The Freedom Monument, or Nasb al-Hurriyah, stands in Liberation Square in central Baghdad, overlooking al-Jumhuriya Bridge. Brigadier General Abd al-Karim Qasim commissioned it in 1959. Sculptor Jawad Saleem made it, and architect Rifat Chadirji insisted that it be raised above the ground. Saleem died in January 1961, before it was finished.
His wife, Lorna Saleem, and the sculptor Mohammed Ghani Hikmat completed it. It is 33 feet (10 meters) high and 164 feet (50 meters) long, lifted 20 feet (6 meters) off the ground. Fourteen bronze castings show 25 figures in relief.
The reliefs trace Iraqi history up to the 14 July Revolution. They are meant to be read right to left, like a line of Arabic poetry, and draw on Babylonian, Assyrian and Abbasid art. The monument appeared on the 250 dinar banknote in 1995.
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