Ancient Mesopotamian Artifacts Smashed in New ISIS Video

[Skywizard]

http://i.livescience.com/images/i/000/074/284/original/isis-sculpture.jpg?1424985709
The Mosul Museum had been considered one of the most important museums in Iraq.


To the horror of archaeologists, skywizard and the other history buffs around the world, militants with the extremist group ISIS released a new video Feb. 26 that shows ancient Mesopotamian sculptures and other artifacts being smashed inside northern Iraq's Mosul Museum.

The destruction — which comes weeks after ISIS deliberately destroyed library collections in Mosul — is part of an ongoing effort by ISIS militants to get rid of objects and structures they consider idolatrous, whether that means obliterating archaeological relics or demolishing Sufi shrines.


You guys can read the rest of the story at: http://www.livescience.com/49968-ancient-artifacts-smashed-isis-video.html I'm not reading or finish posting it. It makes me deathly sick that people can destroy what little ancient history we have left!! Sorry this is just how I feel.

[robinr1]

yeah......they were showing this all over fox news and the mainstream media as a propaganda piece...... so im gonna go ahead call it a fake propaganda piece..just one mans opinion

[Morbid]

what else they gonna make isis do for public to start sending their sons over to fight for the 'good cause'?

[EdithGibbs]

I agree it must be fake.The statues look like props. All the good stuff would be removed in the "fog of war" or some other propaganda. Just cannot stop the lies.

E.Gibbs

[Ellisa]

They were burning books in one of the historical libraries last week. It's horrific! We need to know our history, and I mean all of human history, not just that which we are allowed to know. I cannot understand these hooligans, they come from the same place as the people who destroyed those ancient Buddhas. Why do they do it? Is there a reason?

Some of the statues are replicas (as is common practice with such priceless artefacts), but to me that makes no difference, and I doubt it does to the vandals who smashed them. Their intent is to break, destroy and damage for ever. I think that is a dreadful philosophy.

[Morbid]

check out the baghdad museum that got ransacked off while us 'humanitarian mission for freedoms of all'. that museum had sections in it that stored ancient artifacts from donkeys ago. those sections were protected by top of the range underground bunker with automated security system. when troops were entering the city that facility been cleared while all the copies and unnecessary stuff on display were stolen by locals later while left unnatended.

[MorningSong]

I saw this on the news here yesterday.... and it absolutely makes me sick... sooo sad.

I have written several times on this forum and mentioned it in my personal life in various places where the subject has arisen: there has GOT to be some reason WHY so many situations (mostly war) have developed/are developing to erase our human ancient history... do you guess that "they, the gods" are back (or coming back) and that there has been a regime change? There are only a few testimonial places left.... when will the distruction begin there also?

[MorningFox]

Let the little children smash things.

If it makes you sick, angry or sad then you are allowing whoever these low lifes are to manipulate you.

[Atlas]

We were ordered by our prophet to take down idols and destroy them (source (http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/iraq-isis-take-sledgehammers-priceless-assyrian-artefacts-mosul-museum-video-1489616))
This is a BS argument for the camera because they clearly know the difference between an "idol" and an "archaeological artifact" so there must be another reason to it.



http://rudaw.net/ContentFiles/108839Image1.jpg

[...] the fact that most items destroyed were not real, was good news. It would be distressing if all destroyed pieces were genuine.

[...] fortunately some of the valuable items there were moved years ago to the National Museum in Baghdad. The items that were being hammered and destroyed in the video were only reproductions of the real ones. However, there were two items that were real and which the militants destroyed; one is the Winged Bull and the other one was the God of Rozhan.

[...] I contacted the manager of the Mosul Museum who is currently in Baghdad. He had detailed information about the museum and said the real pieces were moved to Baghdad in 2003. We were planning to renovate the museum. And then they would move back the real items to Mosul again. But Mosul fell to ISIS and we knew that fortunately the real items were in Baghdad. (source (http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/28022015))

https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-ash2/v/t1.0-1/c22.47.273.273/s200x200/1002503_427404654039191_781898437_n.png?oh=9bafba42f75a2550841f72f618442506&oe=557D0FDA&__gda__=1434050979_e3d2ca3d84501b4b62cc0ae16a494032

ISIS is always frothing at the mouth to shock people with its brutality, but what they've done here is so irreversible and so crude it's on an entirely new level. These statues were upwards of three thousand years old and a treasure for world heritage; now they're rubble. The thought that ISIS is trying to rewrite history with sledgehammers -- and getting away with it -- is horrifying. Yet what's more horrifying is that Iraqis, now at the mercy of these bearded buffoons, may one day never know that their homeland gave birth to writing, the wheel and countless other inventions. Instead, they'll know the Cradle of Civilization as a charnel house of slavery, crucifixion and murder.

