Aniconism

Five Nobel prize winners, including Turkey's laureate Orhan Pamuk, called on Dec. 1 for urgent international action to protect world heritage sites from the destruction wrought by extremist groups and conflicts.

Here in this Persian replica of Mecca, built at the cost of millions of dollars, an Iranian film company is attempting to offer the world a literal glimpse of the Prophet Muhammad despite traditional taboos against it.
     

Iraq's national museum officially reopened Saturday after 12 years of painstaking efforts during which close to a third of 15,000 pieces looted during the US-led invasion were recovered.
      
The reopening was brought forward in what officials said was a response to the destruction of priceless artefacts by Islamic State group jihadists in the northern city of Mosul.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants armed with sledgehammers and jackhammers have destroyed priceless ancient artefacts in Iraq's city of Mosul, a video released by the jihadists on Feb. 26 shows.