ISIS and the destruction of cultural heritage

In recent months, the ISIS has defaced and destroyed a staggering number of ancient treasures. Just recently, on May 27th, it took control of the Palmyra ruins in Syria– a World Heritage Site that had thrived under the Seleucid and Roman empires and was finally abandoned as late as the 1930s.

Palmyra is over 2,000 years old, known for its temples and other ruins. ISIS has already destroyed archeological sites and artefacts in northern Iraq, and its decision not to wreck the Palmyran ruins has drawn a large amount of international attention. The Syrian director-general of antiquities and museums, Maamoun Abdulkarim, has nevertheless called for the protection of the ruins as the Islamic State occupies western Iraq.

"We hope that the experience that Iraq passed through is not repeated," said Abdulkarim. "We need international solidarity to stop these thoughtless methods of the criminal Islamic State group."

Palmyra ruins in Eastern Syria
From i09.com

General agreement among political scientists and other academics is that the immediate focus of ISIS is not the international community, but local Muslim populations that do not adhere strictly to IS ideology. The majority of the destruction has been restricted to places associated with the Shia and Sufi Islamic sects. This might explain why it has reportedly not targeted the ruins of Palmyra, but merely statues in the ruins that ISIS has deemed to be blasphemous.

The Islamic State considers the ancient works that they have destroyed as idols, and announced in a video that the demolition is compelled by God-- "These antiquities and idols behind me were from people in past centuries and were worshiped instead of God," the man in the video said of antiquities in Mosul Museum. "When God Almighty orders us to destroy these statues, idols, and antiquities, we must do it, even if they're worth billions of dollars."

However, the international outcry that results from their actions is still a tool they can make use of. “They use it to tell the local population, 'Well, they're reacting to the destruction of these ancient idols, but do they really care about you, or your local mosque or these other issues that are affecting your life right now?'" says Michael Danti, professor of archaeology at Boston University and co-director of the Syrian Heritage Initiative at the American Schools of Oriental Research. 

This is an important distinction to consider as the international community gathers to protect ancient sites: the cultural heritage that UNESCO and other organisations are so eager to save are not considered the direct heritage of people in the area. International media has not given very much attention to the destruction of local shrines and tombs by IS, supporting the general feeling that the international community does not care so much about the heritage of the people in the area, as it does about the academic value of ancient Assyrian ruins.

In light of the outcry over ISIS's destruction of the ancient heritage of Iraq and the pleas of various officials towards the international community for help, here are some of the more prominent sites ISIS has put its hand to so far and a selection of minor sites that has drawn far less international attention:

Well-Known Areas of Destruction:

Mosul Museum

Two lamassu sculptures flank an interior hallway of Mosul Museum
Image from latinpost.com

Mosul museum is located in Mosul (known as the biblical city of Nineveh in ancient times) in Northern Iraq. It contains thousands of artefacts from surrounding dig sites, most prominently Assyrian items and artefacts from Hatra.

Around February 26, 2015, ISIS released the video mentioned above in which the militant declares the need for ISIS to destroy false idols, showing militants destroying artefacts within the museum.

Among the artefacts lost that day are what was an exceedingly well preserved lamassu from the Nergal Gate of Nineveh and an enormous number of sculptures from Hatra. The statues included those of the kings of Hatra (4 of the 27 known to have survived to modern day), Roman deities, replicas of Hatran decoration, and numerous smaller sculptures. The loss of material for Roman and Parthian Near East studies was catastrophic.

The inventory available for the items that have definitely been destroyed has been taken from the video ISIS released in February; the rest of the wings of the museum do not appear in the video, and it is not known whether or not anything has happened to the artefacts housed in them. It has been suggested that the items may be taken to be sold on the antiquities black market.

Mosul Library, also in Mosul, likewise suffered terrific damage when ISIS burned thousands of rare books, including 18th century manuscripts and Ottoman books invaluable to the study of the region.

Nimrud

The ruins of Nimrud in Northern Iraq
From ibtimes.co.uk

Nimrud is located in the south of Mosul in Northern Iraq. It was a major city in the Assyrian civilisation, known also as the city of Calah in Genesis. It was made the capital of the enormous Neo Assyrian Empire in the 8th century under a famously violent warrior-king, Ashurnasirpal II. Hundreds of artworks, inscriptions, and other valuable archaeological materials have been discovered at Nimrud since the 1800s, allowing historians to supplement the social history and timeline of the empire.

In March of 2015, the Islamic State publicised its plans to destroy artefacts in Nimrud. It used explosives to destroy parts of the palace and wielded jackhammers to deface and destroy ancient stone statues. Many of the artefacts found at Nimrud in the past had been moved to museums across the world, but the structure of the city and some larger statues– including lamassu– were broken to pieces by the IS.

