The Iraq Museum in Google Street View

The journey to bring Iraq’s National Museum to Street View
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Google Lat Long Blog

Using the Street View indoor trolley to collect imagery

Over the years, our Street View technology has been used to showcase images from a variety of amazing locations around the world. Without the stress of travelling, we’ve all been able to tour places like Stonehenge, Palace and Park of Versailles, and even Half Moon Island (with the penguins!) in Antarctica. Starting today, you can view Iraq’s National Museum in Baghdad on Google Maps, in our Street View Gallery and on the museum’s own website.

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Street View of Iraq National Museum

The project began in October 2009, when the Street View team had the opportunity to visit Baghdad to collaborate with the museum. By this time, the Iraqi National Museum had recovered a slew of articles that were infamously looted during the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. The collection hosts a staggering wealth of artifacts dating back to some of the earliest human settlements, which developed around present day Iraq. The history of this area is often underrepresented, or otherwise inaccessible, in large part due to the political strife that has plagued Iraq. For this reason, we considered it an important opportunity to showcase Iraq’s National Museum in our Street View Gallery...