Saving art

Ancient monuments and art of various Middle East cultures has been destroyed and more is in danger. Since governments and the U.N. move slowly, local people have been doing what they can to preserve them.

A large collection of ancient mosaics in the middle of a battle between the Syrian government and rebels is still intact only because locals piled sandbags  around the museum that houses it.

Last summer in Iraq, two Christian monks in "Erbil digitized ancient manuscripts in case Islamists destroyed the originals." One of them, Father Najeeb Michaeel,  told NPR, “. . these books [are] my children.”

Some antiquities are destroyed, some are looted and sold on the black market - yet another source of money for the Islamic State. "Revenue from antiquities looting is becoming a more significant funding stream for ISIS, many Middle East experts believe . . "

"[L]ooting is a major form of employment for those living under ISIS," according to a Boston University archaeologist.