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, in the frame of a project funded by ALIPH, 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. Two of the anthropomorphic corbels

broken into fragments have been joined and put back in their

original place. Also a statue first damaged by

a sledgehammer blows and then used

as a target, having bullet impact

holes all over its

surface was

restored.