Very important monuments destroyed by human stupidity and reckless behavior
A picture of the taller Buddha statue, with Taliban fighters standing below it, before the statues were blown up. Photo: Pascal Maitre/Panos Pictures
Our planet contains many wonderful monuments, and we are not talking about those found only in museums, but also buildings and monuments left over from previous civilizations.
But due to human ignorance or recklessness, our world has lost many important antiquities and artifacts, some of them for completely stupid reasons such as the desire to take a picture with these works of art, and some of them are caused by ignorance and blind hatred, as terrorist organizations did in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.
Get acquainted with us with 12 ancient monuments that were destroyed or destroyed by human actions:
1. Two tourists destroy a 300-year-old statue
Cremona statue consisting of the crown and two statues of Hercules.
Image: Zigres/Shutterstock
In 2015, two tourists made headlines in Italy after they destroyed a 300-year-old artifact. The artifact consists of two statues of Hercules, which are symbols of the city of Cremona in northern Italy, and according to legend, it was Hercules who discovered the city.
The two tourists, who are obsessed with taking selfies, smashed this symbolic statue after they tried to climb on it to take a picture. Part of the crown was destroyed as a result of the tourists' recklessness and indifference. By the way, this statue was designed since 1700, and was then placed at the gates of the city of Cremona, and then moved to the historic Loggia dei Militi, so you can imagine how symbolic this work of art is for the people of the city.
2. Destroying a pyramid from the Mayan civilization in order to pave a road
A bulldozer driver in Belize accidentally destroyed the Nomual archaeological complex.Photo: NICH Belize/AP
The Central American country of Belize is famous for its wonderful beaches overlooking the Caribbean, in addition to its coral reefs and the many monuments left over from the Mayan civilization.
In 2013, Belize lost one of those historical monuments, and the reason was that a construction company that wanted to pave roads destroyed a 2,300-year-old pyramid at the archaeological site of Nomul.
According to reports, this pyramid was built around the year 250 BC, and is about 20 meters tall, built of limestone. Archaeologist John Morris, of the Institute of Archeology of Belize, described this incident as “the worst thing I have witnessed in my 25 years of archaeological career.”
3. Two teens vandalize a 5,000-year-old rock carving in Norway
Engraving of the skater man before vandalizing him.Image: Smithsonian
The Norwegian island of Trou contains a 5,000-year-old rock carving depicting a man skating on ice, one of the first in the world to depict skating. Additionally, the 1994 Winter Olympics logo was inspired by this engraving, indicating its historical and cultural significance.
Unfortunately, this old engraving was accidentally ruined by two teenagers in 2016, when they tried to make the engraving more visible by using a sharp tool, and finishing the engraving's outline to make it more eye-catching.
Reports state that the original inscription was damaged beyond repair, and the mayor told reporters: “It's a tragedy! This is one of the most famous historical archaeological sites in Norway.”
Realizing their misconduct, the boys apologized for their ignorant behavior in a public statement. In any case, their identities remained unknown so that they would not be exposed to a threat to their lives after this behavior.
4. The house of William Shakespeare was destroyed in 1759
Shakespeare's garden after renovation.Image: Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Rev. Francis Gastrell bought the house of the famous English poet (William Shakespeare) in 1753, which is located in the town of Stratford in the county of Warkshire. Tourists and visitors flocked to Shakespeare's house as a famous figure in English history, but Gastrell did not like this, in addition to that the latter had several problems with local officials as a result of his tax evasion.
At first, (Gastrell) cut down a mulberry tree in the garden of the house, which Shakespeare had previously planted himself, which angered and infuriated the townspeople. After that, (Gastrell) made a move that will anger and madden the lovers and lovers of (Shakespeare): after 6 years of buying the house, (Gastrell) demolished the house of one of the most famous poets in history, and one of the symbols of England in general.
The people of Stratford were stunned by this news, and Gastrel became so hated and unwelcome in the town that he eventually had to leave. No reconstruction of the house took place, and only the foundations remain.
5. The Amber Room, one of the most beautiful works of art in the palaces of Russian emperors, was looted and vandalized by the Nazis
Amber room ceiling.Image: jeanyfan/WikiCommons
The Catherine Palace, located in Tsarskoe Selo, contained the Amber Room: a room decorated with 6 tons of amber and semi-precious stones, designed by the German sculptor (Andreas Schlüter) and built by the Danish amber artist (Gottfried Wolfram), and sent to Russia in 18 large containers in the contract The first is from the 18th century, and the room was finally housed in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, and was part of the European Art Collection.
