Christopher Jones is a scholar of ancient Near Eastern history at Columbia University in New York

The UNESCO-listed ancient city of Hatra, south of Mosul, on 27 April, 2017, shortly after Iraqi forces retook the site. AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images

Hatra’s embattled history, from the Romans to ISIS

It’s been besieged, abandoned, and used as a training ground for terrorists – but the ancient city of Hatra still stands in the Iraqi desert

23 May 2017
Screenshot from ISIS video showing the destroyed 'mermen' statues of the seven sages at the Fish Gate, Temple of Nabu, Nimrud, Iraq

The centre of learning destroyed by ISIS in Iraq

The Temple of Nabu at Nimrud was home to a library, whose surviving texts form a vivid picture of everyday life in ancient Assyria

17 Jun 2016