Stiftung Preuzischer Kulturbesitz Berlin (represented by B. Helwing, director of the Berlin Vorderasiatisches Museum) together with the Centre for Global Heritage and Development has received funding for a successor of the Focus Raqqa project, Focus Raqqa 2.0. In this new project a team of German, Dutch and Syrian experts will reconstruct the inventory of Raqqa Museum’s looted collection by compiling information from the museum and excavation data from German, American, and Dutch excavation archives. It will also support a new display in the museum by gathering background information on the objects.
The Focus Raqqa project was an initiative by the late archaeologist Dr. Olivier Nieuwenhuijse who had worked for many years in Syria and during the civil war persisted on working with his Syrian colleagues, even from a distance, to safeguard Syrian cultural heritage.
The result from the first Focus Raqqa project, which involved a pilot project working only with a selection of objects that were temporarily hidden at the central bank in Raqqa, were very promising. In this follow up project an attempt will be made to reconstruct the complete inventory of Museum Raqqa.