The room was a gift from the King of Prussia (Friedrich I) to the Tsar of Russia (Peter I) in 1716 to celebrate the peace between them, and a number of international artists participated in its construction in that period, and historians estimate the value of the room at $ 142 million in today's money.
In 1941, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, an operation in which the Soviet Union was invaded by 3 million German soldiers. The Nazis stole thousands of art collections from the Amber Room, and the Nazis claimed at the time that those works were made by German artists, and therefore belonged to the Germans.
Those in charge of the palace tried to cover the ward with wallpaper, but the ruse was exposed, and the Nazis dismantled the room and transported it to Germany. The room was placed in the Königsberg Castle Museum, and was displayed there for two years. But in the late days of Nazi Germany, the castle was bombed by Allied planes, and the castle museum was completely destroyed, and thus any trace of the Amber Room was lost.
The chamber was recreated, and reconstruction work began in 1979 in Tsarskoye Selo, and was completed 25 years later. The Russian and German presidents celebrated the opening of the room, and this came on the 300th anniversary of the founding of the city of St. Petersburg, and the new room is still on display in the Tsarskoye Selo Museum.
6. The destruction of Hatra, a UNESCO World Heritage site, by ISIS
Antiquities of Hatra Kingdom in Iraq.Image: Wikimedia Commons
Thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced by the terrorist practices of ISIS, but in addition to destroying people's lives, the organization has intentionally destroyed many artifacts and monuments in Iraq and Syria, and traded these antiquities illegally to make money.
In 2015, militias affiliated with the organization destroyed the archaeological site of the Hatra Kingdom in Iraq, a site built 2,000 years ago. This archaeological site is less than 100 kilometers southwest of the city of Mosul. The archaeological site was previously a fortified city with impregnable walls that withstood the Roman invasions. Hatra contained a number of temples and statues dedicated to pagan gods.
Members of ISIS destroy statues of the Kingdom of Hatra.Image: NBC News
ISIS militias used explosives and bulldozers to smash and destroy buildings, and the organization had previously announced its explicit intention to destroy the archaeological site, considering these antiquities as mere "false idols" that its followers must destroy. The ISIS crime was classified as a malicious project aimed at "cultural cleansing".
7. A truck driver drives his vehicle on the Nazca Lines, a 2,000-year-old archaeological landmark.
An aerial view of the Nazca Lines shows the extent of these works of art and the ingenuity of their makers. The lines in this image represent a condor.Photo: Rodrigo Abd/Associated Press
In 2018, a reckless driver drove his truck down a road containing a 2,000-year-old archaeological landmark, the Nazca Lines, which are geoglyphs formed from dirt that represent animal figures such as a spider, monkey, dog, and other geometric shapes, carved between the years 400 AD. and 650 AD. Because of the dry climate, those lines have survived to this day.
These lines depicted creatures, animals, and geometric shapes as well, which gives us an idea of their historical and archaeological importance.Photo: Aaron Oberlander/Getty Images
It seems that the reckless driver did not heed the road signs warning him not to drive in this area. The police were able to identify the driver, a man in his forties at the time, who left the tracks of his truck wheels on a large area of the site, which led to damage to 3 of these geoglyph designs. However, the court saw no evidence that the driver's behavior was intentional.
The lines in this image represent what a tree looks like.Image: Diego Delso
Despite this, those lines were of great importance, as UNESCO said in a statement about the incident: “It is the most prominent group of geoglyphs in the world, and there is no equal in terms of size, extension, length, diversity and quality.”
8. The destruction of a sixth-century Buddha statue by the Taliban
The Great Buddha before and after its destruction. Photo: Sayed Salahuddin/Reuters
It is well known that wars destroy our planet mercilessly and without any logic, and over the past few decades, Afghanistan has been the greatest example of the cruelty of war. Afghanistan lost a lot during the period of war and violence, but the biggest cultural and archaeological loss was the destruction of the Buddha statue in Bamiyan.
In fact, the site contains two Buddha statues carved into a plateau in the Bamiyan Valley. The destroyed statue dates back to the sixth century, when Bamiyan was a sacred Buddhist site visited by tens of thousands of monks.
The large statue was the tallest statue of Buddha until 2001, when Taliban extremists planted explosives around the monument and detonated it. The Taliban forced their captives to carry explosives, which took them about a month.
