The Gate of God, also known as the Mashqi Gate, was one of a number of grand gates which guarded the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh. Referenced in the Bible (Genesis 10:10, 2 Kings 19:36, Isaiah 37:37-38, Nahum, Zephaniah 2:13-15, Book of Jonah, as well as in the Christian Book of Tobit and the Gospels of Matthew and Luke in the New Testament), the settlement of the site which eventually became Nineveh dates back to about 6000 BC and in the 6th century BC it was the largest city in the world. Nineveh was central to the first book of the prophets, namely, Jonah, who was sent by God to make the Ninevites repent. The Book of Jonah describes the city as an “exceedingly great city of three days journey in breadth” whose population at that time was “more than 120,000.” On July 24, 2014, ISIS destroyed the tomb of Jonah in Ninveeh as part of a campaign to destroy idolatry, although Jonah has an entire chapter named after him in the Koran.
A source at the British Institute for the Study of Iraq confirmed the gate had been attacked.
The Antiquities Department in Baghdad didn’t deny the attack had happened, according to a source who also said there were unconfirmed reports the group was dismantling part of the walls of Nineveh to sell the stone blocks to antiquities collectors. There were also unconfirmed reports the Gate of God was being dismantled for sale rather than being completely destroyed.
Activists in nearby Mosul told Kurdish news outlet ARA News the Islamist militants had used military equipment to destroy the gate.
The destruction of the Gate of God is the latest in a series of historical artifacts to be destroyed by ISIS in territory held by the group, who view as sacrilegious relics and sites predating Islam.
A spokesperson for the British Museum told Britain’s Independent: “We continue to follow the latest news reports from Iraq. We naturally deplore all acts of vandalism and destruction of cultural heritage, and continue to monitor the situation to the best of our ability. In the absence of specific information it is not yet possible to comment on what has been destroyed.”
For more, see:
http://english.shafaaq.com/politics/17627-isis-destroys-gates-to-ancient-city-of-nineveh-near-mosul.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/24/world/iraq-violence/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
http://www.ancient.eu/nineveh/
Monuments of Nineveh
Photo: lachicaphoto/Flickr
