Modern war on ancient civilisations : Causes and responses to the looting and destruction of the ancient near east in the 21st century

Abstract

The conduct and decisions of three disparate groups: a de facto government (the Taliban), an invading state force (the US-led Coalition forces) and an internal armed force (the Islamic State), each with their own specific backgrounds and agendas had a significant and disastrous impact upon the cultural property of Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Although the ancient reasons, the destruction of memory and genocide may still apply, there are additional reasons for the looting and destruction which differ from those historically accepted, and their analysis and application to existing measures designed to protect cultural property in such situations demonstrates their inability to respond in a practical and constructive manner. Many suggestions have been made to address this problem, but few address the source of the problem and seek instead to address the symptoms. If cultural property and its context are to survive long enough to reveal the knowledge and secrets it holds to ancient Near Eastern scholarship, the very manner in which it is viewed by the Eurocentric international community has to change, and the remaining traces of colonial arrogance have to be eliminated.