Damage Assessment and First Aid Interventions to the World Heritage Site of Hatra after Daesh Occupation

Hatra, founded in the 2nd or 3rd century BCE and destroyed in the middle of the 3rd century CE, is the best-preserved example of a Parthian city. Located in an isolated area of the desert steppe of northern Iraq, Hatra was an important religious and trading centre, and major stop on a trading route leading to Palmyra, Baalbek, and Petra. Hatra was occupied by Daesh in 2014 and partially destroyed in 2015. To quantify the damage, in February 2020, the Associazione Internazionale di Studi sul Mediterraneo e l'Oriente (ISMEO), in cooperation with the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, undertook a survey of the damage combined with targeted field observations and securing damaged sculptural decorations.