Archaeologists in Nimrud, Iraq, are painstakingly reconstructing ancient Assyrian treasures destroyed by Islamic State militants in 2014.
A decade after jihadists ransacked Iraq ’s famed Nimrud site, archaeologists have been painstakingly putting together its ancient treasures, shattered into tens of thousands of tiny fragments. Once the crown jewel of the ancient Assyrian empire, the UNESCO-listed archaeological site was ravaged by Islamic State (IS) fighters after they seized large areas of Iraq and neighbouring Syria in 2014.
The precious pre-Islamic artefacts destroyed by the jihadists are now in pieces, but the archaeologists working in Nimrud are undaunted by the colossal task they face. “Every time we find a piece and bring it to its original place, it’s like a new discovery,” Abdel Ghani Ghadi, a 47-year-old expert working on the site, told AFP. More than 500 artefacts were found shattered at the site, located about 30 kilometres from Mosul, the city in northern Iraq where IS established the capital of their self-declared “caliphate”.The archaeologists have been carefully reassembling bas-reliefs, sculptures and decorated slabs depicting mythical creatures, which had all graced the palace of Assyrian King Ashurnasirpal II nearly 3,000 years ago. Seen from above, the pieces of the puzzle gradually come together. Shards of what just several years ago was a single artefact are placed side by side, protected by sheets of green tarpaulin. Bit by bit, the image of Ashurnasirpal II appears on one bas-relief alongside a winged, bearded figure with curly hair and a flower on its wrist, as the restoration brings back to life rich details carved in stone millennia ago
ARCHAEOLOGY ISLAMIC STATE NIMRUD ASSYRIAN EMPIRE IRAQ
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