Ashur (Qal'at Sherqat)

• Management activities
• Managements systems/management plan
• Water infrastructure (dam building project)
• Partial flooding and seepage
• Fragile mud brick structures
• Absence of a comprehensive conservation and management plan
• Destruction and damage due to the armed conflict

• Nearby construction of a dam entailing partial flooding and seepage
• Armed conflict

Not yet drafted

Not yet identified

Not yet identified

Total amount granted (for World Heritage properties of Iraq):

• USD 6,000 from the Italian Funds-in-Trust
• USD 1.5 million by the Government of Japan (for cultural heritage, including World Heritage)
• USD 154,000 by the Government of Norway (for cultural heritage, including World Heritage)
• EUR 300,000 by the Government of Italy (for cultural heritage, including World Heritage)
• USD 35,000 by the Government of the Netherlands (for cultural heritage, including World Heritage)
• USD 100,000 Heritage Emergency Fund - support for Iraqi World Heritage properties.
• USD 35,782 from the Netherlands Funds-in-Trust (for Strengthening capacities in state of conservation reporting on properties inscribed on the list of World Heritage in Danger)
• USD 50,000 from the Netherlands Funds-in-Trust (Strengthening capacities for the documentation and conservation of properties on the List of World Heritage in Danger in Iraq)

On 31 January 2022, the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1130/documents. Additional information was submitted on 4 March 2023. Progress in a number of conservation issues addressed by the Committee at its previous sessions is presented in those reports, as follows:

• The construction of Makhool dam would have a severe impact on the property, and on other archaeological sites in the vicinity, if its construction proceeds as planned. The Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources sought to undertake studies in order to arrive at suitable mitigation measures to ensure the safeguarding of the property;
• An agreement was signed between the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH), the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the American University of Iraq – Sulaimani (AUIS) to identify archaeological sites that would be threatened by the Makhool dam, document the damage resulting from conflict at the property, strengthen capacities in archaeological investigation and documentation, and develop a master management plan to mitigate the potential damage that would result from the construction of the dam;
• In updated information transmitted in March 2023, the State Party informed the World Heritage Centre that all works related to the construction of Makhoul Dam have been stopped;
• Cleaning, conservation and renovation works have been carried out on some parts of the property to mitigate the risks posed by weathering, water damage and destruction due to armed conflict;
• An overview of the history and damage sustained, and proposed conservation actions to be carried out, have been provided for the following structures:

• The structure of the Ziggurat continues to deteriorate, despite the backfilling of the trench in 2018, as decayed cavities remain and continue to expand at the top of the Ziggurat,
• As a temporary stabilisation measure, the Centre of Archaeology and Heritage at AUIS, added new iron supports to the second arch of the Tabira Gate to avoid collapse, but additional work is crucial to conserve the other arches which are also on the verge of collapse,
• The rehabilitation of the Walter Andrae Palace has proceeded in the framework of the agreement between SBAH and the University of Munich, and following recommendations of technical review. It will become the residence archaeological expeditions,
• Parts of the ‘Masnah’ (buttress) have been eroded and there is uncertainty on whether the foundations still exist as they are submerged in the river. The State Party highlights that collapse of the cliff on the eastern riverbank poses an imminent threat to the property,
• Outline of conservation actions were also provided for several monuments, including the Royal Cemetery and the Parthian Palace;

• Moreover, closure of the Tigris River branch, adjacent to Sherqat Castle, is under consideration to allow for excavation of the archaeological areas believed to be a submerged Assyrian harbour. However, the State Party is concerned that this closure would also cause significant damage to the entire property during the flood season.

A joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission visited the property from 28 March to 1 April 2022. A copy of the mission report is also available at https://whc.unesco.org/​en/​list/​1130/documents.

The information provided by the State Party concerning the cessation of Makhool Dam is reassuring, given that upon inscription of the property on the World Heritage List, this project was considered as a major threat to the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), justifying its concurrent inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2003. The Committee’s previous decisions requested relocation or cancellation of the project.

During the 2022 joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission to the property, the State Party stressed its intention to explore the execution of mitigation measures to ensure protection of the property and other archaeological sites from flooding. However, on the basis of the limited technical and topographic documentation on the environmental impact of the dam, and on the level of water in the future reservoir, it was not possible to define precisely to what degree the property will be impacted or whether and how it might be protected. Further specific studies would have been necessary to map and assess comprehensively the impact of the dam and to allow consideration of the viability of possible designed measures in ensuring the effective protection of the property’s OUV and all its attributes.

Beyond the construction of a structure to protect the site from flooding (e.g., retaining walls, embankments, dikes, etc.), it is to be recalled that the property is very fragile, primarily having earthen constructions. The property has been suffering from water seepage and environmental degradation for some time, which has been accelerating its deterioration. Hence, in addition to the threat of flooding in the event of the dam’s construction, the mission considered that several other threats should be taken into consideration when assessing the effectiveness of protective measures, including the potential increase in water seepage, salt infiltration, the creation of a new micro-climate, and the potential impact of any new large constructions on the property’s OUV. Accordingly, a number of additional in-depth technical studies were identified by the mission as necessary urgent actions to be undertaken.

In terms of the current state of conservation of the property, the State Party has begun to address remedial and repair work to mitigate the impact of threats, including those resulting from weathering and water damage.

The 2022 mission recommended a number of necessary actions, including the preparation of an overall comprehensive conservation plan for the property in full consultation with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies, carrying out regular maintenance activities, submitting a detailed report on all planned and ongoing interventions carried out and their priority while noting that all interventions must be integrated into the comprehensive conservation plan for the property, undertaking a number of protection measures at the property, as well as the elaboration of a management system and preparation of a Management Plan. As previously recommended, only urgent stabilisation work should be undertaken in cases where collapse or further damage is imminent, and according to the principle of minimal intervention.

The State Party has been regularly consulting with the world Heritage Centre, particularly with regard to the rehabilitation project for the Walter Andrae Palace, which was reviewed by ICOMOS. It is recommended that the Committee encourage the State Party to pursue consultations with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies, and to continue to inform on any future plans for major restoration or new construction which may affect the OUV of the property, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, before making any decisions which would be difficult to reverse.

The World Heritage Centre, in collaboration with ICOMOS, has supported the State Party in the elaboration of the retrospective Statement of Outstanding Universal Value (RSOUV), through an online technical workshop funded by the Netherlands Funds-in-Trust project to strengthen capacities of properties in Iraq inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

With the cessation of the Makhool Dam project, and in light of the outcomes of the 2022 mission, it is recommended that the Committee request the State Party to initiate the elaboration the Desired state of conservation for removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR), and the necessary corrective measures, in collaboration with the World Heritage Centre and Advisory Bodies.