ISIS
Tanya Castillo
What is ISIS?
What are the goals of ISIS?
Historical Sites that ISIS has destroyed
Known damage: The city walls were razed, and some elements of the temples, but they didn't know the exact extent of the damage. Looting took place, and then razing.
Why it matters: Assyrian King Sargon II built his palace here between 717 and 706 BC. Paint was still preserved, and so was written documentation about how its construction was organized. Some of the carvings of the winged bulls were shipped to Europe and the US in the 19th century, but experts say they were only a fraction of the artifacts of the site.
Known damage: They were destroyed by a bulldozer.
Why they matter: They were seated at the entrance gate of Arslan Tash, which was conquered by the Assyrians in the 9th century BC and had been part of an Iron Age Kingdom.
Known damage: Partially damaged by power tools.
Why they matter: They were one of the most important cultural centres in the ancient world enjoying a prominent role in the field of developing human civilization, in that it was the greatest metropolis where various branches of arts and learning originated.
Known damage: It was destroyed.
Why it matters: Believed to be the burial place of the prophet Jonah, who was swallowed by a whale in stories from both the bible and the Koran. It was built on an archaelogical site dating back to 8th century BC and attracted religious pilgrims from multiple faiths around the world.
Known damage: Many destroyed.
Why they matter: Sufi Shrines are the tombs of Sufi saints. Shrines on the eastern Aleppo plateau have been destroyed, including the tomb of Meqam Shiekh Aqil al Manjab, an important Muslim mystic. Tombs along the road to Najim Castle as well as in front of the castle have been destroyed and those part of archaeological tells north of Aleppo have been bombed.