Prophet and profit

The Assyrian palace at Nimrud is blown up by Islamic State militants.

Michael Danti and John MacGinnis report from Iraq and Syria on the archaeology lost to Islamic State ideology and to looting to fund terrorism.

In her memoir Come Tell Me How You Live, Agatha Christie – wife of the British archaeologist Max Mallowan – describes the happy life of the expedition digging at Chagar Bazaar in the Jezirah region of north-eastern Syria. The idyllic scene she paints was interrupted by WWII, but afterwards they returned to the Near East and went on to excavate at Nimrud in a project that was to become one of the defining contributions of British archaeology in the 20th century. How horrified they would be to see what has become of that wonderful place.

Nimrud is unquestionably one of the most important sites of the ancient world, a capital city of ancient Assyria through its time of high empire in the 9th-7th centuries BC. The palace of its founder, Ashurnasirpal II, was guarded by great humanheaded winged bulls (lamassi) and adorned with sculpted reliefs depicting guardian spirits, the king waging war, and the receipt of tribute from defeated enemies. Though finds from earlier excavations now adorn some of the great museums of the world – the Iraq Museum, the British Museum, the Louvre – an inspired programme of excavation and restoration in more recent decades had created a unique archaeological park in which one could actually walk round an Assyrian palace with many of its sculptures in situ. Tragically, this is no more. The building has been largely destroyed by Islamic State (IS), whose infamous video shows them prising sculptures off the wall, smashing others, and finally blowing up this monument.

Hatra, 70 miles south-west of Mosul and a jewel in the desert, has similarly been mutilated. A caravan town with roots in deep antiquity, Hatra was famous for glorious temples and palaces dating to the first centuries AD, and testament to the immense wealth generated by the trade which flowed through the city. It was a multicultural crossroads that represented everything that IS does not: amazingly cosmopolitan, with a rich blend of religious influences from every direction. A unique inventory of statues proved that Mesopotamian, Persian, Greek, and Aramaean deities were all venerated in the city; it was a society characterised by religious tolerance. Other statues portrayed the rulers and leading citizens dressed in richly embroidered garments. Some were still at the site, others were on display in the Mosul Museum. Many now appear to have been destroyed by IS. Other statues, however, went to Baghdad, and these thankfully are still intact.

Islamic State militants destroy ancient artefacts on display in Mosul Museum.

Challenging times

The cultural heritage crisis in Iraq and Syria is the largest challenge for the international heritage community since WWII. In Iraq, IS’s deliberate destruction of archaeological sites represents the leading cause of heritage damage: scores have been destroyed. This most recent wanton and wicked vandalism is only the latest in IS’s depraved history of wholesale destruction of cultural heritage.

IS largely targets Islamic heritage for annihilation, particularly Shia and Sufi religious sites, though recently pre-Islamic heritage has been the focus of highly publicised atrocities. Mosul has been stripped of its monuments, as mosques, shrines, churches, libraries, and statues have all been levelled. Nebi Yunus, the mosque dedicated to the prophet Jonah and a famous landmark of the Mosul skyline, has been blown up. The wonderful museum at Mosul has been ransacked, and masterpieces of Assyrian and Hatrene sculpture smashed to smithereens. (Sadly, contrary to earlier reports, the majority were indeed originals and not replicas.) Some looting has also been reported in northern Iraq, though thus far most of the thefts have involved cultural repositories and private collections rather than illegal excavations at archaeological sites. And last but not least, we must be aware of the severe damage to the intangible heritage of the region. The numerous churches in Mosul once echoed to the beautiful chanting of ancient Christian liturgies. It is a precious tradition. But the destruction of the churches and the flight of the Christian communities have put this already fragile heritage in peril too.

