page_title: Monastery of Saint Elijah
section_title: Iraq War and destruction
hierarchical_section_title: Monastery of Saint Elijah / History / Iraq War and destruction
caption_attribution_description: English: Soldiers tour the interior of the former monastery at Dair Mar Elia.
context_page_description: Dair Mar Elia, also known as Saint Elijah's Monastery, was a Christian monastery located just south of Mosul, in the Nineveh Governorate, Iraq. It was founded in the late 6th century, and it was one of the oldest monasteries in Iraq. It belonged to the Church of the East, an ancient branch of Eastern Christianity, and then to the Chaldean Catholic Church. The monastery closed in 1743, after its monks were massacred by Persian forces. Its ruins were damaged during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and was later demolished by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in 2014.
context_section_description: During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the monastery was damaged by Iraqi tank units, which trashed rooms and filled a cistern with garbage. One of its walls was destroyed after being hit by a T-72 tank turret. After the 101st Airborne Division took control of the area, the site lay within Forward Operating Base Marez. American soldiers vandalized the monastery by inscribing graffiti on the walls and by whitewashing the chapel, destroying its 600-year-old murals in the process. The structure was further damaged by looters. However, a military chaplain saw the importance of the site, and a commander ordered troops to vacate the monastery. Eventually, US military chaplains began taking care of the structure, and gave tours of the ruins to soldiers.
  In May 2008, Iraqi archaeologists were able to visit the areas for the first time since the invasion. Later that year, the US military's efforts to restore Dair Mar Elia were reported in the international media. The journalist James Foley, who was later beheaded by ISIL, wrote that the site was being saved "for future generations of Iraqis who will hopefully soon have the security to appreciate it." Prior to the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, army engineers from the 94th Corps of Engineers of Fort Leonard Wood drew up plans of the monastery.
  In June 2014, Mosul was taken over by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The militant group destroyed the monastery sometime between 27 August and 28 September 2014, along with a number of other cultural sites. The destruction of the monastery was not publicized by ISIL, and it was only confirmed by satellite imagery released in January 2016. The fact that its destruction went unreported for about 16 months led to fears that many other Christian sites in Iraq might have also been destroyed secretly.
caption: American soldiers touring the monastery in 2009
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