The Museum Of Lost Objects: Palmyra

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 14 August 2016

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In May 2015, the Syrian city of Palmyra was captured by the forces of the so-called Islamic State. Few of the group's excesses have won as much attention as their ravaging of the city. They have waged a campaign of violence against the local population, and they systematically destroyed many of the city's great monuments, including the 2,000 year old Temple of Bel; the Lion of al-Lat, an ancient sculpture of a protective spirit; and the nearby shrine of Mar Elian in the Syrian desert that was beloved by both Christian and Muslim communities for hundreds of years. The three-part series, the Museum of Lost Objects, traces the histories of ten lost treasures through the stories of people who knew and loved them. From sculptures and shrines to tombs and temples, we explore how these ancient treasures have remained present in the lives of Iraqis and Syrians right up to this grim modern era of destruction. What you’ll hear is a recreation of sorts: these places and objects reimagined through local legends, histories and extraordinary personal stories. Think of it as a virtual Museum of Lost Objects; its curator is the history-obsessed writer, Kanishk Tharoor. Picture: The Temple of Bel, Credit: Getty Images

Transcript

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0:00.0	When you enter that space, you are walking in the footsteps of the most ancient humans.
0:09.0	Even the ancient floors were wobbly and in some ways that gave it the ancient feel.
0:13.0	And I think I did what most locals do is that you take things for granted.
0:17.0	I assume that the site was around for thousands of years and they're going nowhere.
0:21.0	From Nineveh to Palmyra, Aleppo to Baghdad,
0:24.0	these are stories of ancient places that have become modern battlegrounds,
0:28.0	of monuments bulldozed and bombed, and of those individuals trying to protect the past from the chaos of the present,
0:35.0	even if all that's left are memories.
0:38.0	Spending the summers in Nineveh was no brain art.
0:42.0	For us kids was a discovery, not just play.
0:46.0	I'm Karish Thaurur. I'm a writer and history obsessed journalist.
0:49.0	Over the next three weeks, we're telling the stories of ancient sites and antiquities destroyed or looted in Iraq and Syria.
0:56.0	And we'll make what we're calling the Museum of Lost Objects.
1:00.0	They give you stories. It's not only a piece of art.
1:04.0	He is like a person of freedom. He is like a statue of freedom.
1:08.0	And bit by bit, we will have recreated, in a virtual and anecdotal way at least,
1:13.0	some of the antiquities that have been lost.
1:16.0	From mosaics to minaret, sculptures to shrines,
1:19.0	we'll be exploring how these antiquities have remained present in the lives of Iraqis and Syrians
1:24.0	right up to this grim modern era of destruction.
1:27.0	We have a long connection to this land.
1:29.0	This isn't just a devastating international crisis, if you will.
	...

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