Report on the Destruction of the Northwest Palace at Nimrud

Unconfirmed reports were coming through on or about March 5th that ISIL had "bulldozed Nimrud". Then on April 11th a video was released by ISIL sympathisers which showed the destruction in full technicolour inglory. A month later we have the ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives 'Report on the Destruction of the Northwest Palace at Nimrud'  (Michael Danti, Scott Branting, Tate Paulette, and Allison Cuneo) May 5, 2015 [or here]. Its a rather slim four pages padded out with big pictures (though not big enough to see the detail of the satellite shots which would reveal what is destroyed and what covered by air-borne dust+debris. 

The area surrounding the site of Nimrud came under ISIL control as a result of the group’s invasion of northern Iraq in June 2014. Unconfirmed reports of damage and possi ble ISIL activity at Nimrud appeared as early as late January 2015. Concern about the potential targeting of the site by ISIL then rose significantly in late February, following the release of a video showing the deliberate, performative destruction of obj ects in the Mosul Museum and at nearby Nineveh. O n March 5, 2015, reports suggested that Nimrud had indeed been attacked by ISIL. On March 7, 2015, further reports suggested that ISIL militants were moving construction vehicles and equipment to the site. O n April 11, 2015, ISIL then released a video showing the deliberate vandalism and destruction of relief sculpture at the site, followed by the detonation of the Northwest Palace using a series of barrel bombs arranged in a line in front of a row of relief panels. Unconfirmed reports have suggested that the detonation of the palace took place on April 2, 2015, but the timeline of events leading up to the demolition of the Northwest Palace remains uncertain

The last photo available of the relatively intact site is 1st April, the video was released on 11th April Photos suggest that before march 7th there had been activity on the site, a hole was breached in the north wall (probably involving mechanical equipment) and something was done in the Throne Room (possibly some relief slabs were removed). The palace was blown up as a separate activity when the machines were off the site.

Before and after the bombers (ASOR)

 Note in the second shot the plume of dust deposited to the east of the palace, it looks like the ammonium nitrate (?) barrel bombs were mostly situated in the roofed areas which would to some extent have confined the blast so that its lateral destructive force was increased.