"Syria's head of antiquities was quoted as saying the temple was blown up on Sunday,"
BBC reports.
The ancient city, which is a Unesco World Heritage site, is famed for its well-preserved Greco-Roman ruins, and the Baalshamin temple, built nearly 2,000 years ago, is one of the city's best-known buildings....
"The cella (inner area of the temple) was destroyed and the columns around collapsed," he said.
Emma Loosley, a professor at Exeter University who lived near the ancient city for three years, said the temple's cella was "pretty much perfect." "I can't think of another temple as beautifully preserved as the temple of Baalshamin...."
From the
Wikipedia article on the temple:
In Sanchuniathon's main mythology the god he calls in Greek 'Uranus'/'Sky' has been thought by some to stand for Ba'al Šamem... As in Greek mythology and Hittite mythology, Sky is castrated by his son, who is in turn destined to be opposed by the thunder god....
Here's a picture of the temple as it appeared before Sunday's explosion:
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50 comments:
There is a quasi-religious movement here in the US that wants to bring down or otherwise blow-up places like Stone Mountain, GA. Sadly, they get positive press and plenty of old white lady sympathy. Another reason for Trump's rise.
Heck of a job, Barry!
I thought ISIS was the sun god or something.
Somebody, please put a stop to this.
Yeah, send ISIS some anthropologists and art historians to explain to them the error of their ways.
Feh, they're just the JV team.
How long is the world going to keep these guys around?
Yeah, well, don't get on your high horse, Crusader.
Notice how small Obama looks sitting at his desk in the Oval Office.
https://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_1484w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2015/08/23/Production/Daily/A-Section/Images/Obama-01ab1.jpg?uuid=205CkEnNEeWEbQJ5L4VClw
How long is the world going to keep these guys around?
Longer than you want to imagine.
The world was willing to humor Hitler for a really long time also.
Sounds a lot like the Taliban, you know, where Al Qaeda found refuge and plotted 9/11.
If we just build a peace raft out of drone sticks and solidarity carrots, this will all work out.
"The ancient city, which is a Unesco World Heritage site, is famed for its formerly well-preserved Greco-Roman ruins"
Fixed.
"Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past."
Or is it just that someone didn't pay the ransom for it?
Barbarians.
With millions of refuges displaced by the war, mere tourist attractions are the least of Syria's problems.
The mistake would be to fall victim to the human tragedy. These people will have to find their own backbone and fight for their own freedom.
If the west imposes their freedom, like in Iraq and Afghanistan, they will not value it.
It is of no concern to the US, other than their UN membership.
Clearly this poor brown person was oppressed by:
1. Capitalism/Bankers
2. Colonialism
3. Racism/Ethnic Nationalism
4. Poverty/Hunger
5. Climate Change
6. Possible Gender Dysphoria In An Intolerant Context
7. Inequality
8. Unfairness
9. Patriarchal Hegemony and Christian Bloodthirst
It's not a big deal, really, because it's safe to say that everything worthwhile has already been stripped away and shipped off to the British Museum.
I just posted the link to Facebook with this comment: This kind of destruction ought to be really big news. And it would be -- it would be sparking howls of outrage -- if mainstream media could find a way to blame it on Christians, conservatives, Republicans, and/or capitalism. Since none of those are to blame... move along, nothing to see here... what's Caitlyn wearing today?
"Feh, they're just the JV team."
'Bout ready to move up to varsity. Should be even more fun.
If only we could get them to blow up the Temple of Stephanopoulos.
I am Laslo.
They're talking of doing the same to the pyramids and the Sphinx in Egypt.
"With millions of refuges displaced by the war, mere tourist attractions are the least of Syria's problems."
Tourist attractions!!! That's what you think Palmyra is?
They also beheaded Khaled al-Assad for apostasy.
The story is that he refused to tell them where Palmyra's treasures were kept, but that has not been verified.
As long as they leave the water theme park alone, I'm OK.
They should have just stuck to throwing homos off of roofs.
I can hardly wait till Iran gets nuclear weapons.
They're talking of doing the same to the pyramids and the Sphinx in Egypt
They already have been, for centuries. The pyramids have all have their outer stones stripped and reused. The Sphinx has been stripped and had its nose shot off.
But yeah, fundamental Muslims do want to finish the job.
Whatever happened to building a mosque using the original structure? I though that was the normal way of doing things. Hagia Sophia and Mosque of Cordoba are two examples that come to mind. And, yes, Christians did the same thing to non-Christian worships sites: Templo Mayor/Mexico City Cathedral, Pantheon/Santa Maria Rotonda, etc.
ELC said...This kind of destruction ought to be really big news.
Most Americans can't even find their state capital on a map, let alone a foreign country.
