Iraqi jihadists seize ancient ‘Exorcist’ temple full of idolatrous stone statues from 3rd century B.C.

Iraqi jihadists seize ancient ‘Exorcist’ temple full of idolatrous stone statues from 3rd century B.C.
 

 
BY THE TELEGRAPH JUNE 25, 2014
 
 

 
The pre-Christian worship complex at Hatra, a vast network of 70-metre sun-god temples that is a UNESCO world heritage site, features in the opening sequence of The Exorcist.




An ancient temple that featured in the film The Exorcist has fallen into the hands of jihadists who have taken over northern Iraq.


The pre-Christian worship complex at Hatra, a vast network of 70-metre sun-god temples that is a UNESCO world heritage site, features in the opening sequence of the 1973 horror classic.


It now lies in the territory claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS), prompting fears that its stone statues could be destroyed as idolatrous images by the terrorists.


Already, ISIS fighters in the city of Mosul, 100 kilometres north-west of Hatra, have demolished a statue of Othman Al-Mousuli, a 19th-century Iraqi musician and composer, and a statue of Abu Tammam, an Abbasid-era Arab poet.


A councillor from the Hatra area said that the 20-strong squad of Iraqi policemen who had guarded the temple from looters had fled after the area fell to tribal militants and ISIS fighters a fortnight ago.


Locals say that since then, the area has been targeted by Iraqi warplanes that have bombed the jihadists less than a kilometre from the temple.


“The guards all ran and left their weapons behind when they heard that the tribes and ISIS were coming,” said Mohammed Abdallah Khozal, the councillor whose own son was killed in the fighting with the jihadists.


“Currently there is no one protecting the temple at all, and it is in control of the rebels. I am concerned about its safety, although I am also worried about government forces doing bombing.”


An oasis of pre-Christian civilization in the middle of the desert that stretches toward Syria, Hatra’s columns and statues make it one of the most impressive of Iraq’s archaeological sites.


Dating back to about the 3rd century B.C., it is dedicated mainly to the sun god Shamash, whose statues and masks adorn its limestone and gypsum walls.
William Friedkin, the director of The Exorcist, filmed the first scene in Hatra in which a priest at an archaeology dig unearths a talisman belonging to Pazuzu, an ancient Mesopotamian demon.


Its potential as a tourist site was spotted in 2003 by U.S. troops from the 2-320 Field Artillery Regiment who guarded it after Saddam Hussein’s fall, when they were billeted in a disused hotel nearby.


They stumbled on its film connection by chance, when a captain serving with the regiment watched The Exorcist on his DVD player and realized that the opening sequence, showing the sun rising over the temple’s skyline, had been shot from his hotel window.




The troops then trained up local guides, hoping what they called “The Exorcist Experience” would help to attract tourists. But Iraq’s growing insurgency meant the scheme never came to fruition.


Copyright (c) National Post


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more:http://www.vancouversun.com/news/world/Iraqi+jihadists+seize+ancient+Exorcist+temple+full+idolatrous/9974768/story.html#ixzz35kYvn99l

Curious that ISIS, seeking to create an Islamic caliphate [ A  (from the Arabic: خلافة‎ khilāfa, meaning "succession") is an Islamic state led by a supreme religious and political leader known as a caliph – i.e. "successor" – to Muhammad. ]-wiki  is occupying what was once known as the Assyrian Empire. Hatra, used in the movie Exorcist, was built by the Assyrians. If they are successful in creating a restored caliphate it will likely have borders similar or equivalent to the Assyrian Empire at one point in its history.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Assyria.png

.Further, should they do so successfully and later be destroyed, something or someone will be set up in the void of destruction ISIS created.

I think we all know what The Holy Bible says about the Assyrian, as well as those who ally and align with said peoples.