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March 23, 2008
No One To Read The Ancient Writing
Among the things that struck me in the recent report of the discovery of a hitherto unknown Babylonian town in Iraq was this,
He [head archaeologist Mohammed Yahya] added that his team has come across several cuneiform tablets but “there is no one to read the ancient writing because Iraqi experts with the knowledge to decipher Mesopotamian script have fled the country.”
To be sure, there are far more devastating consequences of the Iraq war than the loss of their assyriologists, but this is a shocking loss nonetheless.
Posted by Duane Smith at March 23, 2008 3:45 PM | Read more on Current Events |
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Comments
(Eeek, I can't hold my tongue...) I honestly don't think this will be much of a shocker too much of the North American public if the History Channel is representative of our "interest" in history. Whatever knowledge is lost from the Iraq War can always be replaced with mystery, alien conspiracies and christian voodoo anyway. Facts usually either make people sleepy or very sad, so we should avoid them to make history entertaining and to serve the interests of corporations.
Posted by: Glen Gordon at March 24, 2008 2:35 AM
I don't think it is shocking given the violence and instability in the country. I'd leave too if it meant personal and familial safety.
Posted by: Alan Lenzi at March 24, 2008 7:57 PM
Perhaps I should have said, "I was shocked" rather than "it is shocking." But perhaps what shocked me was that I hadn't thought about this rather than it is shocking that they left the country. As Alan said, "I'd leave too. . ."
Posted by: Duane at March 24, 2008 8:37 PM
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