Throughout 2015, the Islamic State (ISIS) was a major news story for its destruction of Ancient Near Eastern collections and heritage sites, which created a spectacle across media. The focus of ISIS’s infamous video uploaded in February of 2015 was the colossal statue of a Lamassu, which was an ancient Assyrian guard deity. By focusing on the Lamassu, this thesis aims to address the Western concept of a “cradle of civilization” and ISIS’s motivation for destroying the sculpture. I utilize Kwame Appiah’s philosophy of cosmopolitanism in order to flesh out the language in which ISIS is communicating, namely through its destruction. What becomes apparent is a complex relationship with Near Eastern antiquities, which is best understood by analyzing the motivations of local looters. To conclude, I use ISIS’s destruction in order to offer thoughts on the concept of destruction with an aim to open dialogue regarding differing cultural value systems.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:GEORGIA/oai:scholarworks.gsu.edu:art_design_theses-1215 |
| Date | 07 May 2016 |
| Creators | Bearden, Lauren |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University |
| Source Sets | Georgia State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Art and Design Theses |
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