But no one cares about this one, I assume. After all, it was just a 1500 year old Christian church and monastery.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/21/islamic-state-destroyed-ancient-saint-eliane-monastery-syria-says-priest
I said years ago, when Saddam was the boogie man, that we would eventually leave and the people there would elevate another bunch of murdering butt-monkeys to grind their faces into the dirt. I'm sorry that I was right but it was an easy call. I'm really sorry that savages who could not arm themselves have been spared the need by the provision of American arms and equipment. Worst of all, their diseased religion is metastasizing rapidly through Europe, being carried by refugees. They plan, those of them who do plan, demographic conquest. Europeans seem to mostly not care. Yet.
“'It's Ramadan and we are experiencing firsthand the beauty and sanctity of our mosques during this holy month,' Imam Zaid Shakir, a Muslim American scholar, says on the campaign page. 'ALL houses of worship are sanctuaries.'" (http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2015/0707/Why-Muslims-are-raising-money-for-black-churches-destroyed-by-fire-video)
It's a nice sentiment. Looks good on paper.
"Most Americans can't even find their state capital on a map, let alone a foreign country."
Duh. Their state capital shouldn't be in a foreign country!
Iconoclasts arise again. Next thing you know Disney World will be blown up. The European Colonial Empires really liked to cut up ancient temples and ship the slabs home for erection and display.
About what Islam has always been like. in the 640s, when a Muslim army took Alexandria, its leader was asked by an underling how to handle the large library there. the general replied that to the extent that the books agreed with the Koran, they were superfluous, and should be burned. to the extent that they differed with the Koran, they were demonic, and must be burned. Islam is the same insane death cult in 2015 as it was in 640 AD. it must be destroyed.
John Cunningham said...Islam is the same insane death cult in 2015 as it was in 640 AD. it must be destroyed.
Yea, good luck with that. They breed like rats. Sadly, all the women have been circumcised and are a dead lay.
Matt: "And, yes, Christians did the same thing to non-Christian worships sites: Templo Mayor/Mexico City Cathedral, Pantheon/Santa Maria Rotonda, etc."
I wonder if we could stay focused on this century for just a moment or two?
You know what's even worse?
Some of Amazon's employees have to work crazy hours!
Islam is not really big on antiquities of other cultures.
The god Bal Al Samen got castrated by his sons and now this. This is one unfortunate god. The Jimmy Carter of Olympus. I don't think that there will be a Bal Al Samen revival anytime soon.
Reagan has been blamed for Al Qaeda, falsely, for years.
Obama is all-in about ISIS. If not for his idiotic policies in Iraq, Syria and Libya, they wouldn't have existed.
The utter destruction of Mecca would balance things out nicely.
False Grackle
Who cares?
Odds were it was built by some form of slave labor. As is the case in America now, all monuments built by or built for those who profited from slave labor need to be destroyed, and if possible their bodies dug up and removed, because slavery.
Its seems a touch harsh to get riled up over ISIS doing in the Middle East something that the Democrat party and its various constituents are demanding here in the homeland.
damikesc said...
"How long is the world going to keep these guys around?
Longer than you want to imagine.
The world was willing to humor Hitler for a really long time also."
Progressives are the humorists. Not the world. ISIS is only in existence because Obama and the progressives actively made it possible. The women and children that are being sold as sex slaves aren't really involved in humoring ISIS.
"The utter destruction of Mecca would balance things out nicely."
It sucks that I'm beginning to think this idea has merit.
Islam is not really big on antiquities of other cultures.
Muslims aren't even big on their own cultures, pre-Mohammed.
ISIS' rallying cry, I'm told, is “the future should not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam”.
ISIS would like nothing better than for the west to level Mecca or Medina, turn them to glass. Their ranks would swell incredibly.
Still, it might be worth it.
Blogger Coupe said...
With millions of refuges displaced by the war, mere tourist attractions are the least of Syria's problems.
The mistake would be to fall victim to the human tragedy. These people will have to find their own backbone and fight for their own freedom.
If the west imposes their freedom, like in Iraq and Afghanistan, they will not value it.
It is of no concern to the US, other than their UN membership.
Every wall in your house is blank?
ISIS would like nothing better than for the west to level Mecca or Medina, turn them to glass. Their ranks would swell incredibly.
Only if you believe the myth that 'most Muslims are moderates'.
If, on the other hand, you assume 'most Muslims are willing to back a strong horse' and will create a sharia hell-hole of a society wherever they have the numbers and muscle to do so, or at least provide cover for the ones that will... then you can stop wringing your hands over the idea that the west is capable of 'radicalizing' the enemy.
But I for one propose leaving Mecca alone. There is no point in waging war there while we lose allow the enemy to make gains from London to Dearborn. Only when we refuse admittance to them here can we consider the possibility of waging a successful war over there.
You don't go land on the shores of Tripoli when you're still fighting over the Spanish March.
ISIS would like nothing better than for the west to level Mecca or Medina, turn them to glass. Their ranks would swell incredibly.
Has anybody ever pointed out that worshiping a rock is pretty much the same thing as saints and crosses and whatnot. In fact it just may be a little bit more wacky. I fact I bet if you snuck in there one night and replaced it with a different piece of granite they'd never know.
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