2015-03-12 11:08:00

History being destroyed in Iraq


(Vatican Radio) Islamic State militants have destroyed another ancient Iraqi city. The Iraqi government confirmed that, parts of the 2,700-year-old city of Khorsabad famed for its colossal statues of human-headed winged bulls were desecrated. 

Listen to Lydia O’Kane's interview with Daniele Morandi Bonacossi, Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Archeology at the University of Udine

This latest attack comes after the extremist group damaged antiquities in the cities of Nineveh, Nimrud and Hatra.

The United Nations has condemned Islamic State's actions as a war crime and an attack on humanity's common heritage.

Speaking to Vatican Radio’s Lydia O’Kane, Daniele Morandi Bonacossi, Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Archeology at the University of Udine in Italy, said that, “this is history being destroyed and what is very important is that this is not only the history of Iraq, this is the history of Mesopotamia, the core of the Assyrian empire. This is history which belongs to the world to all of us.”

Agreeing with the UN’s war crime assessment, he said that, “this is a war crime like the war crimes that were perpetrated by the Nazis in Europe also against cultural heritage or in the former Yugoslavia war with the destruction of the library in Sarajevo or the famous bridge in Mostar.”

So what can been done to protect the culture heritage of the region? According to the Professor, it is difficult because archeologists have no access. But he adds, that what can been done, is to control and regulate the illicit market in antiquities from the region.

 

 








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