Priceless artifacts of Biblical significance may soon be lost forever. The Daily Beast has posted this look at the dramatic situation unfolding at antiquities sites and museums in areas of Iraq recently taken over by the radical Islamic group ISIS. The ancient city of Nineveh (uncovered by archeologists) and the Mosul Museum, which is home to countless artifacts referenced in scripture, may soon be targets of the rebels.
As reported in The Guardian, a windfall of intelligence just before Mosul fell revealed that al-Baghdadi had accumulated a $2 billion war chest, in part by selling off ancient artifacts from captured Syrian sites … So the risk now—the virtual certainty, in fact—is that irreplaceable history will be annihilated or sold into the netherworld of corrupt and cynical collectors.
The Iraqi National Museum Director told the Daily Beast reporter that he believes that American drone strikes—aimed at ISIS—can save the historical treasures. However, as the story notes, additional drone attack in the region are very unlikely, and for now, the fate of the Biblical artifacts—and many of the ISIS-controlled areas—is precariously uncertain …
