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Archaeologists excavating the site of Rabana-Merquly, suggest that the mountain fortress could be the lost city of Natounia.Rabana-Merquly is located on the flanks of Mt. Piramagrun in the Zagros Mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan. The fortress consists of nearly 4km of fortifications, in addition to two smaller settlements, for which Rabana-Merquly is named.Rabana-Merquly is located on the eastern border of Adiabene, which was governed by the kings of a local dynasty dependent on the Parthians. It may have been used, among other things, to conduct trade with the pastoral tribes in the back country, maintain diplomatic relations, or exert military pressure.Within...

ISIS Targets City that Inspired Washington, D.C. for DestructionPosted By Daniel Greenfield On May 22, 2015 @ 12:29 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | 30 Comments [1]Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam.The great columns and pediments of Washington, D.C. that give it a Roman and Greek air have their origins in a lost city in the Syrian desert. After Robert Wood and James Dawkins visited the ruins of Palmyra [2] in the eighteenth century, the illustrations of the bare columns and broken arches helped inspire neoclassical...

[Syria] Palmyra [Syria] Mar Elian Monastery [Syria] Apamea [Syria] Dura-europos [Syria] Mari [Iraq] Hatra [Iraq] Nineveh [Iraq] Mosul Museum And Libraries [Iraq] Nimrud [Iraq] Khorsabad [Iraq] Mar Behnam Monastery [Iraq] Mosque Of The Prophet Yunus [Iraq] Imam Dur Mausoleum

The recent bulldozing by the Islamic State (ISIS) of the ancient cities of Nimrud, Hatra, and Korsabad, three of the world's greatest archaeological and cultural sites, is just this group latest round of assaults across the large area under its control. Since January 2014, the flamboyantly barbaric ISIS has blown up Shi'i mosques, bulldozed churches, pulverized shrines, and plundered museums. Worse, the ISIS record fits into an old and common pattern of destruction of historical artifacts by Muslims.[snip] In some cases, conquerors turn non-Islamic holy places into Islamic ones, thereby asserting the supremacy of Islam. This can be done by...

Iraqi officials in the northern city of Mosul said Saturday that militants with the Islamic State group have begun demolishing the ancient archaeological site of Hatra in northern Iraq in a push to rid its territory of symbols it says promote idolatry. An official with the ministry of tourism and antiquities' archaeological division in Mosul told The Associated Press that multiple residents living near Hatra heard two large explosions this morning, then reported seeing bulldozers begin demolishing the site. He spoke anonymously for fear of reprisal.

Iraq's 'Exorcist' temple falls into Isis jihadist hands Ancient pre-Christian temple in northern Iraq featured in film The Exorcist at risk of destruction by Isis jihadists An ancient temple made famous in the film The Exorcist has fallen into the hands of the Islamic militants who have taken over northern Iraq, the Telegraph has learnt. The pre-Christian worship complex at Hatra, a vast network of 200-ft high sun-god temples that is a Unesco world heritage site, features in the opening sequence of the 1973 horror classic. But it now lies in the territory claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq...

A mass grave being excavated in a north Iraqi village has yielded evidence that Iraqi forces executed women and children under Saddam Hussein. US-led investigators have located nine trenches in Hatra containing hundreds of bodies believed to be Kurds killed during the repression of the 1980s. The skeletons of unborn babies and toddlers clutching toys are being unearthed, the investigators said. They are seeking evidence to try Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity. It is believed to be the first time investigators working for the Iraqi Special Tribunal (IST) have conducted a full scientific exhumation of a mass grave. "It...

For a country recently purged of its chief tormentor, it is perhaps a grimly appropriate theme for its first new tourist attraction. American troops in Iraq have launched what has been dubbed "The Exorcist Experience", after discovering that the ancient ruins they were guarding provided the location for the 1973 horror classic's opening sequence. They now plan to help locals put the 2,000-year-old city of Hatra back on the international tourist map by marketing it as a future holiday destination to fans of the cult film. Using a modest $5,000 (£2,800) grant, the soldiers have recruited local guides and guards...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 December 7, 2003Release Number: 03-12-16 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CELEBRATION BUILDS FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN COALITION, IRAQIS HATRA, IRAQ – Coalition soldiers, local patrons and international media danced traditional dances, sang customary songs and ate a feast of both American and Iraqi food as the sun went down on this ancient city. The evening’s celebrations ended the Ramadan season and included presentations from Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus, commanding general, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), and Hatras Mayor Nofil Hamade Sultan. According to...

Sunday, December 7, 2003 U.S. troops guard Iraq ammunition site from looters By Kendra Helmer, Stars and StripesEuropean edition, Sunday, December 7, 2003 Kendra Helmer / S&S Soldiers look out over the desolate Jaguar South ammunition site. The site — 35 square miles — has no fence, so looters trespass to steal brass from rounds and steal munitions to make bombs. The military estimates it will take two to three years to destroy all the ammunition at the massive site. Kendra Helmer / S&S Soldiers with the 2nd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division bundle up...

HATRA, Iraq, July 5 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The remains of about 300 people, believed to be Kurdish victims of the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein, have been found in a mass grave in northern Iraq Saturday, July 5. According to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondent, bone, hair and bits of clothing were clearly visible at the bottom of a gaping hole five meters (16.5 feet) wide in a barren desert plain near the town of Hatra, about 300 kilometers (185 miles) northwest of the capital Baghdad. "So far they have taken out 50 bodies out of about 300,"...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 12/8/02 - Baghdad, Hatra, Irbil, Iskandariya, NY, Samara'a BREAKING: Baghdad, Iraq, - THE spurious document release BREAKING: Irbil, Iraq - US Congress visits BREAKING: Iskandariya - Inspection BREAKING: New York - Aldouri Blix Annan deal violates Security Countil Resolution 1441 Declaration #3 Hatra, Samara'a ========= Baghdad ========= BREAKING: In Baghdad, at the Iraqi spurious document release. =========== al-Muthanna complex =========== BREAKING: At al-Muthanna complex, 40 miles northwest of Baghdad, mustard gas remains. ========= Hatra ========= In Hatra, ~350 klicks north of Baghdad. ========= Irbil ========= BREAKING: In Irbil, Iraq, controlled by the...