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The nonprofit organization will work with the Iraqi board of Antiquities and Heritage to help promote conservation and tourism within the city, which is home to the hanging gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Babylon has suffered damage in recent years due to Saddam Hussein’s attempts to turn it into a tourist attraction, the city's use as a military base, and looting following the U.S. invasion.

“Future tourism will be one of the tools for economic development in Iraq, and we fear that Babylon could be eaten up by unmanaged development like the paving of roads,” said WMF president Bonnie Burnham. “The city has never been mapped, and there have been very dramatic changes to it.”

The WMF has been given $700,000 by the U.S. State Department for the project, and the organization is looking for additional funding from other sources, according to a spokesperson.