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Syrian archaeologist killed in Palmyra

  • 19-08-2015 1:39pm
    #1
    Bonedigger
    Closed Accounts Posts: 608 ✭✭✭


    Just heard this very sad news: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33984006

    He apparently refused to leave Palmyra to ensure the protection of this ancient city. He also refused to cooperate with these animals when they sought the whereabouts of some of Palmyra's treasures which had been hidden to save them from destruction. What a brave man!
    If our own ancient sites and artefacts were under threat like this, I'm not sure that I'd be prepared to give up my life for them - would you?!


Comments

  • #2
    tac foley
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,500 ✭✭✭tac foley


    He wasn't killed - people get killed crossing the street.

    He was tortured for a month and then slaughtered like a sacrificial animal.

    He was a brave man, and, let's not forget, also a moslem. They are not all like the murdering scum of ISIS.

    tac


  • #3
    Bonedigger
    Closed Accounts Posts: 608 ✭✭✭Bonedigger


    Sadly, I think the writing's on the wall for this ancient site anyway. It's likely just before IS get the heave-ho from there, they're going to blow the remaining standing ancient monuments to kingdom come!


  • #4
    Dr Strange
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,427 ✭✭✭Dr Strange


    Bonedigger wrote: »
    Sadly, I think the writing's on the wall for this ancient site anyway. It's likely just before IS get the heave-ho from there, they're going to blow the remaining standing ancient monuments to kingdom come!

    And it has happened: IS publishes images purporting to show Palmyra destruction


  • #5
    Bonedigger
    Closed Accounts Posts: 608 ✭✭✭Bonedigger


    Dr Strange wrote: »
    And it has happened: IS publishes images purporting to show Palmyra destruction

    Yeah, I heard this yesterday, but didn't want to say "I told you so!"
    I fear it's not going to be the last ancient site they're going to obliterate before they're done.
    I'm not sure if you saw the BBC4 documentary "Civilisation Under Attack" with Dan Cruickshank? It addresses the issue of the destruction of ancient sites and monuments by IS. If you've not seen it and have an hour to kill, it's worth watching: https://youtu.be/ene99hhOB1A

    It's very sobering indeed!:(


  • #6
    Balf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 667 ✭✭✭Balf


    Bonedigger wrote: »
    It's very sobering indeed!:(
    I never thought I'd live in times when this kind of thing actually happened. It's like Orwell's 1984; the political control of history.


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  • #7
    Bonedigger
    Closed Accounts Posts: 608 ✭✭✭Bonedigger


    Balf wrote: »
    I never thought I'd live in times when this kind of thing actually happened. It's like Orwell's 1984; the political control of history.

    I suppose one can argue that this has been happening in that part of the world almost since civilisation itself began. The Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks and Romans razed cities to the ground in efforts to expand their empires.


  • #8
    slowburner
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,223 Mod ✭✭✭✭slowburner


    Bonedigger wrote: »
    I suppose one can argue that this has been happening in that part of the world almost since civilisation itself began. The Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks and Romans razed cities to the ground in efforts to expand their empires.

    Fair point, but it doesn't make the situation any more palatable. Not that we could ever accept this wanton depravity.

    These are tumultuous times both in the Middle East and around the shores of the Mediterranean, where no doubt, archaeologists of the future will investigate migration patterns.
    I can't help but see the current migrations as a stimulus for thinking about early migrations.
    Is there a case for arguing that modern migrations contrast with early migrations in the sense that today, it is about moving toward wealth, whereas in antiquity it was about bringing wealth?
    Today's migrants are leaving poverty and societies that are devoid of hope. Did early migrants move for the same reasons? Typical models assume that technological advances allowed populations to take advantage of established populations with inferior technologies. Neolithic settlers ousted Mesolithic hunter gatherers, and were in turn ousted by Bronze Age settlers, themselves ousted by Iron Age superiority. Was this really the case? Or is there an argument for reviewing established thought in light of these massive contemporary migrations?


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