By Sergey Balmasov
Under the guise of the war with Qaddafi, West continues the old tradition of looting of archaeological sites of world importance.
This was the case during the occupation of Egypt, India and China in the XIX century and the same was observed recently in Iraq. It seems that the fate of the destroyed antiquities of Sumer and Babylon, also threatens the ancient cities in Libya.
The Libyan government has appealed [ jun 2011.]for assistance from the Government of Egypt, so that it blocked the path of smuggling ancient treasures of the cities Berenice and Shahhata (Siren), located in the east, as well as other ancient Roman and Greek cities, held temporarily by the rebels. At the disposal of the Libyan authorities were data on how the rebels have stolen marble statues, columns, mosaics and other ancient artifacts, and what could not be taken away, was blown up.
It seems that the Egyptian authorities began to take measures against looting of antiquities. However, it is not precisely known how effective they are and in what condition are the museums that fell into hands of the rebels.
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| Libya, Sabratha: Temple of Isis |
As it is not clear how much value, at that time, they managed to transport by sea from Benghazi to the West. The heritage from Phoenicians, the ancient cities Abroton (Sabratha or Sabrafa) and Leptis Magna in the west, have also suffered by the hands of the rebels. In fact the same city Sabrafa and Leptis Magna, which are more than 2,500 years old, were included in the UNESCO list of the most important cities.
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| Libya, Sirnes : Temple of Apollo |
This is no accident. The age of some buildings, such as Sirens - Temple of Apollo, is close to three thousand years old. In fact, these cities represent a huge open-air museums, so to evacuate most of the values there, was not possible. Although the rebels didn't spend that much time there, they had enough time to express themselves in all their glory. A rich collection of ancient glass and coins was severely affected. Also, it is not clear what happened to the famous ancient Roman frescoes in Leptis Magna, found here a few years earlier.
According to experts, by their artistic value, they were not inferior to the frescoes of Pompeii.
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| Libya: Leptis Magna |
Other priceless archaeological sites are threatened with destruction too.
For instance, located in the depths of Sahara, there is the ancient capital of Garamantes- Germa, where you could see the rock carvings and inscriptions of ancient people. But in any case, even the most optimistic case scenario, many of it can not come back.
The war for the "democratization of the Libyan people" turned to brutal destruction of monuments of world importance. The United States and the EU countries will not succeed to disown the actions of these vandals of the XXI century. It is said that "we are responsible for those who we have tamed." And this is directly related to the flirtation of the West with the Libyan rebels.
They direct their actions, they recognized their legitimate power, so they bear responsibility for what happens.
At the very least, that under the guise of NATO aircraft, the rebels managed to breeze in there on their trucks, which they quickly loaded with ""trophies." In addition, according to data from lessons learned in Iraq, the lion's share of the buyers of stolen Libyan property are from the West.
So far the details emerge of how American Special Forces soldiers looted Iraqi museums and sold the Babylonian and Sumerian antiquities to Western connoisseurs of antiquity in private collections.
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| Southern Libya, Fezzan desert: Cave painting 6000 BC |
In his commentary on "Pravda. Ru "Nicholay Sollogubovsky, representative of the Committee of Solidarity with the people of Libya and Syria, who visited the Libyan territory on regular basis, said:
"I am confident that looting of ancient artifacts is purposeful, commissioned by Western collectors of antiquities. This was the the case with Ben Ali, so I have serious concerns that the same fate awaits Cyrene, located in the vicinity of Benghazi, the fate of Babylonian values looted by the Americans. Those sites that are in Cyrenaica, are mercilessly plundered. While all these antiquities were carefully protected by Gaddafi in the name of humanity, now because of the actions of NATO they are threatened with destruction.
But in the West this is something they like talking about.”
However, in the destruction of several ancient cities NATO countries excelled themselves.
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Libya, Fezzan, village of Germa: the archaeological site |
Take, for example, in the city of Sebha located in Fezzan, where, under the pretext of destroying military warehouses, an ancient fortress and other buildings were heavily damaged.
Of course, during the air raids by the NATO alliance, archaeological sites in Tripoli were also affected. These are ancient buildings, some associated with the Phoenicians, Carthage and Rome, and mosques, including the famous Al-Jami, built back in 1640.
However, the leadership of the alliance is not particularly tormented by that.
In the beginning of the campaign they warned that they would not hesitate striking even the ancient cities, where military installations of Gaddafi might be hidden.
Before the war, the tourists there have seen nothing like that, since no military warehouses or colonel's forces were there. To seriously believe there is a strategically important military base there, equipped in a matter of days, it would be ridiculous.
Translated by Libya S.O.S.
by Сергей Балмасов НАТО воюет в Ливии с памятниками" древности - Pravda.ru:
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NATO Bombs UNESCO World Heritage Site and rebels smuggling the Libyan national treasure --> http://libyasos.blogspot.com/2011/08/rape-of-libya-nato-bombs-unesco-world.html
