The Sulaymaniyah Museum: Treasure-House of Slemani
- Mehmet Özdemir
- 6 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Introduction
The Sulaymaniyah Museum — the Slemani Museum — is the great archaeological museum of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the second-largest museum in the whole country, after the national museum in Baghdad. Founded in the mid-twentieth century in the cultural capital of Slemani, it holds a magnificent collection spanning the long human story of the region, from the deep prehistory of the Zagros through the ancient Mesopotamian, Sasanian, and Islamic ages. A treasure-house of the heritage of Kurdistan and Mesopotamia, the museum is one of the foremost institutions of learning and culture in the Kurdish lands.
The great museum of the Kurdish cultural capital, holding the long story of the region from prehistory onward, the Slemani Museum is a treasure-house of heritage. This profile looks at the museum and its collections.
Key Takeaways
• The Sulaymaniyah (Slemani) Museum is the great archaeological museum of the region.
• It is the second-largest museum in Iraq, after the one in Baghdad.
• It was founded in 1961 in the cultural capital of Slemani.
• Its collections span prehistory through the Mesopotamian, Sasanian, and Islamic ages.
• It is a leading centre of heritage and learning in Kurdistan.
Quick Facts
Name: Sulaymaniyah Museum (Slemani Museum)
Type: Archaeological museum
Country / Region: Kurdistan Region, Iraq (Başur)
City: Sulaymaniyah (Slemani)
Founded: 14 July 1961
Rank: Second-largest museum in Iraq
Holdings: Prehistory to Islamic era; Mesopotamian, Sasanian
Notable: Paikuli inscriptions of King Narseh
Contents
Where Is the Museum?
The Sulaymaniyah Museum stands in the heart of Sulaymaniyah, the great cultural city of the eastern Kurdistan Region, long famed as a centre of Kurdish learning, poetry, and the arts. The museum is among the city’s most important institutions, alongside memorials such as Amna Suraka. Its collections complement those of the region’s other great heritage sites, from the ancient citadel of Erbil to the many archaeological treasures unearthed across the Kurdish lands.
A Museum of the Region
The museum was founded in 1961 and grew over the following decades into the principal repository of the archaeological heritage of the region. Through years that included war and great hardship for the city, the museum endured, and in times of peace it has expanded with new galleries and international collaborations. Its mission is to gather, preserve, and display the antiquities of the Kurdistan Region and the wider Mesopotamian world, and it has become a centre not only for exhibition but for scholarship, conservation, and the recovery of looted antiquities.
The Collections
The collections of the Slemani Museum span an immense sweep of time. They begin in the deep prehistory of the Zagros mountains, whose caves and early village sites are among the most important in the world for understanding the origins of farming and settled life. They continue through the great ages of Mesopotamia — Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian — with tablets, seals, statuary, pottery, and inscriptions, and on through the Sasanian Persian and Islamic periods. Together they tell the story of one of the oldest continuously inhabited regions on earth.
Treasures and Discoveries
Among the museum’s most celebrated holdings are the inscribed blocks of the monument of the Sasanian king Narseh from the Paikuli Pass, displayed together in a gallery opened with international partners. The museum is also famous in scholarly circles for housing important cuneiform tablets, and it has played a notable part in receiving and studying antiquities recovered from illegal trafficking, including pieces returned from abroad. Its halls hold ivories, sculptures, coins, jewellery, and countless objects of daily life from across the millennia, each a window onto the ancient world.
The Museum Today
Today the Sulaymaniyah Museum is a thriving institution, welcoming visitors, students, and scholars, and continuing to expand its galleries and its research. As the second-largest museum in Iraq and the foremost in the Kurdistan Region, it stands as a guardian of the region’s extraordinary heritage and a source of pride for the Kurdish people. A treasure-house at the heart of Slemani, the museum preserves and shares the long and rich story of the Kurdish lands and the cradle of civilisation around them.
Timeline
1961 — The Sulaymaniyah Museum is founded in the city of Slemani.
20th century — It endures through years of war and grows its collections.
2019 — A new gallery displays the Paikuli inscriptions of King Narseh.
recent years — The museum expands galleries and aids antiquities recovery.
today — It stands as the second-largest museum in Iraq.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Sulaymaniyah Museum?
It is the great archaeological museum of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, in the city of Slemani, the second-largest museum in the country, holding collections from prehistory to the Islamic era.
Where is it?
It stands in Sulaymaniyah (Slemani), the cultural capital of the eastern Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
When was it founded?
The museum was founded in 1961 and has grown over the decades into the foremost museum of the region.
What are its most famous holdings?
They include the inscribed blocks of the Sasanian king Narseh from the Paikuli Pass, important cuneiform tablets, and antiquities spanning the long history of Mesopotamia and the Zagros.
Related People, Places, and Topics
Mesopotamian archaeology · the Zagros and early farming · Kurdish heritage · Sulaymaniyah · Amna Suraka · the Erbil Citadel.
References and Further Reading
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