By Glynn Cosker
Managing Editor, In Homeland Security
ISIS has reportedly destroyed the ancient historical city of Nimrud, Iraq – considered by archaeologists and historians as one of Mesopotamia’s greatest cities. The bulldozing of the site was immediately called a “war crime” by a United Nations cultural organization official.
Irina Bokova, Director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said Friday: “We cannot remain silent. 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.” Bokova’s strong statement came on the heels of an Iraqi television report claiming that ISIS militants had “bulldozed” Nimrud.
“I appeal also to all cultural institutions, museums, journalists, professors, and scientists to share and explain the importance of this heritage and the Mesopotamian civilization. We must respond to this criminal chaos that destroys culture with more culture,” continued Bokova.
Nimrud is an ancient Assyrian city located in northern Mesopotamia, home to cultural and historical architecture and a popular tourist attraction over the centuries.
It seems that ISIS is not content with increasing its human life toll and is now appending their hideous murders with the destruction of Middle Eastern history. Archaeologists have compared the destruction of Iraq’s cultural history to the Taliban’s obliteration of Afghanistan’s giant Bamiyan Buddha statues in 2001. However, ISIS’s annihilation is not limited to ancient monuments, artifacts or statues but also on Muslim places of worship. Effectively, this constitutes a controlled, organized attack.
More frightening (from an historical standpoint), ISIS allegedly stole around 2,000 books from the Central Library of Mosul in January, carting away all of the non-Islamic texts, according to The New York Times. A militant reportedly later told local residents that the books were “burned.”
Last week, a video surfaced showing ISIS militants destroying ancient statues at a Mosul museum.
“These antiquities and idols behind me were from people in past centuries and were worshiped instead of God,” states an unidentified man in that video. “When God Almighty orders us to destroy these statues, idols and antiquities, we must do it, even if they’re worth billions of dollars.”
Nimrud is one of many ancient sites reportedly looted and vandalized by ISIS in recent months.
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