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Outrage and horror as Isis destroys ancient Assyrian site of Nimrud
Historians and officials say militants’ latest assault in Iraq is part of a systematic campaign to erase millennia of culture in region
3/6/15
Nimrud was built in the 13th century BC during Mesopotamia’s Assyrian era and excavations, carried on since the mid-19th century, have revealed remarkable finds. Photograph: Nico Tondini/Robert Harding/REX/Rex
Kareem Shaheen in Beirut
Friday 6 March 2015 06.00 EST
Last modified on Friday 6 March 201506.36 EST
Activists, officials and historians have condemned Islamic State (Isis) for the destruction of the ancient Assyrian archaeological site of Nimrud in Iraq, with Unesco describing the act as a war crime.
“They are not destroying our present life, or only taking the villages, churches, and homes, or erasing our future – they want to erase our culture, past and civilisation,” said Habib Afram, the president of the Syriac League of Lebanon, adding that Isis’s actions were reminiscent of the Mongol invasion of Arabia.
Iraq’s tourism and antiquities ministry said on Thursday night that Isis had bulldozed the ancient city of Nimrud, south of Mosul, which was conquered by the militants in a lightning advance last summer.
“Daesh terrorist gangs continue to defy the will of the world and the feelings of humanity,” the ministry said, using the group’s Arabic acronym.
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Detail of an Assyrian relief from Nimrud showing horses and horsemen of the royal chariot, 725 B.C. Photograph: Steven Vidler/Eurasia Press/Corbis
“In a new crime in their series of reckless offences they assaulted the ancient city of Nimrud and bulldozed it with heavy machinery, appropriating the archaeological attractions dating back 13 centuries BC,” it said.
The destruction of the site, which became the capital of the neo-Assyrian empire, was confirmed by a local tribal source speaking to Reuters.
“I condemn with the strongest force the destruction of the site at Nimrud,” Irina Bokova, the head of Unesco, said in a statement reported by AFP. Bokova said she had spoken with the heads of the UN security council and international criminal court on the issue.
“We cannot remain silent,” Bokova said. “The deliberate destruction of cultural heritage constitutes a war crime. I call on all political and religious leaders in the region to stand up and remind everyone that there is absolutely no political or religious justification for the destruction of humanity’s cultural heritage.”
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A sculpture of a guardian figure in Nimrud.Photograph: Nik Wheeler/Corbis
Historian Tom Holland told the Guardian: “It’s a crime against Assyria, against Iraq, and against humanity. Destroy the past, and you control the future. The Nazis knew this, and the Khmer Rouge – and the Islamic State clearly understand it too.”
The site’s destruction is the latest assault by Isis against the ancient heritage of minorites that have coexisted in the Middle East for millennia. Last week, the group destroyed ancient Assyrian artefacts in Mosul museum in a video that triggered widespread condemnation and horror. The group had earlier also burned many priceless manuscripts at the city’s library.
“Islamic State members came to the Nimrud archaeological city and looted the valuables in it and then they proceeded to level the site to the ground,” a tribal source told Reuters.
“There used to be statues and walls as well as a castle that Islamic State has destroyed completely.”
“These are not Assyrian artefacts, these are artefacts for all of humanity,” Sanhareb Barsom, an official with the Syriac Union party across the border in Syria’s Hassakeh province, where the Assyrian community has also come under assault by Isis, told the Guardian.
Isis kidnapped more than 200 Assyrians in a sweep through villages south of the Khabur river last month, where members of the community had settled after the infamous Simele massacre in the 1930s by the then-kingdom of Iraq.
“They are targeting a people as well as its history and culture,” Barsom said, calling for the intervention of international organisations to save Iraq’s heritage. “It’s an attempt to end the existence of a people in their ancestral land.”
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An ancient statue of a winged bull with a human face. Photograph: Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images
Isis has repeatedly targeted minorities. Thousands of Chaldeans, Iraq’s main Christian sect, fled their historic homes on the plains of Nineveh in the face of the Isis advance, escaping forced conversions. The group also attempted to starve and enslave thousands of members of the ancient Yazidi sect living around Mount Sinjar, triggering air strikes by the US-led international coalition.
“It’s unprecedented,” said Afram of the Syriac League. “No one did that before.”
He compared the attack to that of the Mongol invasion of Arabia, saying Isis militants were going further in their destruction of ancient heritage.
“This is as if they are specialised in erasing whatever signals that we were present in any part of this region,” he added.
Afram condemned the lack of action by the international community, saying there must be a real military action plan, an inter-faith religious campaign to put an end to religious strife, security cooperation, and action by the “Arab armies” to end the crisis. He said the international community was treating the strife in the Arab world as if it were part of a “basketball game.”
“All this world, from the UN to the security council really cares about nothing, they don’t care about people who are slaughtered on a daily basis,” he said. “I don’t believe that there is an international community, or that there are values anymore.”
David Vergili, a member of the European Syriac Union, said Isis had done “tremendous damage to the social fabric of the Middle East”.
He added: “Preserving cultural and historical heritage in Iraq and elsewhere should be a concern for the whole civilised world as the birthplace and epicentre of our civilisation.”
