The ancient city of Nimrud is just the latest piece of history to be wiped from the map as Islamic State fighters continue their trail of destruction through Syria and Iraq.
The Sunni extremist group has released a video appearing to show black-clad militants smashing up artefacts before razing the 3,000-year-old Assyrian site in a mushroom cloud of dust and destroyed treasures.
Their mission is made clear with one fighter saying: "God has honoured us to remove all of these idols and statues."
IS, which holds a third of Iraq and Syria, has been destroying Christian, Jewish and Islamic shrines in its self-declared caliphate because it says they promote idolatry and violate its interpretation of Islamic law.
But with these acts of cultural cleansing, apparently in the name of religion, IS is accused of hypocrisy with authorities claiming its fighters are looting archaeological sites to fund their atrocities.
:: Nimrud
Many relics from Nimrud, which was founded in the 13th century BC and was one of Iraq's most famous archaeological sites, are in foreign museums.
But a number of giant statues, depicting winged beasts with human heads, and stones friezes have now seemingly been turned into fragments by IS explosives.
The militants are believed to hold around 15% of the 12,000 registered archaeological sites in Iraq - a country dubbed the "cradle of civilisation" for its ancient historical importance.
And historians fear none of them are safe, and similar destruction may be taking place in IS-controlled areas of neighbouring Syria.
:: Hatra
A week ago, IS released another video apparently showing the bulldozing of 2,000-year old Hatra, some 70 miles southwest of Mosul, in northern Iraq.
Hatra like Nimrud, 20 miles away, is a UNESCO world heritage site, and their destruction was condemned as a "war crime" by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.
The footage shows jihadists apparently destroying artefacts with sledgehammers and rifles at the fortress city, dating back to the Seleucid empire, which controlled a large part of the world conquered by Alexander the Great.
:: Khorsabad
Last month, IS reportedly pillaged the ancient archaeological site of Khorsabad, some 10 miles northeast of Mosul.
Khorsabad was built as a new capital of Assyria by King Sargon II shortly after he came to power in 721 BC and abandoned after his death in 705 BC.
With an 80ft-thick wall and seven gates, it was renowned for shedding light on Assyrian art and architecture.
:: Mosul
In February, IS released a video of fighters smashing statues in Mosul's city museum.
It also shows a man in black drilling through a winged bull, an Assyrian protective deity dating back to the 7th century BC, at a nearby archaeological site.
A caption says the artefacts did not exist in the time of the Prophet Mohammed, and were put on display by "devil worshippers" - a term used by IS to describe the Yazidi minority in Iraq.
The same month, IS reportedly destroyed more Iraqi history by torching thousands of books and rare manuscripts in the Mosul Library.
UNESCO said burning the tomes, which included 18th-century manuscripts and Ottoman-era books, could be "one of the most devastating acts of destruction of library collections in human history".
Officials fear more than 112,000 manuscripts and books, some of which were registered on a UNESCO rarities list, may have been lost.
In July last year, IS apparently razed a Muslim shrine in Mosul, said to be the burial place of the prophet Jonah, who in the Bible and Koran is swallowed by a whale.
Residents said militants ordered everyone out of the Mosque of the Prophet Younis, or Jonah, then blew it up.
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