Iraqi Jewish Archive IJA

Overview

The Iraqi Jewish Archive (IJA) is a digitized collection of approximately 2,700 Jewish books and tens of thousands of documents recovered in 2003 from the flooded basement of Saddam Hussein's intelligence headquarters in Baghdad. The materials, which span from the mid-16th century to the 1970s, document the history of Iraq's Jewish community — one of the oldest in the world, with roots extending back more than 2,500 years. The archive is freely accessible online through the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and through the dedicated website ijarchive.org.

Discovery and Recovery

On 6 May 2003, soldiers from U.S. Mobile Exploitation Team Alpha entered the flooded Mukhabarat (intelligence) headquarters in Baghdad and discovered the materials submerged under four feet of water. The Coalition Provisional Authority arranged emergency freezer storage to halt mold growth, and requested NARA's assistance. With the agreement of the then-Iraqi Ministry of Culture, the materials were shipped to the United States for treatment under the Immunities from Seizure Act.

Preservation and Digitization

Over several years and at a cost of approximately $3 million in U.S. federal funds, NARA conducted vacuum freeze-drying, conservation treatment, cataloging, and digitization of the entire collection. Partners included the Center for Jewish History, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the U.S. Department of State, the World Organization of Jews from Iraq, the American Jewish Committee, and B'nai B'rith. A public exhibition titled Discovery and Recovery: Preserving Iraqi Jewish Heritage opened at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., on 11 October 2013.

Collections

The archive includes Torah scrolls and fragments, a Babylonian Talmud (1793), a Hebrew Bible with commentaries (1568), Zohar volumes, Haggadahs, prayer books, school records, community organization documents, and personal correspondence. Materials are written in Hebrew, Arabic, Judeo-Arabic, and English.

Custodial History

The IJA has been held in U.S. custody since 2003. Under the original agreement, it was to be returned to Iraq after exhibition. The return has been repeatedly extended amid controversy, as Jewish organizations and scholars have argued the materials rightfully belong to Iraqi Jews, almost none of whom live in Iraq today. Discussions between the U.S. State Department and the Iraqi government remained ongoing as of 2025.