Iraqi security forces have recovered dozens of hidden Syriac manuscripts that were stolen from Assyrian churches in Mosul during the city’s occupation by the Islamic State (IS). The historical writings were found after a suspected IS fighter led to their location and were in his possession, according to a statement by Mosul police chief Laith Al Hamdani.

During the nearly three years that IS controlled large parts of Iraq and Syria, Iraqi Christians were largely driven from the region under threats of death unless they either converted to Islam or paid a “protection tax.” Major manuscript collections in Mosul were among the casualties, “leaving behind only the digital images and a handful of severely damaged volumes,” the Rev. Columba Stewart, a Benedictine monk and executive director of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library in Minnesota, told Aleteia in October 2019.

Now, as Iraqi security forces supported by coalition troops continue to engage IS cells, they are uncovering stockpiles of stolen texts that are crucial to understanding and preserving ancient communities such as the Assyrians, an ethnic group indigenous to parts of Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran.

"Syriac manuscripts are important cultural heritage items of sacred value and historical relevance,” said Alda Benjamen, the Avimalek Betyousef post-doctoral Fellow in Assyrian history at UC Berkeley. “Syriac manuscripts can advance our understanding of northern Iraq, a region with an abundance of cultural diversity, and ancient heritage."