ISIS Attacks Archaeological Site at Nimrud

BAGHDAD — The Islamic State militant group attacked the ancient
archaeological site of Nimrud in northern Iraq and damaged it with
heavy vehicles, Iraq's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said
Thursday.

It was the latest in a series of attacks on ancient structures and artifacts
in Syria and Iraq that the group has destroyed in the name of its harsh
interpretation of Islamic law. Last week, Islamic State militants
videotaped themselves destroying statues and artifacts in the Mosul
Museum and at the Nergal Gate entryway to ancient Nineveh. The
militants captured the city during its offensive blitz through much of
Iraq last June.

"The terrorist gangs of ISIS are continuing to defy the will of the world
and the feelings of humanity after they committed a new crime that
belongs to its idiotic series," the ministry said in a statement on its
Facebook page, referring to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL
or Daesh.

Nimrud is the sprawling site of a city founded by the Assyrian King
Shalamansar I, who died in 1245 B.C.

Among the most impressive objects at Nimrud are the colossal statues
known as "lamassu," mythological creatures that depict either lions or
winged bulls with bearded human heads. Pairs of the 17-ton statues are
at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum.

Many of the massive Nimrud statues remain buried at the site. But the
ISIS video from the Mosul Museum clearly shows at least one statue
from Nimrud being defaced. And the site has many areas that
archaeologists have not yet explored.

George C. Papagiannis, the Unesco world heritage officer in charge in
Iraq from 2009 to 2011, said the loss of any artifacts from Nimrud is a
dark blow to historical preservation.
"These extremists are trying to destroy the entire cultural heritage of
the region in an attempt to wipe the slate clean and rewrite history in
their own brutal image," he said.
He added that Nimrud was recently nominated by the Iraqi government
to be placed on Unesco's list of world heritage sites, locations chosen
for their "universal value."

Ihsan Fethi, a member of the Iraqi Architects Society who has been
tracking the destruction of heritage sites, said, "I cannot even describe
the immensity of this loss." He added: "This is one of the most famous
and probably one of the most important sites in the world."

Nimrud is also famous for its bas-reliefs and steles that depict scenes of
war and hunting as well as fantastical figures like bird-headed genies.
Many of those are in museums. As well, Nimrud was the site of
extensive excavations that yielded carved ivory, jewelry, crowns and
other artifacts that are stored in the archaeological museum in Baghdad,
which in recent days reopened to the public.
But the Nimrud site itself has suffered since the United States-led
invasion in 2003, when it was virtually abandoned as Iraqi state
structures collapsed. Looters stole and damaged many sculptures.
However, Mr. Fethi said, the site was partially safeguarded by its
remote location, and until now its major structures were in good
condition.

"Leaving these gangs without punishment will encourage them to
eliminate human civilization entirely, especially the Mesopotamian
civilization, which cannot be compensated," the ministry added in its
statement. It called on the United Nations Security Council to come to
Iraq's aid.

The destruction also comes on the heels of several years of wholesale
ransacking of Syria's ancient sites by many parties in the country's
chaotic conflict.

Mohammad Rabia Chaar, a Syrian writer and journalist now living in
Belgium, said he had returned to Syria to support the uprising against
Bashar al-Assad but became disillusioned in part because of the looting
and destruction, and was eventually driven out by threats from Islamic
State militants, before they in turn were largely driven from that
province last year.

"Go and see Idlib, how all the ancient hills have destroyed and looted,
how bulldozers are digging." he said. "The feeling of sickness is
growing more and more, day after day, against these imperialist
Muslims. Daesh wants people with no memory, with no history, with no
culture, no past, no future."

He said that while human lives are worth more than statues, erasing
history and civilization is "killing them not physically but because of
their thoughts."

Source: new yort times