ArchaeoFeed

Archaeologists uncovered 2700-year-old inscriptions within looters’ tunnels dug by ISIS beneath the Tomb of Jonah in the ancient Iraq city of Nineveh, Mosul, Iraq.

Archaeologists working on different missions in the region of Aswan, Egypt, made recent discoveries, including intact child burials, a cemetery and a headless statue of Greek goddess Artemis.

Initial assessment of archaeological relics’ destruction by ISIS terrorists in the recaptured ancient city of Hatra, Iraq, shows that the damage by the terrorists was lesser than feared.

During documentation of ISIS destruction of the Tomb of the Prophet Jonah in Mosul, Iraq, inscriptions and sculptures dating back to the Assyrian empire were found.

More than 100 Assyrian and Early Islamic artefacts have been discovered in the house of an ISIS official in Mosul’s West Bank after it was recaptured by the Iraqi Army. Among the relics are household pottery items such as jugs, vases and bowls.

Over 400 historic texts dated between the 13th and 20th were recovered at the Mar Behnam monastery, which was occupied by ISIS for more than two years. The books were hidden in metal bins behind a brick wall.

As government forces drive ISIS terrorists out of Mosul and nearby Nimrud the scale of destruction to one of Iraq’s greatest archaeological treasures comes to light. Once magnificent masterpieces of art are now broken into pieces and bulldozed flat. Moreover, the crippled Mosul Dam threatens to flood vast populated areas filled with archaeological sites with water from the Tigris river.

Archaeologists discovered a previously undisturbed tomb in Luxor, south Egypt. The tomb contained a sarcophagus in a very good state of preservation.

Despite ongoing war in Syria, archaeological works in the ancient city of Karkemish, Gaziantep province, on the Turkish-Syrian border continue. The archaeologists and Turkish authorities plan to open the site for public as an open-air museum in 2017.

The crowd-sharing system called Arches, utilising satellite imagery, photographs, technical data and eyewitness descriptions documents damage and destruction of monuments by the so-called Islamic State and due to fights near the Syrian city of Aleppo.

ISIS extremists destroyed the 2,500-year-old temple of Nabu in the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud and released footage of the incident. The final scene in the ten-minute video shows the Great Pyramid of Giza near Egypt’s capital, Cairo and a fanatic pledging to blow up ancient sites built by the infidels.

Polish archaeologists continue work in Palmyra, the ancient city in Syria that was recently freed from ISIS forces’ occupation. A short visit of the experts from Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology of University of Warsaw focused on securing artefacts for transport and gathering pieces of shattered sculptures and wall decorations.

During a recent conference on “The Presence of Polish Archaeologists in Near East” Syrian officials of the Department of Antiquity invited archaeologists from Institute of Archaeology at University of Warsaw to come to the ancient city of Palmyra which has been recently freed from occupation of the Islamic State troops.

In Iraqi, Syria and Libya, ISIS has systematically destroyed more than 30 major historic churches, mosques and tombs – some of which date as far back as the seventh century.