Baghdad opens first Jewish museum to preserve community heritage
Shamash Museum occupies historic former school as Iraq’s centuries-old Jewish community dwindles to just handful of residents
BAGHDAD, Iraq (MNTV) — Iraq has opened its first museum dedicated to Jewish heritage in Baghdad, providing a public space to preserve the history and cultural contributions of a community whose presence in the country has declined dramatically over recent decades.
The Jewish Shamash Museum is housed in the former Shamash School on Al-Rashid Street, a historic institution established by Baghdad’s Jewish community in 1928.
The school became an important educational center, enrolling hundreds of students before its original premises ceased operating as a Jewish school.
According to reports by The Jerusalem Post and Agence France-Presse, the museum displays historical photographs, documents, school certificates and personal records illustrating the community’s long-standing presence in Iraq.
Its collection also includes material documenting prominent Iraqi Jewish figures, religious and cultural traditions, and the community’s contribution to the country’s public and intellectual life.
Ammar Al-Tamimi, a lawyer representing the committee responsible for managing Iraqi Jewish communal properties, described the institution as the only museum in Iraq belonging to the country’s Jewish community.
The museum’s opening comes as the minority faces the near disappearance of its historic presence in Iraq. The community traces its roots back approximately 2,500 to 2,600 years and was once among the largest Jewish populations in the Middle East.
During the 1940s, more than 130,000 Jews lived in Iraq, while Baghdad’s Jewish population accounted for a substantial proportion of the capital’s residents. Today, only a few dozen Jewish residents are believed to remain in the country, most of them in the Kurdistan region.
The Shamash School itself reflects the community’s former institutional presence. Founded by Yaqub Shlomo Shamash, it provided English-language education and served students from different backgrounds, particularly members of the Jewish community.
Iraqi authorities confiscated the school property during the 1970s and converted the building into a public educational institution. The property was subsequently returned to the Jewish community following a court ruling in 1992.
Efforts to restore the institution and preserve its legacy encountered repeated difficulties, including international sanctions during the 1990s, the 2003 US invasion, sectarian violence in 2006 and 2007, and the rise of Islamic State between 2014 and 2017.
The museum’s establishment represents an effort to safeguard historical records and maintain public awareness of Iraq’s religious and cultural diversity at a time when the country’s Jewish population has become extremely small.
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