Destruction of cultural heritage by the Islamic State

These attacks and demolitions targeted a variety of ancient and medieval artifacts, museums, libraries, and places of worship, among other sites of importance to human history.

Between June 2014 and February 2015, the Islamic State's Salafi jihadists plundered and destroyed at least 28 historic religious buildings in Mosul alone.

[1] Along with antique Mesopotamian sites of significance, the Islamic State inflicted particularly cataclysmic levels of damage upon Iraqi Christian heritage.

IS justifies the destruction of cultural heritage sites by its Salafism,[2] which, according to its followers, places "great importance on establishing tawhid (monotheism)" and "eliminating shirk (polytheism)".

Destroying historic ruins also allows IS to wipe the slate clean and to start afresh, leaving no traces of any previous culture or civilization.

[6] In 2014, media reported destruction of multiple religious buildings belonging to both Sunni and Shia sects throughout areas captured by IS.

[citation needed] In the same year IS ordered the removal of all decorative elements and frescoes from mosques in Mosul, even those containing Quranic verses that mention Allah.

This was the mosque where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the establishment of the Islamic State caliphate three years prior.

[29][30] On 4 May 2015, IS were reported to have destroyed the Assyrian Christian Virgin Mary Church on Easter Sunday (5 April) in the Syrian town of Tel Nasri.

"As the 'joint forces' of Kurdish People's Protection Units and local Assyrian fighters attempted to enter the town", IS set off the explosives destroying what remained of the church.

[38] In the Syrian city of Raqqa, IS publicly ordered the bulldozing of a colossal ancient Assyrian gateway lion sculpture from the 8th century BC.

[42] By the time the city was retaken by government forces, 90% of the excavated zone of Nimrud, including Ashurbanipal II's palace, the ziggurat, and its Lamassu statues had been completely destroyed.

Since the city's destruction, The Nimrud Rescue Project, funded by the Smithsonian, has worked two seasons on location to train local Iraqi archaeologists and protect and conserve the remains.

[43] On 7 March 2015, Kurdish sources reported that IS had begun the bulldozing of Hatra,[44][45][46] which has been under threat of demolition after IS had occupied the adjacent area.

[53] On 27 May 2015, IS released an 87-second video showing parts of the apparently undamaged ancient colonnades, the Temple of Bel and the Roman theatre.

[53] In June 2015, accounts associated with IS released a video showing its members executing twenty-five captured Syrian soldiers at the amphitheater, observed by hundreds of local civilian men, who were reportedly forced to watch.

[50] In August IS murdered Khaled al-Asaad, an archaeologist and expert on Palmyra, for not disclosing the location of artefacts hidden to keep them safe from IS.

[58] According to the report issued on 3 September 2015 by ASOR Syrian Heritage initiative, IS also destroyed seven ancient tower tombs in Palmyra since the end of June over two phases.

[63] It was reported on 1 January 2019 that Syrian authorities recovered two Roman-era funerary busts smuggled from Palmyra from an abandoned IS site in the Al-Sukhnah countryside.

[73] Former Prime Minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki reported that the local parliamentary tourism and antiquities committee had "filed complaints with the UN to condemn all IS crimes and abuses, including those that affect ancient places of worship".

[75][76][77] To accomplish this goal, the IDA, in collaboration with UNESCO, reported that it would deploy 5,000 3D cameras to partners in the Middle East to capture 3D scans of local ruins and relics.

[81][82] The general director of the Czech National Museum, Michal Lukeš, signed an agreement in June 2017 committing the institution to help Syria save, preserve and conserve much of its cultural and historical heritage damaged by war, including the ancient site of Palmyra; he met with Maamoun Abdulkarim and discussed plans for the works that were said to have lasted until 2019.

[83] In June 2017, the World Monuments Fund (WMF) announced the launch of a £500,000 scheme to train Syrian refugees near the Syrian-Jordanian border in traditional stone masonry.

[85] Minor restorations have already begun: Palmyrene funerary busts of a deceased man and a woman, damaged and defaced by IS, were taken from Palmyra, then to Beirut to be sent off to Rome.

[86] However, the Rewards for Justice Program offers up to $5 million for information leading to disrupt the sale and/or trade of oil and antiquities by IS.