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With Mosul's Liberation from the Forces of ISIS Back in July, There Came a Chance for Inhabitants to Return to Shattered Homes

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With Mosul's Liberation from the Forces of ISIS Back in July, There Came a Chance for Inhabitants to Return to Shattered Homes HERITAGE Iraqi archaeologist Layla Salih Iraq examines bas-relief carvings found in tunnels beneath Mosul. The find came after ISIS destroyed shrines at Nabi Yunus in 2014 Iraq’s lost treasures With Mosul’s liberation from the forces of ISIS back in July, there came a chance for inhabitants to return to shattered homes and begin picking up the pieces. For one Iraqi archaeologist, those pieces are revealing as much about the militant’s true intentions as they are about the region’s ancient history by Eleonora Vio Photographs by Patrick Tombola 28 • Geographical January 2018 • 29 HERITAGE ‘I often fantasised about what we Iraq would find inside the palace, but I didn’t expect anything like this’ ISIS was finally driven out of Mosul by Iraqi forces last July, but the destruction it left behind as it fled still holds dangers he planes hover at a low, threatening altitude above the western side of the Tigris River, Tthe sky still slightly darkened from past mortars and airstrikes. On the opposite side of the city, Layla Salih, an Iraqi archaeologist responsible for the historical buildings and antiquities in Mosul, stands disheartenedly on a pile of rubble overlooking this macabre show before starting to walk through leftover columns, capitals and the shreds of Arabic signs – all part of the first historical site to be desecrated by the jihadist fury that hit the city. In June 2014, ISIS fighters entered Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, and quickly began perpetrating their acts of savage brutality. After executing thousands of ‘infidels’, they sought to systematically annihilate any trace of religious interest that didn’t mirror their version of hard-line Islam. Historical sites thousands of years old were blown up while men armed with sledgehammers shuttered statues and antiquities. Yet, in the darkness of the narrow tunnels that intersect perfectly underneath the holy mound of Nabi Yunus, Salih looks at ease. From the ashes of ISIS’ unmotivated violence, she has in fact made a surprising discovery. ‘I’m in seventh heaven,’ she says with a glowing expression. ‘Without Daesh I would never have had the chance to see this palace. Throughout the years, I often fantasised about what we would find inside the palace, but I didn’t expect anything like this.’ The female figures carved in bas-relief reveal, for the first time, women’s faces, not just their silhouettes. In addition, the potteries present peculiar cavities while the winged bulls are four, instead of five-footed. ‘Of course,’ says Salih, tempering her enthusiasm, ‘I can’t stop thinking about all the precious objects ISIS has robbed too.’ STOLEN HISTORY In the 14th century a Sunni mosque was built upon a much older Christian church, but the mound had a longer tradition and was worshipped by both Muslims and Christians, as it was believed that Prophet Nabi Yunus, known as Jonah in the Bible, had been buried there. When ISIS, which despises idols and shrines, came into town, it blew it up and turned everything into rubble and ashes. ‘Instead of desecrating the Palace of Esarhaddon – the king of the late Assyrian empire dating back to 30 • Geographical January 2018 • 31 HERITAGE When west Mosul is finally spotted, Iraq the shock is indescribable. Little is left untouched of the old city Many of the finds being A military presence is unearthed would have still vital despite the remained hidden had the removal of ISIS forces mosque not been destroyed Salih is certain ISIS smuggled valuable artefacts out of the city the seventh century BC, to whom this palace belongs human head and the wings of a bird) on the side of the were made by ISIS’ prisoners,’ she says, ‘but the inaugurated. More recently, ISIS set alight thousands according to a cuneiform inscription found on the mound, and realised that they were standing right in organisation and management were handled by of volumes of research and dashed the hopes and side of a tunnel – Daesh left it untouched,’ stresses front of the entrance of the Assyrian palace,’ explains experts, paid by Daesh to loot and smuggle antiquities futures of entire generations. the archaeologist, dimly lit by the light of her mobile Salih. ‘Unfortunately, they couldn’t continue their out of Mosul.’ To back up her theory, Salih unfolds The course of the Tigris splits Mosul into two parts phone. ‘It probably understood how worthy it was work because of the holiness of the place.’ a crumpled piece of paper that describes how Diwan but, because of the heavy fighting that took place and decided to make a profit out of it.’ According to Salih joined excavating missions in 2004 and 2005, al-Rikaz – the Islamic State bureaucratic department between ISIS and a large coalition of armed brigades Salih, ISIS destroyed the mosque above in order to be but she too was unable to study the palace due to a responsible for fossil fuels and antiquities – hired and divisions, people can’t cross directly from one able to smuggle out artefacts undisturbed from the ban imposed by the Muslim authorities, as well as the several Germans to carry out work in Nabi Yunus. side to the other. A journey that would last a few underground tunnels. forthcoming advent of war. She decided to cover the minutes turns into an odyssey marked by continuous The official excavations inside the site started in 1852 precious winged bulls with soil. Even if, according to WEST OF THE RIVER checkpoints, controlled by the police, the army and under the then-Ottoman governor, but it was only the Assyrian lore, these deities were meant to keep evil The car runs on the wide boulevards of eastern Mosul. different ethnic and religious groups. When west from the second half of the 20th century that the Iraqi spirits away, Salih couldn’t risk letting them fall into the People become less frequent and houses turn into Mosul is finally spotted, the shock is indescribable. authorities began to show interest in the Nabi Yunus wrong hands. ‘Daesh found and stole them anyway,’ piles of rubble. ‘Stop here,’ requests Salih next to the Little is left untouched of the old city, the cradle of shrine, which delimits the capital of the last Assyrian she says. ‘And it started to dig deep underneath, to shattered remains of a large campus. Where today many treasures from the Mesopotamian civilisation; empire of Nineveh. It’s inaccessible today due to figure out what treasures were hiding there.’ dust and debris lay, the University of Mosul used to its once buzzing streets and markets, and its ancient unexploded IEDs left behind by ISIS. As Salih explores, the LED light of her phone stand, the second largest and most respected academic churches and mosques, are empty and filled with ‘In the 1980s, local archaeologists found two giant illuminates a filthy orange tracksuit that had been institution in Iraq. In 1996, Salih enrolled here at the debris. The buildings that are still miraculously lamassu (deities sporting the body of a bull or a lion, a thrown into a corner. ‘This proves that the excavations Faculty of Archaeology, which back then had just been standing are covered in soot. 32 • Geographical January 2018 • 33 HERITAGE Salih examines the shattered Museum Iraq of National History, used by ISIS as a local headquarters Iraqi soldiers search ruined buildings in western Mosul Some soldiers get off an armoured vehicle and examine the area. Salih enters a big building from a hole in the wall, which was dug to avoid ISIS snipers. The Museum of National History has survived, or at least its walls have, because ISIS used it throughout its occupation as storage for the collection of zakat (taxes). Inside, the museum is empty, except for piles of dust, rubble and mouldy food leftovers that cover the floor. Before ISIS took over this place, most of the 2,200 antiquities that were kept inside had already been pulled to safety, but at least 300 artworks have disappeared since then. ‘This is the room where they shot that famous video of them smashing the Assyrian statues,’ Salih recalls, ‘but I worked in this gallery for years and I can guarantee that I didn’t find a single fragment on the floor. I believe the video was just propaganda and Daesh stole everything.’ ISIS set alight years of meticulous work, destroying and looting inestimable artefacts and was especially A mannequin used by successful in spreading hatred and fear among the ISIS for target practice people. ‘Daesh is the worst thing that could have ever lies next to used bullets happened to us,’ says Salih, as she gets back in the car. ‘In 2007, a brother of mine was killed in a car-bomb and in 2011 my sister, a real estate agent, was shot to death because she didn’t agree to allocate them sanctuary, Salih lights a candle. ‘Today more than properties belonging to Christian people.’ ever we need hope,’ she whispers. ‘Daesh turned Salih asks the driver to change direction and stop Christians, Sunnis, Shias… against each other, but in Qaraqosh, a Christian village located nearby. Many we must force ourselves to get back to live together.’ of her colleagues used to live there, before the jihadis After a pause, she continues. ‘My father pushed me arrived and the entire population fled. ISIS turned the to study archaeology, because he believed that people village cathedral into a shooting range. Used cartridges should be constantly reminded of their common and pierced mannequins lie scattered on the ground origins and identity despite their futile differences,’ she and the whole area still bears the unsettling signs of says, hinting a smile.
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