Babylon , Iraq ( CNN ) ISIS has smashed priceless ancient statues in Mosul , bulldozed the ruins of Nineveh and Hatra , and dynamited centuries-old churches , mosques and shrines . In a battle between Iraqi forces and ISIS over control of Tikrit recently , the tomb of Saddam Hussein was squashed to rubble , though it 's not clear which side did it . Luckily , the ancient city of Babylon is outside the extremists ' grasp , south of Baghdad . For nearly 5,000 years it has stood as a symbol of the glory of ancient Mesopotamian civilization . Saddam Hussein renovated the ruins in the 1980s , leaving his own crude personal stamp on the bricks there . They bear his name and describe him as the son of Nebuchadnezzar , who had the reputation of being ancient Babylon 's greatest king . One of Hussein 's former palaces still peers down over the city . But it continues to be source of great pride for Iraqis who see themselves as the heirs of the world 's oldest civilization . And many Iraqis know better than to buy the claims of their deposed despot . `` This was n't Saddam 's , '' said Adnan Abu Fatima . `` It belonged to our grandfathers , the Babylonians . '' Abu Fatima strolled through the ruins with his family . Saddam 's vain brick inscriptions may annoy him , but ISIS ' destruction appalls him . `` The Mosul museum was destroyed . Why ? '' he wants to know from ISIS . `` That is the heritage of your grandfathers . Why did you do that ? '' The defacers ' reasoning ? The artifacts , some of the oldest in ancient civilization , are from the `` age of ignorance , '' ISIS says , before the advent of Islam . Antiquity is an integral part of Iraq 's national identity . History is measured there not in centuries but in millennia , and Iraqi 's take such vandalism to heart . They 've had to watch since the U.S. invasion in 2003 how artifacts have been stolen . Baghdad 's museum was plundered , during a lapse in U.S. security , and the priceless artifacts were smuggled around the world . The U.S. State Department has announced it will return more than 60 items on Monday , which had been sneaked into the United States . Safa ad-Din Hassan and other parents took Iraqi scouts on a camping trip near Babylon to teach them about their history and make ancient artwork with them . Hassan fled Mosul when ISIS overran it last year then later ransacked the museum . `` When I saw what happened , I was determined to come her to preserve our antiquities from ISIS , '' he said . Iraq will defend its heritage against ISIS , said Mohamed Hattab from Iraq 's Antiquities Department . `` Babylon is our soul . '' It 's a soul under assault by latter day barbarians , who have destroyed much of it in the North , which has been out of the defensive reach of Iraqi soldiers . The military has started a drive to retake Saddam Hussein 's hometown of Tikrit from the extremists . After the rage of a battle subsided , they moved in to the outskirt town of Awja to find the former dictator 's tomb flattened . Video of soldiers standing on top of it was posted to YouTube . They celebrated the posthumous slap against their former tormentor . One man fired shots into the rubble toward Hussein 's grave site . It was a piece of history they were glad to part with . CNN 's Ben Wedeman reported and wrote from Babylon , and Ben Brumfield reported and wrote from Atlanta . CNN 's Yousuf Basil contributed to this report .
ISIS has ransacked museums , bulldozed ancient cities , destroying human history . But the ancient city of Babylon is out of their reach in the United States 's Shiite region .