At first, the Taliban militia tried to destroy the statues with tanks and artillery shells, but when this method failed, the extremists resorted to explosives to destroy the statues. Unfortunately, the two statues were almost completely destroyed, and despite the reconstruction, this incident remains an example of human stupidity.
9. Sylvie destroys a statue of a 126-year-old Portuguese king
Image: ribeiroantonio/Shutterstock
There are plenty of accidents caused by those reckless selfie maniacs, and one victim of this stupidity is an artifact in Portugal.
The artifact is a child-sized statue of the King of Portugal (Sebastiao I), which was placed outside the Rossio train station in Lisbon, and remained steadfast for 126 years until it fell at the hands of a tourist taking a selfie.
The man, then 24, was climbing the statue to take a perfect photo, but accidentally dropped the statue and smashed it into pieces. The man tried to escape from the crime scene, but the police managed to arrest him later.
King Sebastão I ruled Portugal from 1557 to 1578, and was crowned king when he was only three years old. The king died when he was 24 years old, after being wounded in the Battle of Al-Qasr Al-Kabir in 1578 against the army of the Moroccan Sultan Abd Al-Malik I Al-Saadi.
10. 1,800-year-old tombs were destroyed in China to open an Ikea branch
Tombs dating back 1,800 years.
In 2007, a project to open a new branch of the famous Ikea company in Nanjing, China, led to the destruction of historical artifacts and monuments.
The construction workers, busy laying the foundations for the new IKEA mall, didn't realize that they had destroyed 10 ancient tombs that were nearly 1,800 years old. These tombs date back to the period of the Six Dynasties, that is, between the years 220 and 589 AD, and were discovered on the outskirts of the southeastern section of the ancient city.
According to Chinese archaeologists, the well-built tombs indicate that they may be the tombs of a wealthy family from the period. These tombs were characterized by green bricks decorated with carvings of the lotus flower. Unfortunately, these tombs were destroyed during the use of heavy machinery and bulldozers when digging and laying the foundations of the building.
Chinese law allows for penalties for destroyers and vandals of ancient artifacts, and the penalty is an amount of money ranging from 50,000 to 500,000 yuan, or approximately $6,600 to $65,000. However, no charges were brought against the workers or the company, and the law was not applied in this incident.
11. The loss of the original photos of the first human landing on the moon, due to an unintended error
Image: NASA
The landing of man on the moon is one of the most amazing and greatest human achievements in history, thanks to the US space agency “NASA” and the “Apollo 11” mission.
In 1969, about 650 million people around the world watched this event, however, rumors arose that NASA lost the original photos taken during this great event.
After much research and investigation on the original photos and recordings, NASA finally admitted in 2006 that it had lost the original video recording of the landing on the Moon, and that the engineer (Richard Nafsager) had been searching for it at the Goddard Space Flight Center since its loss, and the center is one of the leading laboratories in research. Aerospace Maryland and affiliated with NASA.
Later, NASA said that it had found the recording tape it was looking for, but unfortunately, the content stored on it was deleted and the tape was reused for another video recording by mistake.
This, of course, is what prompted more people to question the moon landing incident and the Apollo 11 mission in the first place, and to consider the matter as a mere play by NASA.
12. An American tourist breaks the finger of a 600-year-old statue in Florence
Duomo Opera Museum in Florence.Image: Visit Florence
In 2013, the reckless behavior of an American tourist outraged the residents of Florence, Italy.
The 55-year-old tourist was touching artifacts in the Duomo Opera Museum in Florence, and completely ignored all warnings instructing tourists not to touch artifacts. The tourist's reckless actions led to the destruction of the finger of the Virgin Mary, which was designed by the Italian sculptor (Giovanni Ambrogio) in the Middle Ages, and the finger of the statue, which was carved 600 years ago, was dislocated!
The guards noticed that the tourist was touching the very precious sculpture, but they were unable to stop him immediately, especially since the museum does not have surveillance cameras.
Ambra Nepi, director of communications at the museum, told reporters: “The statue was basically fragile, and every year we get used to the damage or destruction of pieces of art in the museum.”
No charges were filed against the tourist, but he had to go to the police station and file a report. However, the art recovery team said they could eventually repair the damage.
It is not required that destructive actions be based on ignorance or lack of knowledge, but it is enough for one to ignore some facts to find himself in great trouble, or to cause great harm to things that are priceless.
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