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Historians and officials say militants’ latest assault in Iraq is part of a systematic campaign to erase millennia of culture in region
3/6/15
Nimrud was built in the 13th century BC during Mesopotamia’s Assyrian era and excavations, carried on since the mid-19th century, have revealed remarkable finds. Photograph: Nico Tondini/Robert Harding/REX/Rex
Kareem Shaheen in Beirut
Friday 6 March 2015 06.00 EST
Last modified on Friday 6 March 201506.36 EST
Activists, officials and historians have condemned Islamic State (Isis) for the destruction of the ancient Assyrian archaeological site of Nimrud in Iraq, with Unesco describing the act as a war crime.
“They are not destroying our present life, or only taking the villages, churches, and homes, or erasing our future – they want to erase our culture, past and civilisation,” said Habib Afram, the president of the Syriac League of Lebanon, adding that Isis’s actions were reminiscent of the Mongol invasion of Arabia.
Iraq’s tourism and antiquities ministry said on Thursday night that Isis had bulldozed the ancient city of Nimrud, south of Mosul, which was conquered by the militants in a lightning advance last summer.
“Daesh terrorist gangs continue to defy the will of the world and the feelings of humanity,” the ministry said, using the group’s Arabic acronym.
1000.jpg
Detail of an Assyrian relief from Nimrud showing horses and horsemen of the royal chariot, 725 B.C. Photograph: Steven Vidler/Eurasia Press/Corbis
“In a new crime in their series of reckless offences they assaulted the ancient city of Nimrud and bulldozed it with heavy machinery, appropriating the archaeological attractions dating back 13 centuries BC,” it said.
The destruction of the site, which became the capital of the neo-Assyrian empire, was confirmed by a local tribal source speaking to Reuters.
“I condemn with the strongest force the destruction of the site at Nimrud,” Irina Bokova, the head of Unesco, said in a statement reported by AFP. Bokova said she had spoken with the heads of the UN security council and international criminal court on the issue.
“We cannot remain silent,” Bokova said. “The deliberate destruction of cultural heritage constitutes a war crime. I call on all political and religious leaders in the region to stand up and remind everyone that there is absolutely no political or religious justification for the destruction of humanity’s cultural heritage.”
666.jpg
A sculpture of a guardian figure in Nimrud.Photograph: Nik Wheeler/Corbis
Historian Tom Holland told the Guardian: “It’s a crime against Assyria, against Iraq, and against humanity. Destroy the past, and you control the future. The Nazis knew this, and the Khmer Rouge – and the Islamic State clearly understand it too.”
The site’s destruction is the latest assault by Isis against the ancient heritage of minorites that have coexisted in the Middle East for millennia. Last week, the group destroyed ancient Assyrian artefacts in Mosul museum in a video that triggered widespread condemnation and horror. The group had earlier also burned many priceless manuscripts at the city’s library.
“Islamic State members came to the Nimrud archaeological city and looted the valuables in it and then they proceeded to level the site to the ground,” a tribal source told Reuters.
“There used to be statues and walls as well as a castle that Islamic State has destroyed completely.”
“These are not Assyrian artefacts, these are artefacts for all of humanity,” Sanhareb Barsom, an official with the Syriac Union party across the border in Syria’s Hassakeh province, where the Assyrian community has also come under assault by Isis, told the Guardian.
Isis kidnapped more than 200 Assyrians in a sweep through villages south of the Khabur river last month, where members of the community had settled after the infamous Simele massacre in the 1930s by the then-kingdom of Iraq.
“They are targeting a people as well as its history and culture,” Barsom said, calling for the intervention of international organisations to save Iraq’s heritage. “It’s an attempt to end the existence of a people in their ancestral land.”
59176ae3-dc1d-4955-8c6b-d87078b6bbac-620
An ancient statue of a winged bull with a human face. Photograph: Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images
Isis has repeatedly targeted minorities. Thousands of Chaldeans, Iraq’s main Christian sect, fled their historic homes on the plains of Nineveh in the face of the Isis advance, escaping forced conversions. The group also attempted to starve and enslave thousands of members of the ancient Yazidi sect living around Mount Sinjar, triggering air strikes by the US-led international coalition.
“It’s unprecedented,” said Afram of the Syriac League. “No one did that before.”
He compared the attack to that of the Mongol invasion of Arabia, saying Isis militants were going further in their destruction of ancient heritage.
“This is as if they are specialised in erasing whatever signals that we were present in any part of this region,” he added.
Afram condemned the lack of action by the international community, saying there must be a real military action plan, an inter-faith religious campaign to put an end to religious strife, security cooperation, and action by the “Arab armies” to end the crisis. He said the international community was treating the strife in the Arab world as if it were part of a “basketball game.”
“All this world, from the UN to the security council really cares about nothing, they don’t care about people who are slaughtered on a daily basis,” he said. “I don’t believe that there is an international community, or that there are values anymore.”
David Vergili, a member of the European Syriac Union, said Isis had done “tremendous damage to the social fabric of the Middle East”.
He added: “Preserving cultural and historical heritage in Iraq and elsewhere should be a concern for the whole civilised world as the birthplace and epicentre of our civilisation.”
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