BAGHDAD (AP) — An Iraqi archaeologist, who lent her expertise to rebuild the collection at the National Museum after it was looted in 2003, has died.

Lamia al-Gailani was a devotee of Iraq's heritage and museums, and one of the first female Iraqi archaeologists to excavate the country's ancient sites.

In the years following the 2003 U.S. invasion, al-Gailani helped identify and recover artefacts stolen from the National Museum in Baghdad for its reopening in 2015.

She also championed a museum for antiquities in the city of Basra that opened in 2016.

Born in Baghdad in 1938, al-Gailani received her PhD in archaeology from the University of London and resided in the U.K.

Her family says she passed away on Friday in Amman, Jordan. She is survived by three daughters.