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 Only part of the museum, and its collection drawn from the
civilizations 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 stabilized 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.
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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 characterized much of the war.
(Reporting By Kinda Makieh in Damascus; Writing by Angus
McDowall; editing by David Evans)
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