Iraq and Syria, cradles of ancient civilizations, were losing not only their future but also their past. In Mosul, ISIS burned down or ransacked centuries-old libraries, destroying invaluable manuscripts and maps. In the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh, a pneumatic drill was used to gouge out the eyes of a nine-ton winged bull statue, once a symbol of the power of Assyrian kings. In Syria, ISIS destroyed an ancient Greek settlement that included the world’s oldest known church and synagogue.
