THE ancient city of Hatra, said to be as valuable archeologically as the pyramids or the Taj Mahal, has been destroyed by Isis, the Iraqi government said yesterday.
An official from the tourism and antiques ministry said it had received unconfirmed reports from northern Iraq that militants had bulldozed some parts of the city, which is more than 2,000 years old, and demolished several large structures.
Kurdish sources added that militants, who last week bulldozed large sections of the ancient Assyrian capital of Nimrud, were also looting the site.
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“Militants have started destroying the historical city of Hatra, near Mosul,” Saeed Mamuzini, an official of the Kurdistan Democratic party in Mosul, told the Kurdish press.
“Isis has already taken away all the ancient currencies from the city that are in gold and silver.”
Officials from Unesco, the United Nations cultural agency, said that if proven, the attempted destruction of the city, which lies within territory 180 miles northwest of Baghdad that is controlled by Isis, was a significant escalation on previous attacks on historical sites.
“Hatra is one of the most important of all the archeological sites in Iraq,” said Axel Plathe, Unesco’s representative in Iraq. “If it’s true, it would be like attacking the pyramids in Egypt or the Taj Mahal. It’s on that level.”
The city has several elaborate frescoes, many dedicated to the sun god Shamash, and 200ft-high temples, one of which featured in the 1973 film The Exorcist.
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Sources said hope remained that Isis would have had insufficient equipment to destroy the larger structures completely.
Hatra is one of the four Unesco world heritage sites in Iraq. If the attack is confirmed it would have “even more symbolic value” than the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan by the Taliban in 2001, Plathe added.
The reports followed a global outcry over the assault by Isis on Nimrud, during which it is believed to have bulldozed large parts of the site.
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Irina Bokova, director-general of Unesco, described the “systematic” attack as a “war crime”.
Archeologists yesterday said fears are growing for the fate of other sites under Isis control, among them the ancient cities of Dur Sharrukin and Ashur.
The destruction of historical sites is part of the militant group’s attempt to enforce its strict interpretation of sharia by annihilating pre-Islamic artefacts which they perceive to be idolatrous.
“The excuse they give is that they are idols and you’re not supposed to worship them,” said Lamia al-Gailani, an Iraqi archeologist. “But we do not worship them, we go and appreciate them.”
Last month a video emerged online of militants destroying artefacts at Mosul museum, along with several structures from the city of Nineveh. In January militants plundered the Mosul library, taking more than 2,000 books, many of which they later burnt in front of students. Only Islamic texts were left.
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Nimrud is known for the “gatekeeper” statues of winged bulls that sit outside its main palace. Many of the most important artefacts from the city, including the 613 pieces of gold jewellery and precious stones known as the “Treasure of Nimrud”, had already been moved to museums in Baghdad and overseas.
A spokesman for the British Museum, which holds some artefacts from the city, said they were “very concerned” by reports of the destruction. “These monuments are without question part of the inheritance of humanity,” he added.
Iraqi authorities are still trying to ascertain the extent of the damage done to Nimrud, although hope remains that some of the unexcavated treasures are still safe underground.
“What they destroyed was probably the modern reconstruction of the palace walls [that date from the 1960s],” said Eleanor Robson, a professor of ancient near eastern history at University College London.
She added: “It’s probably not as horrendous as it sounds. There’s a lot more underneath.”