Event Response #2

In the lecture I attended on October sixth a multitude of different topics were discussed. The speaker began the lecture discussing the irreversible damage that humans are placing upon earth. In his lecture, I quoted him as saying “Humans are a geological agent who has placed irreversible damage on earth.” He further elaborates on this idea by discussing the seventy five percent decrease in the insect population in the last twenty seven years due to the effects of global warming. This drastic drop has directly impacted the food chain causing shortages in food for certain species causing a domino effect throughout the hierarchy. He also discussed topics such as landscape archeology, industrial modernity, the Hittite empire, but what truly grabbed my attention was ISIS’s destruction of the Gardens of Babylon and ancient treasures/artifacts. After learning in his lecture that ISIS was destroying these ancient artifacts I decided to do some research of my own. What I discovered was sickening but the one that truly grabbed my attention was the destruction of a Roman theater in Syria using explosives. The reason for this is their belief in destroying ancient monuments or artifacts that contradict their views on the Islamic religion and describe such events as “cleansing”. The reason why they are destroying these cultural sites is due to their significant loss in territory. In an attempt to seek revenge they destroy these artifacts. It puts a sickening feeling in my stomach knowing that these priceless artifacts which draw in thousands of tourists are being destroyed. Not only are they depriving tourists of cultural experiences but they are also depriving these countries of tourism which brings a lot of money into these economies. With the destruction of these sites people have less reasons to visit these countries. The reason why ISIS is able to get away with these crimes is because of their control over portions of Syria along with the western and northern part of Iraq. Since there is no military in these areas under ISIS’s control there is no one and nothing to stop them. As mentioned above they justify their actions using religion and describing how these artifacts threaten their religion. The worst part is that ISIS documents the destruction via cell phone cameras and uploads these videos onto youtube. Placing these videos on a public platform is truly what aggravates me because the documentation is used as a scare tactic. An example of this is their seizure over the town of Palmyra as well as the nearby ruins. The ISIS militants initially promised to leave the site untouched but unfortunately this was not the case. They publicly executed the head archeologist as and released photos of the 1900 year old temple being rigged with explosives and the explosion that soon occurred afterwards. For the reasons stated above as well as many others that is why this topic in the lecture captured my attention. These artifacts once they are destroyed have no way of being restored or brought back which is truly sickening to me.