Rescuing Syriac Manuscripts in Iraq

The so-called Islamic State invaded Mosul and the Plain of Nineveh in the north of Iraq in August 2014, destroying people, especially minorities, centuries-old religious and civil buildings, and cultural heritages, including collections of manuscripts owned privately or by institutions. The octagonal martyrion of M?r-Behnam built during the 6th century to commemorate this Christian man martyred at the hands of Zoroastrian Sassanians was dynamited, along with its lapidary art and Syriac, Armenian, Arabic, and Uighur inscriptions. In the nearby monastery which was renovated during the 13th century with the best late Abbasside art, all Christian symbols, along with human and animal sculptures, were defaced.