In a time when human lives aren't valued, it comes as little surprise that the Islamic State is destroying historic monuments. Anything they do makes very little sense anyway, but only they know what they're achieving by destroying gorgeous monuments built around 700 B.C. A series of exclusive photographs published by National Geographic confirm the complete destruction of the Makshi and Nergal Gates by the Islamic State in Ninevah, Iraq. The Nergal Gate, shown in the picture above, was originally built around 700 B.C and refurbished back in the 20th century. The gate is of high importance for the locals as they believe themselves to be the descendants of the ancient Assyrians who built Nineveh. The gate got its name from the Mesopotamian god of death and the underworld.

This is what the Nergal Gate looks like after the havoc wreaked by Islamic State. Shame.

Nineveh, an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, now in Northern Iraq, has always been of high importance. An urban center more than 4,000 years ago, the Neo-Assyrian empire was the largest city in the world at one point of time.

The Makshi Gate, also known as the "Gate of the watering places", was used to lead the livestock to the Tigris river nearby. This is what the Makshi Gate looked like before ISIS.

The destruction is so bad, the locals had to put up a sign locating the destroyed Makshi gate.