Hundreds Of Historic Texts Discovered In ISIS-Occupied Assyrian Monastery

First Posted: Dec 20, 2016 05:39 AM EST

At least 400 texts, which were estimated to be written between the middle ages and modern times, have been discovered at the Mar Behnam monastery, a place where the Islamic State Group (ISIS) occupied and partly destroyed for more than two years.

The texts have been found hidden behind a wall, which was constructed just a few weeks before ISIS took shelter in the monastery. The texts were illustrated by the scribes who copied them.

"Each one contains lengthy colophons [notes] written by the scribes, telling historical and social, and religious events of their times - a fact that makes them precious sources," Amir Harrak, a professor at the University of Toronto who studied the texts before they were hidden, said, according to Live Science.

The Plight Of the Mar Behnam Monastery

The Mar Behnam is Iraq's largest monastery. The militant group occupied the area and destroyed precious icons and even burned collections of inimitable texts. In 2014, the ISIS advanced across northern Iraq and turned the monastery into its headquarters. This headquarters is for the Hisba or morality police that gave corporal punishments and the monks' bedrooms were turned into jail cells.

The militant group also burned a collection of books about Christian theology, scraped off inscriptions writer in Syriac, which was the language used by Jesus and destroyed sculptures of the Virgin Mary and the monastery's patron saint.

"Their fundamental goal was to destroy Christian history and civilization in the Nineveh plains," Duraid Elias, commander of the Babylon Brigades, said as reported by the Wire.

Two years ago, during the stay of ISIS in the area, the group issued an ultimatum to Christians to pay taxes, convert to Islam or die by the sword. Many individuals fled away from the area, including the monks living in Mar Behnam.

Built more than 1,500 years ago, the "Monastery of Martyr Mar Behnam and his sister Sarah" contains texts, carved inscriptions and artwork dating back centuries ago.