Losing yourself in the ancient world of the Assyrians, Mesopotamia is now as easy as loading your internet browser after Google Earth launched a Street View Gallery tour of Iraq’s National Museum.

While much of Iraq’s rich ancient heritage remains under threat from looting and illegal diggings, the museum located in Baghdad houses and protects some of the oldest existing artefacts that date back to 6000BC.

Working on the online project, Google Earth’s technical program manager Alex Starns explained in his online blog that the two year move into the virtual world was undertaken to preserve history that often goes unnoticed.

“The history of this area is often underrepresented, or otherwise inaccessible, in large part due to the political strife that has plagued Iraq,” Mr Starns stated.

“For this reason, we considered it an important opportunity to showcase Iraq’s National Museum in our Street View Gallery.”

The Street View allows online travellers to scroll through the museum as well as virtually walk 360 degrees around each artefact.

Objects on display in the online collection includes back of throne figures from the Neo-Assyrian period, pottery dating back to the Hassuna culture and statues constructed by the Babylonians.

“This was our first attempt to capture an indoor collection at a museum, and we met a host of logistical and technical challenges,” Mr Starns added.

“Of course, Coalition forces and the Iraqi government have a lot more pressing problems than archaeological preservation, but they ignore it at their peril.

“Preserving Iraq's past will help secure Iraq's future.

“Once the country becomes stable (whenever that happens) places like Nineveh will be a huge tourist draw.”

While Google aims to protect the region’s historical and tourism assets, the Iraqi Government is being urged to increase protection around the famous ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh.

The 2,700 year old biblical ruins located near the Tigris River in Iraq once populated by more than 100,000 Assyrians, has suffered at the hands of Iraqis and will cease to exist without pre-emptive restoration, according to (GHF).

"Nineveh has already been heavily attacked by looters, and now development pressures from nearby Mosul have begun to take their toll as well," GHF explained.  

"If this encroachment continues, Nineveh’s ancient remains could again be buried forever.”