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Al Nuri Mosque
Jun. 21st, 2017 08:20 pmSo, the savage filth have blown up one of their own treasures for a change. Better that than Roman ruins I suppose, although the mosque was built in 1172, so is pretty much irreplaceable regardless.
Or, actually not - The Iraqi government completely demolished the old mosque in 1942, and built a replica. I've been to a few American historical sites where pretty much the same thing had been done. People saw these things much differently back then. The rather rickety-looking minaret was still original, it seems.
Comparing an aerial picture of the undamaged complex to the blown-up picture looks as though most of the low arcaded building surrounding the eight-sided dome is rubble (a few damaged walls seem to be standing toward the top), but the dome itself remains standing with its supports largely intact. That narrow building to the left of the 'before' picture seems to be the same one that can be seen to the lower left of the 'after' picture. You can also see some (presumably wrecked) cars in the street that fronted the mosque. By that reckoning, the tower doesn't even show in the 'after' picture, but is off to the middle left some distance.
It's difficult to see this as anything but an admission of defeat by ISIS, in much the same way that the Nazis blew up their own 'holy places', to keep them from being captured. This is where their leader proclaimed their 'caliphate', back on July 4th, 2014. Now, like the enterprise itself, it's in ruins.
Edit: If anyone can find a picture of the minaret (or what's left of it), I'd be interested. None of the photos I can find show that.
Or, actually not - The Iraqi government completely demolished the old mosque in 1942, and built a replica. I've been to a few American historical sites where pretty much the same thing had been done. People saw these things much differently back then. The rather rickety-looking minaret was still original, it seems.
Comparing an aerial picture of the undamaged complex to the blown-up picture looks as though most of the low arcaded building surrounding the eight-sided dome is rubble (a few damaged walls seem to be standing toward the top), but the dome itself remains standing with its supports largely intact. That narrow building to the left of the 'before' picture seems to be the same one that can be seen to the lower left of the 'after' picture. You can also see some (presumably wrecked) cars in the street that fronted the mosque. By that reckoning, the tower doesn't even show in the 'after' picture, but is off to the middle left some distance.
It's difficult to see this as anything but an admission of defeat by ISIS, in much the same way that the Nazis blew up their own 'holy places', to keep them from being captured. This is where their leader proclaimed their 'caliphate', back on July 4th, 2014. Now, like the enterprise itself, it's in ruins.
Edit: If anyone can find a picture of the minaret (or what's left of it), I'd be interested. None of the photos I can find show that.
