Nimrud and Hatra - Living, Loving, Thinking, Again

先月ISISがイラクのモスルの博物館で古代アッシリア文明の文物を破壊する映像を公開したこと*1を巡ってはちょっとした論争があって、それを紹介しようと思っていたのだが、もたもたしているうちに、ISISはモスル周辺で立て続けに古代遺跡２箇所を破壊するという暴挙に出ている。

Reuters “Isis extremists bulldoze ancient Assyrian site near Mosul” http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/05/islamic-state-isis-extremists-bulldoze-ancient-nimrud-site-mosul-iraq
Chris Johnston “Isis militants destroy remains of Hatra in northern Iraq” http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/07/isis-militants-destroy-hatra-iraq

先ずは、アッシリア文明の古代都市ニムルド遺跡*2の破壊*3。
ロイターの記事からの引用；

Islamic State fighters have looted and bulldozed the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, the Iraqi government said, in their latest assault on some of the world’s greatest archaeological and cultural treasures.
A tribal source from the nearby city of Mosul said the jihadis, who dismiss Iraq’s pre-Islamic heritage as idolatrous, had pillaged the 3,000-year-old site on the banks of the Tigris river.

Nimrud, about 20 milessouth of Mosul, was built around 1250BC. Four centuries later it became the capital of the neo-Assyrian empire – at the time the most powerful state on Earth, extending to modern-day Egypt, Turkey and Iran.
Many of its most famous surviving monuments were removed years ago by archaeologists, including colossal winged bulls, which are now in London’s British Museum, and hundreds of precious stones and pieces of gold, which were moved to Baghdad.
But ruins of the ancient city remain at the northern Iraqi site, which has been excavated by a series of experts since the 19th century. The British archaeologist Max Mallowan and his wife, the crime writer Agatha Christie, worked at Nimrud in the 1950s.

ここはアガサ・クリスティ *4所縁の地でもあったのだ。

A local tribal source confirmed the attack had taken place. “Islamic State members came to the Nimrud archaeological city and looted the valuables in it and then they proceeded to level the site to the ground,” the source told Reuters. “There used to be statues and walls as well as a castle that Islamic State has destroyed completely.”

アッシリア文明の場合、今もその子孫を称するアッシリア人がこの地域に（少数民族となりながらも）住み続けている。そして、ISISは現存のアッシリア人に対する迫害も行っている。遺跡破壊の暴挙は、たんなるラディカルな〈偶像破壊〉であるだけけでなく、アッシリア人に対する迫害の一環としても理解すべきであろう*5。
３月７日、さらにハトラの古代都市遺跡*6が破壊された。
Chris Johnston氏の記事から；

A nearby resident said he heard a powerful explosion early on Saturday and that neighbours had reported that Isis militants had destroyed some of the larger buildings in Hatra and were bulldozing other parts.
The destruction follows a similar incident this week when Isis fighters bulldozed the ancient Assyrian archaeological site of Nimrud, south of Mosul. Some of the works had survived for more than 1,500 years.
Unesco, the United Nations cultural agency, condemned the action as “cultural cleansing” and said they amounted to war crimes.

Saeed Mumuzini, a spokesman for the Kurdish Democratic party in Nineveh province, said Isis stole ancient gold and silver coins that were used by Assyrian kings and were stored in Hatra.
Hatra dates back 2,000 years to the Seleucid empire *7, which controlled a large part of the ancient world conquered by Alexander the Great. It is famous for its striking pillared temple at the centre of a sprawling archaeological site.