http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37970110

IS damage to ancient Iraqi city of Nimrud

23 minutes ago

Iraqi forces say they have recaptured Nimrud, the site of an ancient Assyrian city, which was considerably damaged by so-called Islamic State (IS).

The BBC spoke to the head of the Cultural Heritage Initiative at the American School of Oriental Research, which monitored the destruction.

Video produced by Abdujalil Abdurasulov.



https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrud

imrud (/nɪmˈruːd/; Arabic: النمرود‎‎) is the Arabic and Assyrian Neo-Aramaic name for the ancient Assyrian city of Kalhu (the Biblical Calah), located 30 kilometres (20 mi) south of the city of Mosul, and 5 kilometres (3 mi) south of the village of Selamiyah (Arabic: السلامية‎‎), in the Nineveh plains in northern Mesopotamia. It was a major Assyrian city between approximately 1350 BC and 610 BC. The city is located in a strategic position 10 kilometres (6 mi) north of the point that the river Tigris meets its tributary the Great Zab.[1] The city covered an area of 360 hectares (890 acres).[2] The ruins of the city were found within one kilometre (1,100 yd) of the modern-day Assyrian village of Noomanea in Nineveh Province, Iraq. This is some 30 kilometres (19 mi) southeast of Mosul.

Archaeological excavations at the site began in 1845, and were conducted at intervals between then and 1879, and then from 1949 onwards. Many important pieces were discovered, with most being moved to museums in Iraq and abroad. In 2013 the UK's Arts and Humanities Research Council funded the "Nimrud Project", directed by Eleanor Robson, whose aims were to write the history of the city in ancient and modern times, to identify and record the dispersal history of artefacts from Nimrud,[3] distributed amongst at least 76 museums worldwide (including 36 in the United States and 13 in the United Kingdom).[4]