ISIS extremists destroyed a museum in Mosul, Iraq that contained 3,000 year-old artworks that many historians deemed priceless.  The militants used  sledgehammers and power drills to destroy statues that some said “promoted idolatry.  The same group recently ruined thousands of books at the Mosul Public Library

In this picture an ISIS militants swing sledgehammers to smash the ancient artifacts.

In this photo an ISIS extremist uses a power tool to destroy a winged-bull, an Assyrian protective deity  statue that dates back to the 9th century B.C. In the photo below, large segments of the bull are hurled to the ground.

A man shown in the video said the items were being destroyed because they promoted idolatry.  “The Prophet ordered us to get rid of statues and relics, and his companions did the same when they conquered countries after him,’ the unidentified man said. The video bore the logo of the ISIS group’s media arm and was posted on their Twitter account.

At the Mosul Library 10,000 books and more than 700 rare manuscripts were burned.  Reportedly, some leading members of Mosul society tried to stop the fanatics destroying the building, but failed.  Ghanim al-Ta’an, the director of the library, said that the extremists used homemade bombs in the attack.  He told Middle Eastern website Geran: ‘ISIS militants bombed the Mosul Public Library. They used improvised explosive devices.’  The Central Library’s collection of Iraqi newspapers dating to the early 20th century, maps and books from the Ottoman Empire and book collections contributed by Mosul’s establishment families were presumed destroyed.

Isis had previously attacked the Central Library in January and local residents said the militants smashed the locks that had protected the biggest repository of learning in the northern Iraq town, and loaded nearly two thousand books into a half dozen pickup trucks.  These included books on health, science, culture, children’s stories, poetry, philosophy and sports. They left only Islamic texts.

‘These books promote infidelity and call for disobeying Allah. So they will be burned,’ a bearded militant told people in the area, according to a neighbor who spoke to The Associated Press.

The man asked to remain anonymous because he feared retaliation, said the Islamic State group official made his impromptu address as others stuffed books into empty flour bags. Ever since ISIS seized a large part of Iraq and Syria, they have been purging the area of everything that doesn’t conform to their interpretation of Islam.  They have already destroyed many archaeological relics.

James Riordan .is the author of thirty-three books, including The Coming of the Walrus, The Bishop of Rwanda and Break on Through : The Life & Death of Jim Morrison which was made into the movie, The Doors by Oliver Stone.  Riordan also wrote Stone’s biography..  He has won nine national awards and was nominated for a Chicago Area Emmy for television writing.  He has also written several screenplays and is widely recognized for his ministry work with teenagers

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