THE GAURDIAN
By Jonathon Jones
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| A still from an Islamic State video showing the destruction of Nimrud. Photograph: Islamic State/EPA |
Another defeat for Isis, another ancient civilisation rescued from further acts of deliberate destruction. Nimrud, site of one of the great palaces of the Assyrian empire, has been taken by Iraqi forces after a fierce battle with Islamists. The liberation of its ruins follows the Assad regime’s recapture of what’s left of Palmyra earlier this year. Gradually, the vicious war that Isis has waged on antiquity is being rolled back. Damaged and denuded but still there, the ancient sites of the middle east are being reclaimed. rchaeologists will now be able to go and find out what is left of the great Northwest Palace of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC), one of the most splendid and spectacular creations of the ancient Assyrians. [
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