Gates of Nineveh on the Mosul Damage

The Assyriology blog Gates of Nineveh has Part I of its assessment of the damage done by ISIS in Mosul.

From the conclusion:

It is worth noting that in 2003 around 1,500 smaller objects from the Mosul Museum were relocated to the Iraqi Museum in Baghdad in order that they may be better protected. Nevertheless, many statues otherwise too large or delicate to be moved remained.

When it comes to the Assyrian artifacts, by far the most important losses are the lamassu at the Nergal Gate, one of which was exceedingly well preserved. They were some of the few lamassu left in their original locations to greet visitors to Nineveh the same way they would have greeted visitors in ancient Assyria.

As for the items inside the museum, a number are replicas of originals held elsewhere, while others are likely genuine.

The destruction of sculptures from Hatra [a Seleucid foundation - MCD] appears to be even more devastating, and I will have another post on this damage shortly.