Those of you who have been keeping up with the blog know that in addition to majoring in PCJ, I also have two minors in anthropology and archaeology. Throughout these last four years at U of T, I have found that when the three overlap (and they do, with surprising frequency) it is often dramatic.

Never before has this been more relevant than in recent days, with the rampant destruction of Iraq’s archaeological treasures by ISIS.

Destruction of artifacts at Mosul Museum, Iraq
George Dvorksy: io9

Like many of my friends in the discipline, I follow several archaeological publications, keep tabs on articles from major news outlets featuring archaeology, and actively engage in discourse surrounding what is happening in the current archeological sphere. In the past few weeks many of those articles have featured images of extremists in Iraq taking sledgehammers to artifacts at the Mosul Museum, attacking archaeological sites with bulldozers, and alleging that other artifacts have been sold to the antiquities market in order to fund the continuation of the insurgency.

I can tell you that every time a statue shatters, my heart does too.

We don’t have time travel; our only mechanism for understanding the past is the remnants of the societies created by our ancestors. I believe that archaeology is incredibly important to society – we can learn who we used to be and how we got to where we are. Perhaps it can help us avoid mistakes made in the past, or teach us new ways of living we may not have considered. We are often in awe of the ingenuity of past humans, marveling at what they could accomplish without all the technology of today. Yet, archaeological sites or artifacts are often overlooked during conflict situations.

There are a few particularly famous incidences of looting and destruction of art and archaeological artifacts or sites during conflict. The first happened during the Second World War, when Hitler and the upper echelons of the Nazi party pillaged art from across Europe to fill their private collections and public galleries in Germany. Much of it was taken from the private homes and collections of citizens in occupied countries, particularly Jews. The works disappeared, and to this day many are still missing or have yet to be returned.

Other incidences are significantly more recent. In Afghanistan, the Taliban blew up the Bamiyan Buddhas; two massive statues built around 500 AD that were stunning examples of the region’s culture. Formally declared a UNESCO world heritage site, the statues were dynamited as an act of extremist religious iconoclasm. The world was shocked, and immediately condemned the action. The archaeological community wept.

Similar is the rampant looting and destruction that took place during the war in Iraq. The Iraq museum faced the theft of several thousand objects, both coalition forces and insurgents destroyed many archaeological sites, and the loss to our collective cultural heritage was unquantifiable. Iraq is where civilization really began, and its archaeological sites are amongst the most precious.

There are many international laws governing the protection of “cultural heritage” during conflict, including protocols to the Hague convention and UNESCO declarations. But these are rarely enforced; there is no real international organization dedicated to preventing art theft or artifact looting. The only solution is for governments to begin caring, and to understand that the tangible remnants of the past are worth protecting during war.

I understand that this is only the latest from ISIS, and that the acts of violence they perpetrate against other humans are enormously worse than the destruction of mere objects. But along with my anger at the senseless violence, the archaeologist in me breaks apart when such priceless heritage objects are destroyed.

I don’t understand how any God would desire such violence, death, and destruction. Mine does not, and I know most who practice Islam would agree that theirs doesn’t either. I have no answer to the question of why these people feel that ancient statues are a threat.

I don’t know how we make it stop. But we cannot sit by and do nothing. If we allow this to continue we will have be complicit in the destruction of humanity’s most ancient past and incredible violence against innocent people. And in this modern day and age, that is unacceptable.