Hatra

A building façade in the ruins of Hatra
From whc.unesco.org

Also known as al-Hadr in Arabic, Hatra was one of a few cities that was able to hold its own against the power of the Roman Empire in antiquity. It fell in the 3rd century to the Sassanid Empire. UNESCO describes the site as an outstanding example of a fortified city; its walls protected it from warring civilisations in the area and allowed it to foster a diverse population of Assyro-Babylonians influenced by Greeks, Parthians, Romans, and Arabs.

Hatra was overtaken by ISIS in 2014 and used as a weapons and supplies depot for the organisation. IS carried out prisoner executions at the site, destroyed artefacts that it deemed to be idols, and bulldozed the city as it had Nimrud. Before its destruction, Hatra had some of the best-preserved fortifications of the buildings which have survived from its time.

Khorsabad

Illustration of the famous fortifications of Khorsabad
From wikimedia.org

Khorsabad, also known as Dur-Sharrukin– Arabic for "Fortress of Sargon"– was the Assyrian capital under Sargon II in the 7th century BC. It's located Northeast of Mosul in Iraq.

Although Khorsabad was abandoned after Sargon's death, and thus was only really occupied for a short period, it has been very valuable to researchers. Khorsabad is known for its unique artistic innovations, the preservation of paint on its reliefs, and its extensive building documentation. Researchers are studying the sculptures in order to determine which cultures are represented in the artwork of the palace and the history of the city, among other things.

Some of the artefacts unearthed at Khorsabad had been moved to Mosul Museum and were destroyed in February. On March 9, the Iraqi Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced that it had received information suggesting the city had been wrecked by ISIS.

Lesser-Known Areas of Destruction:

Jonah's Tomb

Traditional site of Jonah's Tomb in Mosul
From israelislamandentimes.com

Jonah's Tomb was a shrine in Mosul is located on the hill of Nabi Yunus. The age of the building is not known, but it was revered by Muslims and Christians alike as the burial place of the Biblical Prophet Jonah, who was known to Muslims as the Prophet Yunus. Jonah, or Yunus, is purported to have lived in the 8th century BC. The shrine was a major site for religious and secular tourism before ISIS took over Mosul.

The shrine was located in a mosque, built on the site of a former Eastern Syriac Christian church near the walls and gates of Nineveh. ISIS destroyed the structure with explosives in July 2014, declaring that "the mosque had become a place for apostasy, not prayer". Before the building's destruction, it was one of the most important mosques in the city.

Mar Behnam Monastery

The destruction of Mar Behnam Monastery in progress, July 2014
From ibtimes.co.uk

Mar Behnam Monastery, built in the 4th century by the Assyrian king Sanharib II, belonged to the Syriac Catholic Church at the time of its partial destruction. It was constructed by Sanharib as penance for killing his son and daughter after they became Christians, and housed the tomb of his dead son.

ISIS took over the building in 2014, forcing the monks to leave and removing Christian paraphernalia from the walls. In March 2015, ISIS and local residents released photos showing the destruction of the tomb of St. Behnam, Sanharib's son.

Tomb of Ahmed ar-Rifa'i

IS bulldozes the shrine of Ahmed ar-Rifa'i,  July 2014
From gatesofnineveh.wordpress.com

Ahmed ar-Rifa'i was the founder of the Rifa'i Sufi order of Islamic mysticism. His lineage purportedly stretches back to that of the prophet Muhammed. He began to preach when he was 28 years old and became an enormously popular teacher, giving courses in hadith, canonical jurisprudence, religious precepts, and commentary on the Qu'ran. This sect of Islam is one of a number of congregations following a spiritual path towards God that form around a grandmaster who maintains that he is a spiritual descendent of the prophet Muhammed.

ISIS and other Wahabi and Salafist Muslims view Sufism as heresey, which is a likely reason for why the building, located in the town of Muhallabiyah near Tall Afar, was destroyed in July 2014. However, further information about it has not been readily available in English.

An Ongoing Threat

Other areas that have been destroyed that aren't included in this list include the destructions of a number of Shia mosques, Sunni tombs, shrines and tombs in Tikrit, the purported Tomb of the Prophet Daniel in Mosul, and a plethora of other sites in Mosul and Tal Afar. Some of these sites had survived the IS offensive during the summer of 2014, only to be targeted and demolished at the beginning of 2015.

UNESCO has called for the recognition of ISIS's deliberate destruction of cultural heritage as a war crime. It is incredibly tragic that these ruins of ancient civilisations have survived for almost 4,000 years of natural and human disasters only to fall during an era where their historical value is finally starting to be recognised. It is heartbreaking that some of the most important Muslim holy places in Mosul and the areas surrounding it have been demolished in this ongoing ideological warfare. These ancient monuments are icons of endurance that have watched over and contributed to the culture and community of the region for hundreds of years, and it's absolutely devastating that they've been razed as part of ISIS's ideology and grand strategy.

The world holds its collective breath as ISIS continues to occupy Palmyra.