Anyway, leaving aside their ongoing assaults on basic human dignity for a moment, it seems that ISIS have bulldozed at least part of the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud to the ground over the last week:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31760656
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/m ... mosul-iraq
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/06/world ... .html?_r=0
http://www.wsj.com/articles/islamic-sta ... 1425600798
http://rt.com/news/238265-iraq-isis-ancient-site/
(Deliberate attempt made to provide links from news sources running across a range of ideological perspectives)
While much of the movable cultural heritage of the city is in museums in Baghdad and Europe (the British Museum has a particularly fine collection of Nimrud artefacts), much remains on site - particularly many of the large Lamassu (winged bull with human head) statues so characteristic of Assyrian art. The Mosul museum also has, or rather had (see below), a fine collection of Assyrian art.
Nimrud (actually called Kalhu by the Assyrians) is one of the most significant archaeological sites in the Fertile Crescent. It's located c. 30km southeast of modern Mosul, and was the capital of the Assyrian Empire for over 150 years, including during the reign of Tiglath-Pileser III, one of the most important of Assyrian emperors. It remained a royal residence until the collapse of the Assyrian Empire.
The site is not just significant for its intrinsic historical and cultural value, but also for the role it holds in the history of the development of archaeology. A basic outline of the city's importance is available on the relevant Wiki page.
The destruction of Middle Eastern heritage of global significance isn't solely an ISIS issue, nor is solely an issue of Islamic fundamentalism, as is partially outlined in the old spoilered posts here....
.... however, the destruction of Nimrud, if confirmed (and ISIS have already demolished most of the Assyrian collections in the Mosul Museum), is likely the single most egregious act of cultural vandalism against a major archaeological site by Islamic extremists since the Taliban blew up the Buddhas of Bamiyan. Depending on the scale of the bulldozing - and Nimrud is a big site - it could easily surpass the Bamiyan incident in scope.
Now, I'm not arguing that the protection of archaeological sites should take priority over the protection of human life and basic human rights, but nor are those two goals incompatible. I'm not sure that there's much we - however you define 'we' - can do on a practical level here; it's not as if ISIS or other Islamic fundamentalist groups are going to just invite the International Committee of the Blue Shield in to preserve these sites (nor, despite my own current work on Gulf World Heritage sites, would I be personally stupid enough to volunteer for the job even if asked). Even where a stable state agency exists in the region, there's no guarantee of preservation; Saudi Arabia, for example, deliberately avoids placing Mecca and Medina on the UNESCO World Heritage list so as to circumvent international concern over the government's ongoing destruction of the cultural heritage of the two most historically important cities in Islam.
But for anyone who cares about the past, this destruction of our global cultural heritage is a matter of profound concern.
I invite comment on these issues; and while Nimrud may be the initial catalyst for the thread, discussion needn't be limited to that one site or to ISIS specifically.