The Destruction of Cultural Treasures

Now and then I think about the cultural treasures lost to time, usually at the hands of men with an agenda.  It serves to undermine the permanence of any attempt to leave something for the ages.

• The DVD 1 Giant Leap claimed that the Great Library of Alexandria was burned by a Christian bishop during the Crusades, because he didn't want any evidence of man's achievements before the arrival of Christ.  The truth turns out to be a bit more nuanced.
  
• The Colossus of Rhodes was felled by an earthquake in 226 BC, but left undisturbed on the ground for 800 years.  In 653 AD an Islamic caliph had its bronze melted down.
  
• The marble sheathing on the Great Pyramids of Giza was stripped off during the Middle Ages to build marble palaces in Cairo.
  
• The nose of the Sphinx was supposedly shot off by Napoleon's soldiers for target practice during their campaign in Egypt 1798-1801.  Although this story is provably untrue, the real cause is still disputed.
  
• The National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad was looted during the United States invasion.
  
• The Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan were blown up by the Taliban in 2001.
  
• ISIL continues to destroy Shiite mosques and artwork today.
  

The only thing that persists, the only thing we are guaranteed to hand down to our future generations is stupidity. That never seems to go out of style.