amid the country’s civil war.

Culture Minister Mohamed al-Ahmad said the October 28 reopening of the world-renowned antiquities museum sent "a message of security and safety" for the conflict-wracked country.

The museum closed in 2012 to protect its ancient artifacts from damage, and most of the collection was evacuated and kept at secret locations.

The decision to reopen part of the museum comes as the Syrian government maintains normality is returning to the country.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces secured Damascus earlier this year, but fighting has continued in some areas of the country.

Russia and Iran have given Assad crucial support throughout the 7 1/2-year war in Syria, which began with a government crackdown on protesters in March 2011.

The conflict has left more than 400,000 people dead, displaced millions, and devastated many historic sites across the country.

Based on reporting by the BBC, Reuters, AP, and AFP</s>Damascus -Syria reopened a wing of the capital´s famed antiquities museum on Sunday after six years of closure to protect its exhibits and visitors from rebel rocket fire in the civil war.

Officials swung open the large wooden door of the building in central Damascus for the first time since 2012.

On display were "some of the artefacts that used to be exhibited at the National Museum dating from the most historic periods, from prehistory to the Islamic era", antiquities official Ahmad Deeb said.

Authorities were working "to prepare the whole museum in the coming period" to be reopened, he said.

The Damascus museum, founded in 1920, was closed one year into the civil war as the then national head of antiquities took action to protect its artefacts from rebel rocket fire or shelling.

Its gardens, however, remained open to the public, even as rockets intermittently hit Damascus from the rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta, northeast of the capital.

Syria is home to more than 700 archeological sites, many of which have been destroyed, damaged or looted since the start of the war.

All warring sides have been accused of looting artifacts during the conflict, from both major archeological sites and the country´s museums.

The most famous include the ancient city of Palmyra, a UNESCO-listed heritage site overrun by the Islamic State group until the Russia-backed army retook it last year.

From 2012 onwards, the museums authority stored some 300,000 items and thousands of manuscripts from around the country at secret locations protected from fires, shelling and floods.

More than seven years into the conflict, President Bashar Assad´s regime has secured the capital, after expelling rebels and jihadists from its outskirts earlier this year with Russian military support.

Assad´s forces are now in control of around two-thirds of the country.

More than 360,000 people have been killed since the war started in March 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.</s>DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrian officials, foreign archeologists and restoration specialists attended the reopening ceremony of the Syria's National Museum in the heart of Damascus on Sunday, more than six years after the prominent institution was shut down and emptied as the country's civil war encroached on the capital.

The reopening of the museum was hailed as a return to normal life by Syrian officials, eager to cash in on the Syrian armed forces' military victories against armed groups, who had only recently shelled Damascus and threatened the seat of the government in the capital, coming only miles from the presidential palace.

Over successive military advances, and with the backing of allies Russia and Iran, Syrian troops moved in on rebel holdouts on the outskirts of Damascus, expelling the armed groups to the north and restoring calm.

"The opening of the museum is a genuine message that Syria is still here and her heritage would not be affected by terrorism," Syrian Minister of Culture Mohamed al-Ahmad told reporters and visitors. "Today, Damascus has recovered."

Among the antiquities on display are second-century murals from Dura-Europos in Syria's east, textiles from central Palmyra and statues of the Greek goddess of victory from the south.

Syria's conflict, raging since early 2011, has been detrimental for the country's rich heritage.

Authorities shut down museums and safely stored away over 300,000 artifacts, but some sites were still destroyed by the Islamic State group, damaged by the fighting or looted.

Head of the General Directorate for Antiquities and Museums, Mahmoud Hammoud, said four of the five sections of the museum will be opened to showcase hundreds of archeological findings that date back to the prehistoric, historical, classical and Islamic eras. He said some artifacts restored or seized by Syrian authorities will also be on display.

More than 9,000 artifacts were restored and reclaimed since the war began, he said, noting that the museum needs renovation and funds. He said hundreds of thousands of important artifacts and sculptures were smuggled abroad during the crisis.

Visitors would be able to watch as specialists restore hundreds of artifacts reclaimed from Palmyra, which Islamic State militants overtook for months, destroying some of the world's most famous monuments.</s>In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, a visitor looks at ancient artifacts during the reopening ceremony for Syria's National Museum, in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018. Syrian officials, foreign archeologists and restoration specialists attended the Sunday reopening ceremony in the heart of Damascus more than six years after the prominent institution was shut down and emptied as the country's civil war encroached on the capital. (SANA via AP) (AP)</s>DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrian officials have reopened the country’s National Museum in Damascus more than six years after the prominent institution was shut down and emptied as the country’s civil war encroached on the capital.

Syria’s Culture Minister Mohamed al-Ahmad told reporters Sunday that the reopening sends a “genuine message” that Syria’s heritage has not been affected by “terrorism.”

Among the antiquities on display are murals from the 2nd century Dura-Europos in Syria’s east, textiles from central Palymra and statues of the Greek goddess of victory from the south.

Syria’s conflict, raging since early 2011, has been detrimental for the country’s rich heritage.

Authorities shut down museums and safely stored away over 300,000 artifacts, but some sites were still destroyed by the Islamic State group, damaged by the fighting or looted.</s>Its jaws ajar, the three metre stone Lion of Al-Lat towered over a fountain after surviving the country's seven-year conflict and damage inflicted by Daesh group.

The lion was just one of the artefacts on show after the museum reopened one of its wings, revealing once again some of its thousands of treasures for the first time since 2012.

Other parts of the museum are to reopen soon.

The Damascus museum, founded in 1920, was closed one year into the civil war as the then national head of antiquities Maamoun Abdulkarim took action to protect its pieces from rebel rockets or looting.

He was petrified that the country's museums would be looted like in neighbouring Iraq after the US-led invasion of 2003.

From 2012 onwards, the museums authority stored some 300,000 items and thousands of manuscripts in secret locations protected from fires, shelling and floods.

The pieces come from 34 museums, including 80,000 items from Damascus alone.

Antiquities official Ahmad Deeb explained how they protected the artefacts.
The National Museum of Damascus reopens to the public six years after it was closed due to the war.