As part of the ridiculous Islamic law that the ISIS are enforcing, in Mosul they said they would be destroying all graveyards, shrines and monuments.
In addition, quite a few ancient Assyrian artifacts, part of the region’s cultural heritage, have been destroyed, reminding people of the Taliban destroying the Buddhas of Bamiyan.
Two Hittite statues of lions dating from 2,800 years ago were destroyed with bulldozers when ISIS overran Raqqa in Syria.
Hittite lion statues from 2,800 years ago before they were destroyed.
ISIS’ Islamic law forbids any idolatry in the form of depictions of persons or idols. The lions were neither, so one wonders why they were destroyed.
Bulldozer destroying the Al-Rashid lions in Syria.
But all through the history of Islam, when jihadis overran a non-Muslim site, the Muslims destroyed much of the non-Muslim heritage at the site because it represents jalaliyya or the Age of Ignorance in the period before Islam.
Destroying all traces of pre-Islamic civilization is typical behavior during an Islamic jihad. This behavior goes back to Mohammad himself, who destroyed shrines in areas he conquered.
Here they are attempting to erase the history and culture of the Assyrian and Syriac people who formerly made up the majority in this region.
ISIS militants destroying Assyrian artifacts found in Raqqa.
Destroying all traces of pre-Islamic civilization is typical behavior during an Islamic jihad. This behavior goes back to Mohammad himself, who destroyed shrines in areas he conquered.
In Tel Ajaja, ancient Assyrian artifacts were found by ISIS and were pulverized to bits with hammers.
St. Etchmiadzin Armenian Church in Mosul in flames after ISIS either bombed it or set it on fire. :(
In Mosul, several churches were set on fire or vandalized by the ISIS. In addition, a church under construction east of Mosul has been bombed. Many Christians have fled Mosul to surrounding villages. Unfortunately, Kurdish peshmerga have prevented a lot of refugees fleeing Mosul from entering Kurdistan, which verges on a crime of war and is certainly a tragedy. One is reminded of the ships full of Jewish refugees sent back to Europe to die in the Holocaust. Many Christians have crowded into a city called Qaraqosh, a majority Assyrian Christian city now packed with refugees. The ISIS have the city surrounded and have now entered it. No one knows what will happen next.