Ancient Hatra liberatred!

Salve,
the end of April - and some good news - the special forces of Hashed Shaabi (mostly a Shia political conglomerate  in  Iraq, but also including Iraqi Christians etc) liberated the ancient city of Hatra - reports from the battleground Polish reporter Witold Repetowicz, probably the first Western reporter/journalist  to report from the actual site after the liberation from the hands of the barbarians.  You can see a small gallery in the link above.
In spite the reports claiming the destruction of the site Witold reports that Hatra has not been demolished - and the ancient marvel was taken by the Shia fighters without any shot being fired, thus saving the already damaged city.
Jan has a very interesting article about the Hatrean imagery, Parthians and Kushans..

Project Mosul - reconstructing the damaged art
The articles - eg the tombs of Hatra. but there are many on the academia platform.
Exploring Hatra in.. 1840s
Pictorial Graffiti from Hatra by Roberta Venco Ricciardi

enjoy as I am rejoicing this victory!
Thank you Wiktor for reporting

NG list of looted, damaged and destroyed sites in the Middle East

Salve,
a sad list here - the National Geographic published a tentative list of the damaged, looted and destroyed
I always wonder if without the invasion of Iraq and the Arab Spring/Syrian Civil War these places would have survived and been preserved like before the war.

The ancient city of Palmyra tops the list, I wrote about the site and dr Khaled Asaad,the archaeologist who died, AD 2015, defending the integrity of this place on my blog in the past since they recaptured the town and site from the Syrian government troops, and recently they lost it again to ISIS.
there are many places on this list:
Dura Europos - wrote about the horsemen from this ancient fortress.
St. Elian Monastery - desecrated and destroyed , also another monastery Mar Behnam fell prey to the barbarians - in short the ISIS is waging a very successful war against the oldest Christian communities in the world ( aside from Turkish Anatolia and Armenia).
Apamea - in photos from 2015,
Khorsabad
Hatra - very important in the Parthian and pre-Islamic Arabia
Niniveh et al
eh... time of the barbarians - but we should not overlook that looting is done for profit, to be passed to some clients, and some of these objects might be eventually sold to our own Western universities, museums and collectors.
Interesting article here 

I do have hope -  the new American leadership,(the former being a total failure, including the gender politics played within the Armed Forces and allowing the Putin's  Russia annexation of Crimea and invasion of Ukraine) - I am thus optimistic especially since the new team includes the new secretary of defense, James Mattis  (I wonder if he is of Polish descent - from the immigrants arriving in the late XIX century) - look at his reading list for the Marine Corps from 2007.

Sun Tzu wrote -  "Know the enemy, know yourself, and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles," (The Art of War.")
ps
some of my quick watercolor sketches on the Parthian (Tang-e-Sarvak) and Hatrene theme of the armored warriors.

More voices on the destruction of the Iraqi antiquities

Salve,
I have been away, as we had a death in our family and needed to attend the funeral etc, so finally I am back in front of my machine (need to add a solid state drive instead of the regular hard disk drive I have).

Our Western  political elites seem to come to terms with the wanton destruction of antiquities by the mad zealots and other iconoclasts in Iraq, but at least some are showing some mettle.
One such example may be the mayor of London, UK, Boris Johnson (interesting speech here), who wrote a serious piece published in the Sidney Morning Herald titled:
The world needs to act to preserve its cradle of civilisation.

I share his sentiment in this part:
But there is something about their assault on the history of the region – their moronic demolition of the past – that has filled me with a special blackness and despair.
Also mayor Johnson raises another important point about the United Nations:
What is the point of having a United Nations – What is the point of having any ability to project force overseas – if we do not come up with a way to safeguard our common heritage?
I also would like to here some answers and wish that the common heritage would be protected fast and without any delay.

ps
 Mayor Johnson's comments about the preservation for posterity  of some of the most important Middle eastern and Hellenic antiques in Great Britain, removed from their original sites by the British representatives  during the XIX century may have some validation to it, in light of the current situation in Iraq and Syria (although the Acropolis ones should be returned pronto to Greece, an EU member ).  Nota bene other Western museums hold some of these monuments, like Louver Pergamon Museum etc .  Should add that the similar situation, i.e., destruction of country's monuments, is taking place in Afghanistan and Pakistan (there mostly for the pecuniary reasons ). On the other hand Saudi Arabia, also a very traditional Muslim country,  is working hard on preserving her heritage and sponsoring excavations and protection of the ancient sites. In Turkey it depends, the Armenian heritage and monuments seem not to be part of the preservation planning. But at least there is no destruction.

Damage at the Mosul Museum - article

Salve,
a week ago I wrote about the destruction of ancient antiques at the Mosul Museum and other museums in Iraq, and today I am attaching two articles by Christopher Jones on these barbaric acts:

Assessing the Damage at the Mosul Museum, Part 1: The Assyrian Artifacts

Assessing the Damage at the Mosul Museum, Part 2: The Sculptures from Hatra

great work by mr. Jones, especially considering the circumstance, but what a sad moment in our modern history.
Article on the Parthian Hatra, and more images of Hatrene art:

Art from Iraq - via US State Dept.
A review of a scholarly book on Hatra - Lucinda Dirven (ed.), Hatra. Politics, Culture and Religion between Parthia and Rome. Oriens et Occidens.
My heart is full of sorrow

Destruction of Antiques in Iraq

Salve,
my heart is filled with sadness as I watch these images and the videos in the links below

 Akkadian, Assyrian, Hatrene and Parthian antiques being destroyed, thousands of years of art history and most important human history done away ... the cradle of our Civilisation is bleeding

 

Islamic State 'destroys ancient Iraq statues in Mosul - BBC

 ISIS fighters destroy priceless Iraq antiquities - CBS Canada - shows mroe destruction
New Islamic State video shows militants smashing ancient Iraq artifacts 

Partho-Hatrene sculpture when still intact

Shame - it seems there is only one true 'faris' in the Middle East - king Abdullah II of Jordan. Where are the others?