In the Northern provinces of Iraq, ISIS radicals have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians, Yazidis, and Shia Muslims from their homes. In addition to the mass exodus and killings, the militants have also eradicated countless relics of their ancient history and heritage.
It is not the first time this type of purgation has taken place. After the horrors of the World War II holocaust, Jewish legal scholar Raphael Lemkin coined the term "genocide," and later expanded it to include cultural genocide, or cultural cleansing. The latter concept describes the deliberate destruction of historical artifacts and structures during wartime simply because they do not conform to an oppressor's ideology.
One of the worst examples of cultural cleansing was ISIS' destruction of the ancient walls of Nineveh. In January 2015, militants used explosives to demolish the picturesque fortifications, which were built by King Sennacherib in the eight century B.C. The site is considered one of the most important archaeological structures in the Middle East.
Intellectual treasures are also frequent targets of ISIS' purging. A month after destroying the Nineveh walls, attackers seized Mosul's central library, burning over 100,000 books and manuscripts. Several university libraries in the city shared the same fate.
In March 2015, ISIS operatives demolished the archaeological site of Nimrud, the ancient Assyrian city south of Mosul, which dates back to 1250 B.C. The radicals declared that its artifacts were blasphemous and "un-Islamic." The attack was similar to ISIS' destruction of the Temple of Baalshamin in Palmyra, which dated from the second century B.C.
Last year's brutal rampage also included the Mosul Museum, the second largest museum in Iraq. Militants shattered a number of statues and antiquities, including an Assyrian winged-bull dating back to the ninth century B.C.
Religious sites have been a favorite target for ISIS demolition. Major Shiite destinations, such as the Mosque of the Prophet Jonah, have been razed. The destruction of Jonah's tomb was especially harrowing for Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike, many of whom find ominous symbolism in the act.
Cultural cleansing is directly related to ethnic cleansing. For the vast numbers of Christians who have been the focus of ISIS persecution, the wreckage of their churches reflects the devastating losses they have endured under the regime. Their ties to the area go back 2,000 years. According to the early church historian, Eusebius, Christianity came to Northern Iraq in the first century.
Before ISIS, there were 1.5 million Christians in Iraq. That number has dwindled to just over 100,000. The city of Mosul, for example, was once home to over 60,000 Chaldean Christians. Today, almost none remain.
Some of these refugees have found their way to St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in West Roxbury. The pastor of the 1,200-member congregation, Rev. Timothy Ferguson, has heard firsthand about the atrocities in Northern Iraq from a number of his parishioners, 70 percent of whom are Arab Christians.
Rev. Ferguson described the effects of ISIS' ethnic cleansing: "Christian towns in Iraq have been completely decimated. Mosul and Nineveh go back thousands of years. Now there are no Christians left. They've either been killed or forced to flee." He emphasized the enormous scope of the situation: "These are historic proportions of Christian persecution, the likes of which haven't been seen. It is the uniform persecution of Christians, without distinguishing denomination."
Both the wanton destruction of human life by ISIS and their unrelenting attacks on the region's cultural heritage have left indelible scars on the survivors. Ferguson underscored the devastation: "Nothing has ever been seen on so a large scale that encompasses such a wide range of countries and cultures."
Many people still have difficulty coming to terms with the notion that such barbarism continues unabated in the 21st century. "It's startling," Ferguson added, "you don't think that it can possibly happen in this day and age."
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Photo: Nimrud Palace of Ashurnasirpal II, destroyed by ISIS in March 2015. (M. Chohan, Wiki Commons) Nimrud Palace of Ashurnasirpal II, destroyed by ISIS in March 2015 (M. Chohan, Wiki Commons).