There's no poetic justice here. Just nauseating ignorance. (source (https://www.facebook.com/polyglotpal))

[A Voice from the Mountains]

Luckily all the best pieces of history are hidden from public view in vaults.

[CrimSynn]

To me i see a number of different things.. the biggest is that places of history ARE getting ruined and there IS a loss. We are definitely being manipulated by media, but does that eliminate the truth that things are being destroyed? The end result will simply be the same History WILL be lost! It is a shame and will only hurt us as species as we lose the chance to learn from our past. Do I feel it is something we should go to war over? Well as an Iraq Vet (1st time) I wish we would simply go over and just end this once and for all.. since we could. But powers that be wish to drag things out and strive to look pretty in the eyes of the world. The result will simply be loss... loss of history, loss of wisdom, loss of life, loss of ...... all things. The cost is just our future even if it is costing us in small bills.

[Skywizard]

The cost is just our future....

....and our PAST! :target:

[Tangri]

Luckily all the best pieces of history are hidden from public view in vaults.

In Vatican? :dance:

[Tangri]

I agree it must be fake.The statues look like props. All the good stuff would be removed in the "fog of war" or some other propaganda. Just cannot stop the lies.

E.Gibbs

Cabalist did before(in Afghanistan), and doing it again. Lost items are going to be listed as destroyed by ISIS. They can not find what they are looking for.

[A Voice from the Mountains]

Luckily all the best pieces of history are hidden from public view in vaults.

In Vatican? :dance:

Sure, or British museums, or at the Smithsonian...

[Cidersomerset]

Lets hope this story is correct, although they have damaged some
ancient artefacts.................

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


‘Ancient statues’ destroyed by ISIS in Mosul were FAKES – and the
originals are safely stored in Baghdad, claims Iraqi museum director

new Tuesday 17th March 2015 at 10:17 By David Icke

========================================


http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/sitelogos/logo_mol.gif


'Ancient statues' destroyed by ISIS in Mosul were FAKES - and the originals
are safely stored in Baghdad, claims Iraqi museum director
ISIS jihadis released video showing the destruction of 'ancient' sculptures
But the ancient artifacts destroyed were mostly fake, art expert claims
Director of Baghdad museum says he is looking after authentic versions
Sculptures seen in film were almost all plaster cast replicas, which explains
why they crumbled so easily and were held together by iron bars
But two genuine 3,000-year-old statues were destroyed by the terrorists

By John Hall for MailOnline

Published: 11:42, 16 March 2015 | Updated: 13:53, 16 March 2015

‘Ancient’ statues filmed being destroyed by depraved Islamic State militants
in a Mosul museum last month were nothing more than worthless fakes, the
director of an Iraqi museum has claimed.The terrorist organisation released
shocking footage at the end of February purportedly showing jihadis destroying
3,000-year-old artworks with sledgehammers in their northern Iraqi stronghold.

x8r1wsP7E9w

But now Baghdad museum director Fawzye al-Mahdi has ridiculed ISIS’ propaganda
exercise, claiming the genuine priceless Assyrian and Akkadian statues and sculptures
are still safely in his possession in the Iraqi capital, adding that those in Mosul were
plaster cast replicas.’


http://www.davidicke.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/26B14B9A00000578-2996859-image-a-24_1426505299687-587x343.jpg
Sick: The terrorist organisation released shocking footage at the end of February
purportedly showing jihadis destroying 3,000-year-old artworks with sledgehammers
in their northern Iraqi stronghold

Speaking to German news programme Deutsche Welle, Al-Mahdi said: 'None of the a
rtifacts are originals... They were copies. The originals are all here.'

The museum director's claims appear to back-up those made by experts on the Iraqi statues.
Within hours of the original ISIS propaganda video being released, analysts questioned why
the statues appeared to crumble so easily.

Others stated that they couldn't possibly be 3,000 years old as some of the are clearly held
together by iron poles - a considerably more modern practice.

Mark Altaweel, an expert at the Institute of Archaeology at University College, London, told
Channel 4 News at the time: 'You can see iron bars inside... The originals don't have iron bars.'

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/03/16/26B14B9200000578-2996859-image-a-25_1426505302836.jpg

Propaganda: Baghdad museum director Fawzye al-Mahdi ridiculed ISIS' video, claiming the genuine Assyrian
and Akkadian statues are safely in Baghdad and that those in Mosul were plaster cast replicas



Inside ISIS-held Mosul: Fanatics smash ancient artifacts...


Following the February video release, Mosul's exiled governor Atheel Nuafi also stated that the vast majority
of the statues were fakes, but added that at least two of those destroyed were originals.

