A 17-year-old Assyrian Christian is painstakingly recreating sculptures destroyed by Islamic State.

The Iraqi teen, Nenous Thabit,  is recreating the sculptures of Nimrud, the ancient settlement 20 years south of Mosul which had its heyday more than a thousand years before the birth of Christ.

Nimrud's priceless archaeological remains were bombed and bulldozed by Islamic State last year because they were deemend "unIslamic". IS said they were "idols" and that people should only worship Allah.

Thabit, who is the son of a sculptor, was devastated to see these ancient artefacts being destroyed and pledged to try his best to recreate as many of them as possible. He's already remade 18 sculptures in just 12 months.

His work was reported by Mic.com, which promotes exceptional achievements by young people around the world and made this video of his work:

Thabit now lives in Irbil in Turkey with his family, where he told Mic he is recreating the sculptures because he wants to respect the wishes of his Assyrian ancestors. He hopes to go to art school next year. 

The United Nations described the destruction of Nimrud as a "war crime".

The director general of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, said last year: "I condemn in the strongest possible manner the destruction of the archaeological site of Nimrud site in Iraq. This is yet another attack against the Iraqi people, reminding us that nothing is safe from the cultural cleansing under way in the country: it targets human lives, minorities, and is marked by the systematic destruction of humanity's ancient heritage."