In happier days, the discovery of these treasures could delight the eye.
The Treasures of Nimrud
by fulltimestudent 5 Replies latest social current
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fulltimestudent
But now - contemporary religion has destroyed the place where they were found.
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fulltimestudent
The above destruction in the view of the Biblical Archeology Review:
Assyriologist Echart Frahn, said in Yale News that, 'any major destruction at Nimrud or other ancient Assyrian cities in Iraq “would be one of the worst cultural heritage disasters of all times.”'
The building destroyed was, the "ninth-century North-West Palace of King Ashurnasirpal II at the ancient Assyrian site of Nimrud." It survived for near 3000 years only to vanish in the cultural wars of the twentyfirst century.
The overview continued:
The ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud (known in antiquity as Kalhu) lies in the Nineveh plains on the northeast bank of the Tigris River, 20 miles from Mosul in northern Iraq. When King Ashurnasirpal II ascended to the throne (r. 883–859 B.C.E.), he relocated the royal court from Assur to Nimrud, establishing it as the capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and rebuilding it completely, with lavish temples and a palace funded by his successful conquests. Many of the reliefs and statues excavated from Ashurnasirpal II’s Nimrud palace are now on display in the British Museum and elsewhere in the world.
I suggest that this loss, to our knowledge of the past, can only be compared to the crazed destruction of Graeco-Roman temples by the crazed Christians of the fourth century CE.
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fulltimestudent
The Biblical Archeology Society has assembled an overview of their previous reports on Nimrud. The link is:
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_Morpheus
What about the raising of over 6,000 monistaries in tibet by china...?
Or the huge loss of historical and cutural history by the peoples liberation army of china...?
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fulltimestudent
Morpheusa day agoWhat about the raising of over 6,000 monistaries in tibet by china...?
Yes, you're quite right. The Red Guards were vandals too, and how interesting that many were young Tibetans (mainly from the lower socio-economic groups). I'm not so sure about the figure of 6000 monasteries. No-one knows for sure how many Tibetans there were in 1960, I suggest maybe 2,000,000. On the count of 6000 monasteries "razed," that would mean one large or small monastery for every 330 people. Most were re-built after Mao died. I counted 87, on this Wikipedia list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Tibetan_monasteries
But I believe there were/are many more than that.
BTW, we have descriptions of certain aspects of Tibetan life, that were provided by the British invasion force of 1904. Peter Fleming, in his book "Bayonets to Lhasa," includes some of these descriptions P.232,233 -edition published by Rupert Hart-Davis, 1961).
"The Potala, Fleming writes (citing Candler), was surrounded by a nauseous squalor ... it was in fact, an insanitary slum. ... The houses were mean and filthy ..." Younghusband (the British Supervisor of the invasion), described the monks, as "lazy and sensual and effete."
How much those sort of conditions, likely unchanged in 60 years, led to the actions of young Tibetan Red Guards, is hard to judge.
And, of course, throughout China, the Red Guards vandalised many antiquities, in their campaign to destroy the four "olds" (customs, culture, habits, ideas).
This graphic, captures (I think) the attitude of the Red Guards across China:
Or the huge loss of historical and cutural history by the peoples liberation army of china...?
That's a harder general question for me to answer, as I don't know what you're referring to. US General Joe Stillwell judged the PLA troops as better disciplined and organised than those of the KMT (Chiang's).
I'm sure that in a civil war things can and do, getout of hand. But if you could be more specific, I can discuss your claim.