Priceless treasures found in Isis house
IRAQ: Iraqi authorities have found more than 100 ‘‘priceless’’ Assyrian artefacts plundered from ancient ruins hidden in the house of an Islamic State leader in Mosul.
The discovery was made in the Az-Zirai area of eastern Mosul, which special forces recently recaptured from Isis.
The National Security Service released photographs yesterday of clay pots, large vases, ‘‘Palace Ware’’ pottery and a hand mill, among other smaller pieces found.
Historians and archaeologists have confirmed the objects date back thousands of years to the Assyrian Empire.
They said they were almost certainly dug up from the nearby Nineveh Ruins, as well as Nimrud – the Assyrian Empire’s ancient capital – which was under the control of Isis militants for two years until liberated in November.
Nimrud, known at the time as Kalhu, was the seat of power from 879-709 BC. It was first excavated in 1945 by a British-Assyrian team, which described it as the most beautiful site in the Middle East.
Talib al-Maa’mari, a member of the Iraqi Parliament said yesterday: ‘‘When the special forces searched this one house, which was being used by an Isis emir, we were surprised to find many priceless artefacts. But one in particular is very special – it was quite an incredible find.’’
It has not yet been disclosed what this particular item is.
Professor Eleanor Robinson, chairman of the British Institute for the Study of Iraq, said: ‘‘They are genuine Assyrian antiquities.’’
Isis documents found in the abandoned house show the Islamist group kept a record of individual items, along with an estimated price each could reach.
Since its capture of Mosul in 2014, Isis is thought to have made tens of millions of dollars off black market sales of antiquities in Iraq and Syria, while destroying numerous archeological treasures.
They boasted of the destruction in a video, touting their campaign to purge their self-declared ‘‘caliphate’’ of anything they deemed pagan or heretical.
– Telegraph Group