Screen Capture
Posted on 03/01/2015 12:28:43 PM PST by NYer
Screen Capture
A video showing Islamic State militants with sledgehammers and power drills on a rampage inside the Mosul Museum shows the destruction of both reproductions and priceless originals from at least two important eras in the region’s history, said a British expert on Iraqi culture.
Paul Collins, of the British Institute for the Study of Iraq, in an email to Aleteia, said it was “distressing” to watch scenes of the destruction of colossal winged bulls of the seventh century BC. “These are certainly the real things and it looks from the video that the sculptures are those situated outside the museum at the site of Nineveh—the colossal figures guarded one of the city gates (the so-called Nergal Gate) and were created by king Sennacherib, famous from the Old Testament.”
“The videos show sculptures from the site of Hatra (1st to 2nd century AD),” Collins added. “Some of these may be casts, since the vast majority of objects had been removed to Baghdad in advance of the 2003 invasion when the museum was looted (the empty case that once contained the so-called Balawat Gate bronzes of the ninth century BC that were taken in 2003 appears briefly in the video). Some of the sculptures, however, look genuine. These represent one of the earliest Arab kingdoms in the region.”
The museum in northern Iraq showcases archaeological finds from the ancient Assyrian empire. Islamic State militants seized the museum—which had not yet opened to the public—when they took over Mosul in June and have repeatedly threatened to destroy its collection. The extremists appear to be trying to cleanse the region of ideas they consider un-Islamic, including artworks, library books and relics.
In the video, put out by the Islamic State’s media office for Nineveh Province, a man explains, “The monuments that you can see behind me are but statues and idols of people from previous centuries, which they used to worship instead of God.” A message flashing on the screen read: “Those statues and idols weren’t there at the time of the Prophet nor his companions. They have been excavated by Satanists.”
A professor at the Archaeology College in Mosul confirmed to the Associated Press that the two sites depicted in the video are the city museum and Nergal Gate, one of several gates to the capital of the Assyrian Empire, Ninevah.
"I'm totally shocked," Amir al-Jumaili said by phone from outside of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city. "It's a catastrophe. With the destruction of these artifacts, we can no longer be proud of Mosul's civilization."
Reaction from around the world, particularly from historians and archaeologists, expressed horror and sadness. Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO, the U.N. cultural agency, denounced the destruction as "cultural cleansing" and a war crime that the world must punish. Bokova said she couldn't finish watching the video, which she called "a real shock."
Speaking to reporters Friday, Bokova announced the creation of a "global coalition against the illegal trafficking of cultural goods" that will meet in coming weeks. She has also asked for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on protecting Iraq's cultural heritage.
The Louvre Museum in Paris said in a statement, "This destruction marks a new stage in the violence and horror, because all of humanity's memory is being targeted in this region that was the cradle of civilization, the written word, and history."
Amr al-Azm, a Syrian anthropologist and historian, on his Facebook page called the destruction “a tragedy and catastrophic loss for Iraqi history and archaeology beyond comprehension."
A narrator of the video calls the objects “idols and statues that people in the past used to worship instead of Allah.”
“The so-called Assyrians and Akkadians and others looked to gods for war, agriculture and rain to whom they offered sacrifices,” he says, according to a translation by the International Business Times. “The Prophet Mohammed took down idols with his bare hands when he went into Mecca. We were ordered by our prophet to take down idols and destroy them, and the companions of the prophet did this after this time, when they conquered countries.”
The website Gates of Nineveh, authored by Christopher Jones, a Ph.D student in ancient Near Eastern history at Columbia University in New York, has a summary of what appears to have been destroyed and historical information on the lost pieces. He said that of the Assyrian artifacts, "by far the most important losses are the lamassu at the Nergal Gate, one of which was exceedingly well preserved.... They were some of the few lamassu left in their original locations to greet visitors to Nineveh the same way they would have greeted visitors in ancient Assyria.”
She should be decrying the genocidal massacre of christians and other residents as a war crime. Artifacts are tangible; human life is not.
Catholic ping!
People criticized the Brits for “looting” artifacts from around the world and putting them in museums. Seems they did the world a favor. Should have done more.
They do not take care of their people, they do not build anything. They are just destructive and full of hate.
we need to capture ISIS terrorists and tie them up and go after them with sledge hammers .
What a tragedy. When the crazies govern. I admit that when it comes to historical artifacts I am extremely liberal. They should be preserved for all that man may not forget his history.
What a tragedy. When the crazies govern. I admit that when it comes to historical artifacts I am extremely liberal. They should be preserved for all that man may not forget his history.
Destroying the historical evident of their own existence should make erasing them from the face of the Earth easier.
“She should be decrying the genocidal massacre of christians and other residents as a war crime. Artifacts are tangible; human life is not.”
The ancient pagan idols cannot be replaced. Christians can be replaced and there are 3 billion of them anyway. They can handle a few massacres here and there. Besides, how can you forget the Crusades!!
“they would happily erase all evidence of Judaism and Christianity.”
Delete the Bible from their hard drive?
Savages! Destroyers & Murderers!
Give me a sledgehammer and I’ll sledge them. Stuff like this really angers me.
“Amr al-Azm, a Syrian anthropologist and historian, on his Facebook page called the destruction “a tragedy and catastrophic loss for Iraqi history and archaeology beyond comprehension.”
A narrator of the video calls the objects “idols and statues that people in the past used to worship instead of Allah.”
Oh... I thought they were doing this because they are poor and don’t have jobs.
Arab and Persian cultures haven't produced anything of value since Islam took over... 700 years and not crap to show for it.
They're losers. - fighting over control of how many women they can get - even if it's first cousins...
Lowlifes. Destroyers... But not shocking.
The fact that we cannot bestir ourselves to end these depraved enemies of civilization is a greater outrage than their iconoclasm.
“Arab and Persian cultures haven’t produced anything of value since Islam took over... 700 years and not crap to show for it.”
Arab culture never existed. They raped and looted other Middle Eastern cultures, just like they are doing today.
If the civilized world is to survive, it must recognize Islam for what it really is: It’s not a religion, form of government, or anything recognizable to the civilized mind. Islam is a disease, an incurable disease of the mind that is highly contagious among the feeble minded and is now spreading among the world’s feeble minded at an epidemic rate. As with any disease, one can’t reason with this disease, negotiate with it, or treat in any manner other than how one would treat any other incurable disease.
Past efforts to contain this disease have failed. Now, carriers of this Plague of Islam must be eradicated wherever they're found, for if they're not, this disease will eventually end not just Western Civilization, but it will undo over 5,000 years of human civilization.
Only a finger removing machine.....
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