Video purports to show Nimrud
Islamic State militants with a bulldozer and hammers are seen apparently destroying the ancient Iraqi site.
BAGHDAD — An online video purportedly shows Islamic State militants hammering, bulldozing and ultimately blowing up parts of the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, destroying a site dating to the 13th century BC.
The destruction at Nimrud, near the militant-held city of Mosul, came amid other attacks on antiquity carried out by the group now holding large portions of Iraq and neighboring Syria in its self-declared caliphate. The attacks have horrified archaeologists and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Kimoon, who last month called the destruction at Nimrud “a war crime.”
The seven-minute video, posted late Saturday, shows bearded militants using sledgehammers, jackhammers and saws to take down huge alabaster reliefs depicting Assyrian kings and deities. A bulldozer brings down walls, while militants fill barrels with explosives and later destroy three areas of the site in massive blasts.
“God has honored us in the Islamic State to remove all of these idols and statues worshiped instead of God in the past days,” one militant says in the video. Another vows that “whenever we seize a piece of land, we will remove signs of idolatry and spread monotheism.”
The militants have destroyed other relics, including at the ancient city of Hatra, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Authorities also believe they’ve sold others on the black market to fund their battle.
Some of the figures in the video released Saturday at Nimrud appeared to contain rebar, ribbed bars of steel designed to reinforce concrete — a technique of modern building. However, an Iraqi Antiquities Ministry official said Sunday that all the items were authentic. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to talk to journalists.
Nimrud, also known as Kalhu, was founded in the 13th century BC on the eastern side of the Tigris River. During the reign of King Ashurnasirpal II, Nimrud served as the second capital for the Assyrian Empire.