Saving History

Temple of Bel, Palmyra

I doubt there were very many across the world who weren't indescribably saddened and appalled, back in 2001, when the Taliban (remember them?) machine-gunned, bulldozed, and dynamited the 6th-century Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan. Since then, there've been many more such attacks in which ancient historical sites and artifacts have been systematically destroyed. That this is all taking place in the area where humankind and civilization first appeared makes these losses that much more poignant. But this kind of behavior is nothing new. It's been going on for as long as one group of people has conquered another (i.e., forever ...). In 1562, the Spanish bishop de Landa had 27 Maya codices and more than 5,000 sacred images and objects burned. Adolf Hitler decimated not just a population but centers of history and national identity (libraries, schools, religious institutions) in the countries he invaded. And closer to home, let's not forget Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea in 1864, when he and his troops destroyed just about everything in their way between Atlanta and Savannah.
   So now that Islamic State (aka ISIS aka ISIL) militants have taken over Palmyra, Syria, the nausea-inducing question is, How much history and how many invaluable artifacts will the world lose now? The follow-up is, Is there any way to save them? Palmyra goes back to the Neolithic period. In the second millennium BCE, it was a caravan stop for those crossing the desert. It's mentioned in the Hebrew bible and by Assyrian kings. And it's seen its share of conquerors. It was destroyed by the Romans in 273 and by the Timurids in 1400. So when IS's advance toward Palmyra became fact, archaeologists and museum personnel began to rescue what they could. Given the area's recent history, they've become ingenious at doing so. "But," Maamoun Abdulkarim, director general of antiquities and museums in Syria, asks rhetorically, "how do you save colonnades that weight a ton? How do you save temples and cemeteries and, and, and?": http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32824379
   On the lighter side of war and invasion, if there is such a thing, here's a quiz that will help you determine which historical conqueror you would be (me? Sun Tzu!): http://www.buzzfeed.com/javiermoreno/which-historical-conqueror-are-you#.ow4rwk2eD