'There were two items that were real and which the militants destroyed. One is a Winged Bull and the other
was the God of Rozhan,' the Saudi-based Al Arabiya news organisation quoted him as saying.

The Winged Bull, which is seen being smashed with sledgehammers in the video, is probably one which stood
at the gates of Nineveh in the 7th century BC, claimed the International Business Times.

'I think the Winged Bull is very important locally, because it's one of the few objects that hasn't left the country
or gone to Baghdad,' Eleanor Robson, chair of the British Institute for the Study of Iraq, told the news organisation.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/03/16/26B14B9600000578-2996859-image-a-26_1426505312012.jpg

Real: An ISIS militant uses a power tool to destroy a 7th century winged-bull Assyrian protective deity. The statue
is thought to have been one of only two genuine artifacts destroyed by ISIS in the videoUntil 2003, Mosul museum
had the second biggest collection of ancient relics in Iraq, including thousands of items from Nineveh and other
ancient centers of Northern Mesopotamia.Amid the Western military operation against Saddam Hussein that year,
looters ransacked the building. Employees managed to save the majority of the items, and then moved most to Baghdad.

ISIS militants began destroying ancient statues and monuments shortly after they first seized control of Mosul
last summer, describing them as 'worthless idols'.

A man shown in the video said the items were being destroyed because they promoted idolatry.

'The Prophet ordered us to get rid of statues and relics, and his companions did the same when they conquered
countries after him,' the unidentified man said.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/03/16/26B14B8E00000578-2996859-Large_segments_of_the_priceless_winged_bull_Assyrian_protective_-a-28_1426505563985.jpg

Historic loss: Large segments of the priceless winged-bull Assyrian protective deity are hurled to the ground
as militants smash it to piecesMosul, the biggest city in the Islamic State group's self-declared caliphate, boasts
a relatively educated, diverse population that seeks to preserve its heritage sites and libraries.In the chaos that
followed the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein, residents near the Central Library hid some
of its centuries-old manuscripts in their own homes to prevent their theft or destruction by looters.

But this time, the Islamic State group has made the penalty for such actions death.

A University of Mosul history professor, who spoke on condition he not be named because of his fear of the Islamic
State group, said the extremists started wrecking the collections of other public libraries in December.He reported
particularly heavy damage to the archives of a Sunni Muslim library, the library of the 265-year-old Latin Church
and Monastery of the Dominican Fathers and the Mosul Museum Library with works dating back to 5000 BC.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2996859/Ancient-statues-destroyed-ISIS-Mosul-FAKES-originals-safely-stored-Baghdad-claims-Iraqi-museum-director.html#ixzz3UdsyonzR
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[CD7]

....and our PAST! :target:


Oh yes and our past is something to cherish.......................yes lets save everything from it! <--------------- extreme sarcasm

[Snoweagle]

And reported here in the BRICS Post:
ISIL destroys ancient Assyrian city in Iraq (http://thebricspost.com/isil-destroys-ancient-assyrian-city-in-iraq/#.VQxb9xG6sWM)

This as determined an effort to destroy the artifacts of the past as it gets. All because of one great big lie, three and a half thousand years ago, when the monotheists, whom were to become the Israelites in our history stole valuable artifacts from the secret underground chambers at Giza during the funeral of the Pharoah. Creating the power lust of technical advantage and the rebirth of scripture in its most heinous form.

We have the eradication of pyramid structures under the guise of military testing of nuclear tests and any number of destructive tests on continent and subsea. The Pacific has seen numerous tests off the coast of Chile a number of years ago promoting changes in el Nino weather conditions yet, I contend, those subsea tests were to destroy city size artifacts and energy sources.

And the sheeple watch television, perpetually drunk and live a life of shallow self. It is sickening.

El Bagdaji, the ISIS leader is a Jew. An agent of Mossad. No doubt his senior council are of the same ilk as well. The worlld is being denied the truth of our past.

And where ISIS doesn't reach, the Corporate leaders send in shock troops in the form of "business" enterprise promoting economic growth. Teotihuacán is experiencing the steady creep of destruction under this guise.
Teotihuacán under threat (https://usilive.org/walmart-destroys-mexicos-cultural-heritage-2/)

[Rocky_Shorz]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CQqz5biWUAATD0m.jpg

"Ancient Artifact Goes On Display In Kurdistan After Museum Deal With Smuggler"

http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/scalefit_630_noupscale/5613f00d1600002d0003827f.jpeg
A picture taken on March 14, 2014, shows a partial view of the ancient oasis city of Palmyra, 215 kilometers northeast of Damascus.

