Members of the Islamic State, the new “caliphate,” recently seized as many as 1,200 rare, Christian manuscripts, and set them aflame.
The manuscripts were seized from the churches of Mosul, which are under the control of the Islamic State. Many of these churches have stood in Mosul since the times of the apostles of Christ.
According to local antiquities director Kasim Taher, “The criminal gangs of DAASH (the Islamic State, formerly “ISIS”) plundered and destroyed the churches and all their possessions, among them 1200 ancient and rare manuscripts of the church.”
The Islamic State also took over and destroyed the Museum of Antiquities in Mosul, the second most important museum of ancient history in Iraq, which once housed some of the most important artifacts of early human history.