Palmyra: the modern destruction of an ancient city
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- čas přidán 21. 08. 2024
- A conversation between Dr. Salaam al-Kuntar and Dr. Steven Zucker about Palmyra while looking at six Palmyrene funerary reliefs, c. 150-200 C.E., varying dimensions, limestone (The Metropolitan Museum of Art).
An ARCHES video
i cried during this video
This video was heavy and sobering... It's unfortunate to hear what's happened in Palmyra and I hope much has happened to rectify it in the past 5 years.
It got me thinking about cultural significance as well. I'm a first-generation Jamaican-American from Miami, Florida. It's extremely diverse there, so somewhere between my family's limited understanding of their own history and seeing cultural lines blur in that melting pot, I don't have a strong sense of cultural heritage. I don't know if that's an issue for me because I'm more interested in intermingling, but maybe a stronger sense of self - including historically / culturally - can help with that. Great food for thought.
Nothing can destroy like man can destroy. Shame and damn on the destroyers.😡😡😡
Thank you for providing a succinct, cogent explanation - through a contemporary example - of the shameful, dolorous destruction of monuments in war: regrettable, preventable, tragic events that have occurred in every century.
My heart weeps for this atrocity... I literally have tears in my eyes... If only I knew how privileged I was when I visited the site back in the early 90s' as part of a school trip, I would have taken many more pictures and explored more of what it had to offer. These sites belong to all humans, and serve as a testament to the creativity of the human race and preserving them is preserving out collective history. What a shame... I hope I still have the negatives of whatever I managed to document of the site before those barbaric criminals destroyed it. When I was told back in the day that ISIS was wrecking havoc in Palmyra, I thought it was accidental and a byproduct of the ongoing military confrontations. I was naïve to believe that it wouldn't be more than a few bullet holes here and there... But this???!!!! I just can't over it... I'm still tearing up as I write this... What a shame...
I consider myself very lucky for having visited palmyra and many other archaeological sites in Syria. I still can’t believe this ancient marvel site is gone :(((
Me too. It's one of a handful of experiences in my life where I have been left in pure awe. The war in Syria has broken my heart
Such a terrible loss. I'm happy for you that you saw it, and my heart goes out to you for the sorrow you feel.
I am so jealous. If only i could have seen the ruins still standing:(
The scortched earth/psychological warfare methods of Isis were pretty much the norm in ancient warfare. The Romans themselves would use these same types of tactics not uncommonly. In a world way before the Geneva Convention, wars were pretty much no holds barred more often than not. I think this incident shows pretty clearly the results of not holding us humans to our own higher standards . The "lowest common denominator " is not an uplifting place to be in.
Well said
thank you for making a posting this. it makes one totally speechless. islamic jihadists could ve been stopped, but as you say, no one cared...
Thank you so much for doing a story abut this. I will share this video and use this to draw attention to this issue. You guys are the best and I love your channel.
Just as we once celebrated the incredible feats of human creativity collectively at this site, so too can we come to the same place and grieve together over human destruction. The 21st century is bringing us so much loss and grief, we are losing immense natural beauty to climate change, we are losing sacred ancient history to war and terrorism. Just as we lose individual loved ones, sometimes to natural age, sometimes to unspeakable tragedies, there is massive collective grief like this too. Like any grief, it will be more bearable if and when we hold each other through it. May this site one day be a collective place of mourning and community.
HOW PAINFUL & SAD TO SEE & HEAR OF THE DESTRUCTION OF HERITAGE OF PREVIOUS CIVILIZATIONS ... WHICH DOESN'T BELONG TO WHERE IT IS GEOGRAPHICALLY LOCATED ... BUT BELONGS TO THE WHOLE WORLD ... AS WE ARE ONE PLANET ...
We have ancient aspirations and ancient demons that are still with us, still struggling within us, and neither will be defeated.
I’m kinda obsessed with palmyra and the palmyrene empire and it’s history it’s sad that all this happened.
What a damn shame. All that history lost. In the name of some imaginary sky god..
Human nature is simply unfathomable. What sad and pathetic creatures these people are.
It is extremely sad what happened to these communities and the Lost human life and culture which at the end of the day is not only their culture but also Humanity's culture. And we all are at fault for watching its destruction and senseless deaths of innocent civilians and children right in front of our own eyes, and did nothing to stopped it, because in the west we were busy playing with our cell phones and with all our toys ignoring and allowing it to happen for the fear of losing our comfortable lifestyles !
The holocaust just happened 80years or so ago...? In human history is just happened.!
If the lesson is not learned IT will repeat again.!
We have to teach our children our Culture and appreciate history.
Not Facebook, MTV, TV shows and fashions and movies "stars" and comedians!
Back to the family and the proper solid education for our children, and respect for our cultural heritage.!
I couldn't finish watching the video, this is just awful. I wish there was oil in palmyra, maybe then governments would have been interested in protecting it.
Imagine if they went to petra, the homeland of islam...
Maybe in a future episode you should talk about the monuments men and how they saved culture.
You can thank the UN Security Council blocked by Russia for inability to act in Syria as they had their own deals and interests with Assad. As long as the veto right remains and aggressors remain unpunished, there won’t be any peace and conflicts will continue. The sad part is, we are heading to the same situation, as happened with Leage of Nations in 20s century, which was actually supposed to prevent further world wars. We all know how that worked out….
I was so sad
It is shameful 😞🥲🥲🥲🥲
This is not the first UNESCO world Heritage Site to be destroyed by terrorists. In 2001, the Bamyan statues of Buddha were also destroyed by the Talibans in Afghanistan. It brings tears to my eyes.
Who lived there ? The Romans ? They traveled that far ?
The Palmyrene Empire broke from Rome, though that didn't last long. Yes, Rome extended that far.
hello from syria : (
Here is a misconception
Palmyra is an aramean city NOT a roman city as the west trying to promote
You can just find out from the Palmyran alphabet on the columns & the ppl who lived in Palmyra had aramean roots & names like Zenoubia or ozaina
Or the temples which have aramaen God names like ( Baal , Bill-shmin , Nabo , Ishtar )
Additionally Palmyra fought Rome for centuries in the middle east
So it makes no sense to fight your siblings if they would be really siblings
The Romans built much of Palmyra, including the admired Roman Theatre & Roman Arches of Palmyra (Monumental Arch), among other structures.
the FAILURE to PROTECT this world heritage site by the US military there at the time, fighting IS then, never offered support protection of the world heritage.. Dr Asaad who was executed by daesh in Palmyra August 2015.
please explain how it was the US military's responsibility to protect this site?
I understand that Palmyra is Full of history, art, and culture. However our culture will survive, if ancient sites are destroyed. Giving the title "shameful" to mankind(governments) for not protecting Palmyra is crossing into the area of whats more important; saving lives or an ancient site that has been documented for the last decade. I personally believe our humanity is more important.
We never suggest that equation. In fact, we state the opposite. Lives always come first.
UnsuitedEntity if the site of Palmyra had been a huge oil well you would have seen the Russian army or the NATO jumping to defend it at any cost. We live in an age where culture comes after money, that's a fact and it's for this reason that a world heritage site was let to be destroyed, a site that doesn't belong just to the Syrian people, but to the whole humanity, that's what they tried to say in the video, nothing to do with the argument world heritage > human lives.
Sorry didn't mean to to attack you, just the only way I saw to protect this site in this situation is with boots on the ground, hence me jumping to that conclusion.