The situation in Syria is far more complex, and the level of destruction is staggering. Between July 2014 and February 2015, more than 470 incidents of damage have been documented. Since February, the frequency of damage incidents has remained high. Illegal excavations represent the most commonly reported source of damage. Analysis of high-resolution satellite imagery, narrative reporting from in-country sources, and large-scale rapid response surveys indicate looting is widespread, lucrative, and usually targeted to achieve maximum returns. Patterns in looting follow those of the pre-conflict era, but as the war has progressed, looting has expanded to new sites, and has become far more intense and targeted through the use of heavy machinery, metal detectors, and large gangs of workmen.

All major belligerents in the Syrian conflict are culpable for these crimes. The most intense looting occurs in territory controlled by IS, although ascribing illegal activities to specific factions is difficult since militants seldom directly engage in the looting, trafficking, and sale of antiquities. Rather, IS, Jabhat al-Nusra, and other groups act as capacity builders for cultural property crimes by encouraging, organising, and funding them. These organisations tax the rights to engage in looting, trafficking, and antiquity sales, and then also tax the proceeds. As in other criminal activities, such as crude oil and fuel sales, armed groups can derive income at several points in these revenue streams through their control of resources, international contacts, and transportation routes and border crossings. Large numbers of antiquities are crossing into Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan on their way to Greece, Bulgaria, Italy, the Gulf, and other entrepôts before they disappear into the illegal art market. The illicit antiquities market in southern and western Turkey is the best documented, and antiquities and other stolen cultural property flow out of Syria and Iraq at major border crossings such as Tell Abyad (Syria)–Akçakale (Turkey) that bring fighters and weapons into the conflict zone.

An Islamic State terrorist defaces an Assyrian lamassu at Nimrud.

War on culture

While looting is ubiquitous in Syria, other damage incidents have far more deleterious impacts. Thefts from cultural repositories, deliberate combat damage, massive tunnel bombs, intentional destruction of heritage sites, unregulated building, and neglect due to diminished cultural infrastructure are rapidly and irreversibly erasing much of Syria’s cultural heritage. While all belligerents are guilty of such crimes, Jihadi-Salafi groups such as IS, Jabhat al-Nusra, and Islamic Front inflict the greatest damage, given their systematic and intentional targeting of cultural heritage for liquidation or financial gain, and radical ideological and propagandistic objectives. While other combatants incorporate cultural heritage management and preservation in their political and military infrastructures, these radical rogue states and non-state actors are engaged in an open war on cultural diversity that will haunt us for decades to come.

The international community must do everything it can to stop this. Primarily, this is going to have to be by the defeat of IS, but every possible pressure also must be applied to countries supporting IS and acquiescing in the trafficking of looted antiquities. In August 2014, the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) and US Department of State completed a cooperative agreement to establish the ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives (CHI) to address the crisis in Syria – later expanded to include Iraq. ASOR CHI monitors and reports on the cultural heritage situation in the conflict zone, engages in cultural heritage outreach and educational initiatives, implements damage/risk mitigation projects, and plans remediation and preservation projects for the post-conflict period. Producing weekly reports that chronicle and analyse the heritage situation constitutes one the of the program’s main activities (see www.asor-syrianheritage.org).

Sadly, IS’s baleful effect extends beyond Syria’s borders. Until last summer, when IS took Mosul and then made a move towards Erbil, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq was archaeologically booming. About 40 foreign expeditions were registered in the region, with more in the pipeline (see CWA 67). The majority are now suspended. However, a small number of teams continue to work in Iraq, both in Kurdistan and in the southern part of the country. Though it is easy to despair, the tyranny of IS will be defeated. With cultural heritage, as with all issues, the road to recovery will be long and difficult. But Iraq and Syria will succeed, led by the many committed and talented scholars that both countries are host to, and aided by the international community. A vision of what this future can be is given by the Iraq Museum recently reopened in Baghdad: it is an exceptional achievement, and a testament to the true spirit of the people of these ancient lands.

For further information see: ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiative (CHI): www.asor-syrianheritage.org

Deliberate destruction of architectural features at the ancient city of Hatra in Iraq.