palmyra

In their rampage across Syria and Iraq, the zealots of ISIS have wrecked and looted countless sites of archeological wonder: in the ancient Assyrian cities of Nimrud and Khorsabad, they’ve smashed temples and icons; in the Mosul Library, they’ve torched ancient manuscripts; at the Mosul Museum, they’ve turned deities and statues to rubble and dust. They even sacked Jonah’s tomb. Happy in their work, the ISIS wrecking teams have posted videos of their deeds ...
What will happen to Palmyra now? With ISIS in control, we should fear the worst; the place is filled with just the sort of religious likenesses that ISISfighters have been smashing in their lunatic journey. What they don’t destroy they will likely loot and sell; ISIS has made millions this way. 
Dexter Filkins, "ISIS In Palmyra." The New Yorker, May 21, 2015.

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These silent wrecks, more eloquent than speech,
Full many a tale of awful note impart:
Truths more severe than bard or sage can teach
This pomp of ruin presses on the heart ...
Thomas Love Peacock, "Palmyra."

***
But ceaseless war, and famine’s tortures slow,
Wear bravery out, and bring Palmyra low.
Nicholas Michell, "Palmyra."


Image: Art and Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. (1700 - 1799). A view of the ruines of Palmyra. Retrieved from the Digital Collections.