Lion of Mosul at The Mosul Museum, Iraq

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From ancient Kalhu (Nimrud), northern Iraq, emerged a Neo-Assyrian civilization, flourishing from approximately 883-859 BC. In 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized control of the Mosul Museum in Iraq just as it was set to reopen after years of restoration. The group claimed that its statues were incompatible with Islam and threatened to destroy the museum's contents. On February 26th, 2015, a day following the burning of books from Mosul libraries, the group released a video showcasing the destruction of artifacts within the museum. In response to this rhetoric of hate, numerous communities worldwide came together to create a means of protecting and restoring these lost cultural relics. This collective effort formed Project Mosul, a volunteer initiative focused on creating virtual models of the objects. This team of like-minded individuals aimed to "preserve our shared memory and connections to our cultural heritage, even renew and invigorate it, regardless of the acts of destruction currently being perpetrated upon it" (source). The project utilizes crowd-sourced images, requesting past visitors of the museums to submit their photographs. These images are then used to recreate the artifacts in 3D using advanced photogrammetry techniques. The resulting 3D representations are presented in an online museum where the data is freely accessible to the public. Leveraging the internet as a non-political platform for making these works available worldwide. "The 3D objects may initially serve in helping identify stolen items and aid researchers working on the destroyed items," stated a member of the team. "Virtual reconstruction, however, is not an end in itself but rather the start of a reengagement with the meaning of these objects." It is hoped that the virtual representations will provide an additional tool for communities seeking to explore, learn about, and work on the preservation and dissemination of these important elements of national, regional, and global history. With a team proficient in 3D design, academic art historians, and photogrammetry researchers, Scan The World aims to expand Project Mosul further. Through displacing textures from provided images, the team seeks to recreate the artifacts as fully 3D printable pieces, as photographically accurate as possible. These revived sculptures will be made physically available to anyone and aim to accurately restore the pieces to their rightful glory. Archival information indicates that this colossal standing lion formed one of a pair carved half in the round which once flanked the entrance of a small temple dedicated to the goddess Ishtar, adjoining the palace of King Ashurnasirpal II (reigned 883-859 BC). The placing of figures of lions beside the doors of temples or gates of cities was an ancient custom in Mesopotamia. Actual lions were common in the region and survived there until the nineteenth century. The fifth leg is an artistic convention to enable the figure to be seen either from the side, walking, or from the front, standing. Compare this with the colossal statue of a winged human-headed bull from the palace of Ashurnasirpal II, also housed in the British Museum. The lion is covered with a dedication in cuneiform, consisting of a prayer by Ashurnasirpal to a version of Ishtar called Sharrat-niphi, followed by a record of some of his achievements. Ishtar was one of the most important deities of Assyria, with main cult centers at Nineveh and Arbela. The lioness was her symbol as the goddess of fertility and warfare.