ISIS Blows Up 'Most Important' Temple

The 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel was considered the most important temple in the ancient city of Palmyra, which is itself considered one of the world's treasures, and it's now believed to be rubble. Witnesses say ISIS militants, who seized the Syrian city in May, destroyed the temple with a massive explosion yesterday, reports the AP. "It is total destruction. The bricks and columns are on the ground," a Palmyra resident tells the AP. "It was an explosion the deaf would hear."

The temple, consecrated in AD32 to the Semitic god Bel, was one of the best-preserved parts of the site and had intricate wall carvings, the BBC reports. (ISIS released images last week of its destruction of another major temple in Palmyra, where it beheaded the prominent archaeologist in charge of the ruins.)