WASHINGTON -- Syria lost one of its iconic ancient treasures Sunday, when ISIS blew up the 1,800-year-old Arch of Triumph in Palmyra. The incident drew attention to another destructive consequence of crises in ancient areas, in which well-preserved ruins and artifacts fall victim to modern-day warfare.
But in a less noticed piece of news, a valuable artifact in another war-torn country was actually saved and displayed for the public, Live Science reported Friday.

The Sumerian-age tablet, which contains 20 previously lost lines of "The Epic of Gilgamesh," was bought from smugglers, reflecting an uncomfortable ethical dilemma for museums and other institutions: Should they make deals with smugglers and looters in order to protect and preserve history?

The tablet was one of a group of 80 to 90, and bought for $800 off a smuggler in Iraq in 2011 by the Sulaymaniyah Museum in Slemani, Kurdistan, which is directed by the council of ministers of Iraqi Kurdistan.

The tablet rewrites the setting of an important scene in the epic, a pre-Homeric Sumerian poem widely regarded as the first great work of Western literature.

The tablet's translators, scholars F. N. H. al-Rawi and A. R. George, wrote of their findings in the Journal of Cuneiform Studies in 2014: "The most interesting addition to knowledge provided by the new source is the continuation of the description of the Cedar Forest." Al-Rawi and George cite descriptions of the chatter of birds and monkeys that color what was once thought to be a tranquil and unassuming forest.

The museum started an initiative to make deals with smugglers after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and the subsequent looting of museums in the country, according to Ancient History Etc., a U.K. nonprofit online publication.

"They paid smugglers to ‘intercept’ archeological artifacts on their journey to other countries," according to the publication. "No questions were asked about who was selling the piece or where it came from."


But that program is out of step with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's stance on buying artifacts from smugglers, which it likens to the U.S. stance on paying ransoms.

"The position of not just UNESCO but the international museum community is that we don't buy back looted objects because it encourages looting. Simple. Full stop," Stuart Gibson, director of the UNESCO Sulaymaniyah Museum Project -- an effort to assist the Kurdish government in running the museum -- told CNN in 2011.

The Kurdish council of minsters, however, was not held to the same standards when they controversially decided to regain these goods by any means necessary.

"The Kurdish authorities took a very difficult and I must admit a very courageous position and they said we are going to buy these objects," Gibson added.

The looting and smuggling of ancient artifacts is so common because it is so lucrative. Looters ravaged The Iraq Museum in Baghdad in April 2003, taking about 15,000 items -- only a fraction of which have been recovered, according to the museum's website. Now, the Islamic State has jumped on board.

After U.S.-led airstrikes targeted and debilitated most of the Islamic State's oil revenue, the group turned to selling rather than destroying some of the artifacts around it, Bloomberg Business reported in June. Just one vase can go for as much as $250,000, according to Bloomberg.

Iraq and Syria together have 10 of the 802 cultural properties on the UNESCO World Heritage site list. And within these properties revelatory artifacts much like "The Epic of Gilgamesh" tablet could still be uncovered.

But when they fall into the hands of ideological fanatics, the possible promises of preservation are precarious at best.

Lawrence Wright, writing about the capture of Palmyra in the New Yorker in July, described how Islamic State commander Abu Laith al-Saudion told a local Syrian radio station they would not touch the city.

"Concerning the historical city, we will preserve it ... What we will do is pulverize the statues the miscreants used to pray to,"al-Saudion told the station, according to Wright. The Islamic State has since destroyed the Temple of Bel and the Temple of Baalshamin, both also in Palmyra.

In August, the group also beheaded the archeologist in charge of the site, Khaled Asaad. link (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/gilgamesh-tablet-iraq_5612a747e4b0af3706e16f28?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067)

[Rocky_Shorz]

http://images.techtimes.com/data/images/full/148822/gilgamesh.jpg?w=600


"The Epic of Gilgamesh recounts the story of Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk, Babylonia's ancient city. Gilgamesh is joined is his journey by Enkidu, a wild man initially created by the gods to kill Gilgamesh and stop the king from terrorizing his own people.

The two men became friends after an initial fight and journeyed to far lands together defeating monsters along the way.

The story is considered literature's first great accomplishment. Its chapters were etched in ancient tablets and the story was pieced together from the fragments recovered over the years. The story traces its roots to the 18th century B.C. Followers of the epic are familiar with the 1853 version discovered in Nineveh, the ancient Mesopotamian City which is now modern-day Iraq.

During the U.S.-led war in Iraq, ancient sites and museums were sacked. The initiative to 'intercept' the black market trade of archaeological artifacts was started by the Sulaymaniyah Museum. Smugglers were paid to 'intercept' these treasures during their journey abroad. The scheme worked." link (http://www.techtimes.com/articles/93077/20151009/newly-discovered-tablets-reveal-lost-lines-from-the-epic-of-gilgamesh.htm)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kde-P_jffqk