Is Anyone Surprised by the Barbarism in Palmyra?
A culture that stops reproducing itself
stays rooted in the past. This statement concerns the actions of ISIS,
in the territory where actually every square foot of land “exudes”
history, in two aspects.
The first one lies in the sphere where
we speak about the past civilizations and monuments left from the
distant epochs and which have by far survived the bearers of ancient
cultures and long-forgotten traditions. They have survived the people
who worshipped their long-forgotten gods, who defended their motherland
in the fights with enemies who have also fallen into oblivion. Such
types of cultural objects appear to us as some kind of exhibits not
designed for use, not to mention their cultural reproduction.
we speak about the past civilizations and monuments left from the
distant epochs and which have by far survived the bearers of ancient
cultures and long-forgotten traditions. They have survived the people
who worshipped their long-forgotten gods, who defended their motherland
in the fights with enemies who have also fallen into oblivion. Such
types of cultural objects appear to us as some kind of exhibits not
designed for use, not to mention their cultural reproduction.
Nevertheless, these objects, whether
they be architectural monuments, household items, manuscripts or
anything else, serve the needs of the people whose heritage they are,
being a strong foundation for their cultural self-identificat
and simultaneously the substance uniting the whole nation. Though the
people who presently inhabit those lands have not much in common with
the ancient ethnic groups which have left the heritage for them, the
land itself, as well as its history, serve as the basis for the culture
of the present-day generations. It is the land and the history that make
it possible to consider representatives of different religions and
bearers of distinguishing traditions as a single nation. In this sense,
the cultural monuments of the ancient Palmyra (Tadmur) are an element of
distant history, and if somebody believes that this art is prohibited
in Islam, this is by no means present-day art, it is not reproducible
and of course it is not reproduced by the contemporary Syrians, meaning
that this art cannot in any way threaten Muslims’ spiritual life and the
integrity of Muslim culture. The same refers to the religious “load” of
the monuments being destroyed by ISIS: even if at some moment of time
they served as temples for the gods overthrown by Islam, this happened
about 1,400 years ago, and since then these cults have remained non
reproducible.
they be architectural monuments, household items, manuscripts or
anything else, serve the needs of the people whose heritage they are,
being a strong foundation for their cultural self-identificat
and simultaneously the substance uniting the whole nation. Though the
people who presently inhabit those lands have not much in common with
the ancient ethnic groups which have left the heritage for them, the
land itself, as well as its history, serve as the basis for the culture
of the present-day generations. It is the land and the history that make
it possible to consider representatives of different religions and
bearers of distinguishing traditions as a single nation. In this sense,
the cultural monuments of the ancient Palmyra (Tadmur) are an element of
distant history, and if somebody believes that this art is prohibited
in Islam, this is by no means present-day art, it is not reproducible
and of course it is not reproduced by the contemporary Syrians, meaning
that this art cannot in any way threaten Muslims’ spiritual life and the
integrity of Muslim culture. The same refers to the religious “load” of
the monuments being destroyed by ISIS: even if at some moment of time
they served as temples for the gods overthrown by Islam, this happened
about 1,400 years ago, and since then these cults have remained non
reproducible.
