Islamic State militants ransacked Mosul Museum in northern Iraq, whose collection encompassed sculptures from royal cities such as Nimrud, Nineveh, and Hatra, The Guardian reports. A video broadcasted on the web by ISIS revealed militants using sledghammers and drills to destroy ancient artifacts and statues considered against the teachings of Islam.
Targeting relics from the Assyrian and Akkadian empires, these destruction acts form part of a wider campaign led by ISIS against coexistence with Christians and other minorities in the region, already implemented through evictions and forced conversions.
In a release, the Metropolitan Museum of Art condemned this ‘mindless attack on great art, on history, and on human understanding [which] constitutes a tragic assault not only on the Mosul Museum, but on our universal commitment to use art to unite people and promote human understanding’.
27 February 2015.
