Islamic State seized part of the town that is next to Palmyra, one of the Middle East's greatest archaeological sites.
I keep hearing about these great archaeological sites that ISIS is capturing that I never heard of before, and how is that? If it is so great then why haven't I heard of it, I'm big on this time of history and this general area, part of it anyway, I feel so inadequate. Every time I think that I have something fairly well covered I'm shown the ocean of things I don't know.
What is this Palmyra? How did it escape my attention until ISIS got there?
Wikipedia says Palmyra was an early second century BC caravan stop mentioned in the annals of the Assyrian Kings.
I hadn't heard of the annals of the Assyrian Kings. This is new to me.
And it might be mentioned in the Hebrew bible, but Wikipedia does not say where in the Hebrew bible nor under what name.
Palmyra was incorporated into the Seleucid Empire and later by the Roman Empire that brought it prosperity. By the third century Palmyra was a prosperous metropolis.
Roman emperor Aurelian defeated Palmyra 272 AD after a failed second rebellion becoming a minor city under a series of various rules, Byzantines, Rashiduns, Ummayads, Abbasids, Mamluks. Four fifths of whom I am hearing for the first time.
The society was tribal, they spoke their own dialect of Aramaic and Greek, both languages replaced by Arabic after being conquered in 634 and there you go we can stop reading right here because this would be where history languishes.
But let's continue anyway.
They had a distinctive culture, until they didn't. They were renowned merchants until they weren't. They worshiped local deities and various Mesopotamian and Arab gods until they converted to Christianity in the fourth century until they were conquered by Islam and their culture basically devolves to tribal conflicts, that's where all those rule-names I hadn't heard of follow in sequence.
Palmyra, the town that could'a had class, that could'a been a contender. It could'a been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what it is. Let's face it. It was you, Islam.
4 comments:
"soften hands while you do dishes."
Madge: "You're soaking in it!"
Half the guys I knew who came of age in the 50's and 60's could cough up that taxi scene in On The Waterfront on a moment's notice. "I coulda been a contenda instead of a bum, which is what I am." The wail of a whole generation.
The Visigoth hit town.
And I do mean hit it.
Post a Comment