Destroying history

Islamic State has bulldozed the city of Nimrud, & the carved stone winged lions, a cultural icon of Iraq — are no more

There has been global condemnation of the Islamic state (IS) for its destruction of archaeological sites in Iraq. It has been described as a war crime by Unesco and likened to the destruction caused during the Mongol invasion of the Middle East — to say nothing of being identical to the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas by the Taliban in March 2001. Any protests are going to fall on deaf ears, the IS cares not for what the rest of the world thinks regarding its destruction of what it sees as blasphemous or heretical artefacts of antiquity. The ancient city of Nimrud has been bulldozed, and the carved stone winged lions, a cultural icon of Iraq — are no more. History is being erased before our eyes, and the rest of the world is powerless to stop it. The IS controls vast swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria, that in archaeological terms are home to many of the greatest heritage sites known to mankind. Every one of them stands at risk of obliteration.

It is perhaps, fortunate that many of the relics from the site found their way into foreign museums after the site was first excavated in the 1840s. Much material is in the British Museum in London and the Metropolian Museum in New York and thus protected. Less well protected is that which is in the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad, which must be seen as vulnerable. Once again the world has been exposed as weak and ineffectual when it comes to management of the burgeoning problem of the IS. Although Iraqi forces with air support from the Americans and the Iranians have begun to push back against the IS around the city of Tikrit, it remains powerful and has high levels of local support. Iconoclasm is nothing new — the destruction of churches and monasteries during the brief reign of Oliver Cromwell in England in the 1640s was no less absolute than that being perpetrated today — but always difficult to countervail. Sadly, expect more of the same.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2015.

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