I’ve had a life-long passion for archaeology. Perhaps it was my love for Indiana Jones as a child that piqued my interest, but all I know now is that history buried in the ground or occulted in forgotten enclaves continues to fascinate me to this day. It is with a heavy heart that I read about the modern plunder or destruction of archaeological sites in zones of conflict.
Perhaps no greater current example of this is in Syria where one of antiquities greatest cities, Dura Europos, has been looted as war roils on. If you are not familiar with Dura Europos it is perhaps one of the greatest cross-road cities of antiquity that brought together Roman, Christian and Jewish history on a plateau in Eastern Syria. The importance of Dura Europos cannot be overstated. It’s loss, destruction or defacement at the hands of zealots or iconoclasts would be a truly tragic cultural heritage event.
The world sat by in 2001 when saw the Bamiyan Buddhas of Afghanistan were destroyed. We continue to see similar destruction of cultural heritage sites in the Middle East and around the world without so much of a whisper of public outcry.
In our modern age we have the ability to immediately empower social movements or calls for justice through social media. Yet even cause celebre human rights movements flourish in the first few days of social media empowerment, yet quickly whither when the short attention span meets the idea of putting words, or hashtags, into action. I would call for a social media campaign to protect these cultural heritage sites, to rally the public to the news of desecration and destruction. but when human suffering garners a two week interest online, what passion will a few old rocks and sculptures inspire in the public?
For more on the looting in Middle Eastern conflict zones check out this well-rounded article.
Asymmetric Creativity 