Hatra: Protecting and Restoring a Parthian City Damaged by Daesh

Iraq

Hatra: Protecting and Restoring a Parthian City Damaged by Daesh

Operators: Associazione Internazionale di Studi sul Mediterraneo e l’Oriente (ISMEO) in cooperation with the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH)

Located in a remote area of the northern Iraqi desert steppe in the Nineveh Governorate, Hatra blossomed between the 1st to 3rd centuries CE, and is today the best-preserved example of a Parthian city. It was occupied by Daesh in 2014, and the site was inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger in July 2015.

Since 2020, ALIPH has been funding a project implemented by a joint team of archaeologists from ISMEO and SBAH to protect and rehabilitate this site. In 2020, the initial phase of the project assessed the damage and secured wall sculptures that were vandalized by Daesh. This was the first operation of this scale on the site since Hatra was liberated in April 2017.

The project’s second phase began in 2021 and will conclude in early 2022. The work involves rehabilitating the archaeological mission house and restoring carved decorations and damaged elements from one of the temples. This project is also providing on-the-job training to young Iraqi conservators and archaeologists.