Remembering 10 Arab historical sites destroyed by 'Daesh'

Going by different names depending on the media outlet, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant - Daesh, IS, ISIS, or ISIL - has made sure to gain many other titles to go along with their heinous acts in the region.

Taking over Syria and Iraq in 2014, the terrorist group went after ethnic and religious minorities, as well as numerous historic sites - which by title belong to the world, as UNESCO categorizes them.

As many thousand-year-old cities and artifacts have been demolished, bulldozed, and looted by ISIS, this list remembers 10 of the oldest and most important sites that went under attack.

The Roman Theatre in Palmyra has been one of Syria's historical sites since the 2nd century AD.

The façade of the theatre was destroyed by the terrorist group, who used "dynamite, fire, bulldozers and pickaxes," according to NPR. 

After ISIS took over Palmyra in 2015, its members rampaged the Tetrapylon monument which dates back to 270 AD.

From 16 standing columns, which are a few meters away from the Roman Theatre, only four remained.

What used to be one of Palmyra's best-conserved Roman buildings, the 2nd century BC Temple of Baalshamin, is now nothing but ruins. 

"The southwest columns of the northern colonnaded courtyard contain a set of three standing columns and their architrave in front of the temple. Between 14 November 2013 and 08 March 2014, the right-most column was destroyed or removed. In addition, a section of the architrave between two columns of the eastern wall was destroyed or removed between 01 September2012 and 14 November 2013," according to a UNITAR report. 

The terrorist group ran illegal excavations in this 300 BC site, according to a 2016 report by ASOR CHI. 

"ISIL has reportedly granted excavation licenses across the area to profit from the ongoing looting," causing great damage to the site. 

This 8th century AD mosque and a Unesco World Heritage site was demolished during a fight between the Syrian Army and Free Syrian Army in April 2013.

This ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh is "located on the eastern bank of the Tigris River inside the city of Mosul."

Guarded by five gates, the 900-600 BC site - and "at one point the >largest city in the world" - had its share of ISIS' vandalism and destruction in 2015. 

The first Assyrian capital from over 3,000 years ago, not yet fully uncovered as some of it remains hidden underground, and an internationally revered site was bulldozed by ISIS. 

"There are multiple reasons why ISIL militants may have destroyed the ziggurat, and the group has destroyed other monuments at the site as performative deliberate destructions, such as the reconstructed Northwest Palace and the Nabu Temple (the Ezida)," an ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives report said. 

In March of 2015,  a spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon conveyed anger and disappointment in the damage that hit this ancient city, which he considered as "common cultural heritage." 

In July of 2015, Hatra was mentioned in the UNESCO list of "World Heritage in Danger."

The mosque of Prophet Yunus - respected and revered by all three Abrahamic religions - is located in Mosul and contains the tomb of whom it is named after. 

In 2014, a video was uploaded on YouTube, showing the moment the mosque was bombed by ISIS, targeting Jonah's tomb specifically. 

As the city was >captured by ISIS in 2014, the terrorist group subjected Mosul to horrendous destruction, targeting sites such as the >Mosul Museum, the city's historic library, a number of other historic monuments.