February 26, 2003
We are the Barbarians at the Gate, and not for the first time.
Iraq has hundreds of thousands of archaeological sites. Some 10,000 have been identified, but only a fraction have been explored. Any of them could change what we know about human history, as past excavations have done. Some have already revealed the world's earliest known villages and cities and the first examples of writing.
So begins “Oldest Human History Is at Risk,” a New York Times article by Holland Cotter, which goes on to cite the damage we’ve already done to the religious shrines and irreplaceable cultural treasures of a land and a people we, again, threaten to annihilate. Our self-righteous warring is likely to destroy places that are part of other sacred traditions as well – for example, Ur, which the Bible says is the birthplace of Abraham.
"If any of the holiest Shiite shrines at Karbala, Najaf or Kadhumain are hit, we can only expect a very angry reaction from Muslims everywhere," said Zainab Bahrani, who was born in Iraq and teaches Islamic art at Columbia University. "It would be like bombing St. Peter's in Rome."
We are the Barbarians at the Gate. Again. What makes us think that any God would want to claim us – never mind bless us!
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