Dead lion, a photo from Hims, South

Photographer's Note

The Lion of Al-lāt (Arabic اللات) was an ancient statue of a lion holding a crouching gazelle which adorned the temple of pre-Islamic goddess Al-lāt in Palmyra, Syria. The statue was made from limestone ashlars in the early 1st century AD and measured 3.5 m in height, weighing 15 tonnes. The lion was regarded as the consort of Al-lāt. The gazelle symbolized Al-lāt's tender and loving traits, as bloodshed was not permitted under penalty of Al-lāt's retaliation. The lion's left paw had a partially damaged Palmyrene inscription which read: tbrk ʾ (Al-lāt will bless) mn dy lʾyšd (whoever will not shed) dm ʿl ḥgbʾ (blood in the sanctuary).
During the Syrian Civil War the statue was shielded with a metal plate and sandbags to protect it from fighting.

On 27 June 2015 the statue was demolished by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant after it had captured Palmyra.

This statue of lion stood near the archeological museum in Palmyra. I was with an organized tour and we didn't go to this museum. But I went alone to see the sculptures near the entrance. I liked especially this lion.

Close up of the lion
Big beta picture

lousat, jjcordier, ChrisJ, mcmtanyel ha contrassegnato questa nota come utile

Critiques | Translate

batalay (41261) 2015-08-25 13:56

Hello Malgorzata,

Excellent photo, and even better commentary on the state of affairs. I have been working on my new book, "No Ordinary Genius," focusing on five transformative geniuses — Leonardo, Shakespeare, Newton, Beethoven and Einstein. None of the 26 Nobel Laureates I've met qualify (they are all "ordinary geniuses," except for two perhaps, Dirac and Feynman). Genius has its limitations, stupidity and ignorance has no limitations whatsoever. Do you remember the two colossal Buddha statues in Bamyan, Afghanistan?

Warm regards,

Bulent

carlo62 (81265) 2015-08-25 14:52

Ciao Malgo
io penso che un giorno (molto lontano) tutto quello che noi vediamo oggi non ci sarà più, eventi più o meno naturali sconvolgeranno il mondo che conosciamo, così come è successo più volte nelle epoche passate. Ma tra questi eventi e la pazzia umana c'è molta differenza, la mia testa non riesce neanche a concepire un simile scempio, così come la testa di quasi tutti (per fortuna), ma "quasi" non vuol dire tutti, qualcuno, in qualche parte del mondo, la pensa in modo diverso, troppo diverso.
Saluti
Carlo

jjcordier (79299) 2015-08-25 23:33

Malgorzata
Je me demande comment ces barbares peuvent détruire de tels trésors de l'humanité? Quel désastre!
Amicalement
JJ

mkamionka (73410) 2015-08-27 8:39

Czesc Malgorzata,
uroczy lew rzeczywiscie. Ciekawie widac jak brakujace miejsca zostaly wypelnione nowym betonem.
To wyglada jak miejsce z atmosfera. Ja czesto wole chodzic dokola tzn byc na zewnatrz niz wchodzic do ciemnego wnetrza.
Ogromnie szkoda ze to miejsce zostalo zniszczone.
Ja nie bede mial okazji go juz zobaczyc...
Niesamowite ze to sie dzieje niemal na naszych oczach ze budowle chocby tak charakterystyczne jal WTC w NYC znikaja z panoramy miasta na zawsze.
I to wszystko za naszych niby nowoczesnych czasow.
No ale oczywiscie sam fakt ze ludzie sie morduja z tak prozaicznych powodow , badz tez, jak to u nas w Polsce nie potrafia rzeczowo rozmawiac w polityce ale zachowuja sie jak dzieci...
Troche wstyd ze ludzkosc sie cofa w rozwoju. Zamiast stanac ponad podzialami i skupic sie na wspolnym dobru.
Tymczasem ludzie i tu i tam robia sie coraz bardziej pazerni. Sa bardziej sklonni doprowadzic do kryzysu globalnego niz zrezygnowac z kupna kolejnej rezydencji.
A moze tak naprawde nic sie od czasow starozytnych tak naprawde nie zmienilo?

Swiatlo mialas tutaj troche niekorzystne nie mniej teraz to zdjecie ma tak ogromna wartosc...
Pozdrawiam,
M

ChrisJ (171252) 2015-08-27 14:57

Hello Malgorzata,

Yet another example of stupidity and ignorance having no limitations, so nicely put by Bulent. I do hope that when all Isis members are dead or crawl back under the rocks they emerged from, this lion will be meticulously rebuilt. It's been done before with Turkish relics from Hattusa. Some originals are at Hattusa museum, with good copies I saw in Berlin, and vice versa (copies at Hattusa, originals in Berlin). They are fools, because the more they destroy the less safe they will be from drone strikes. Anyway, good sharpness and a sad end to the whimsical lion who never harmed anyone! Tfs.

mcmtanyel (67681) 2015-09-01 20:23

Hello Malgo,
Sad, so sad! I get so mad at such news that I'd rather not think about it. If the archeologists that unearthed this work of art had known its fate, they would have surely left it alone.
Thanks for identifying the reproduction of Michelangelo's Pietà.
Regards,
MT

jmdias (114296) 2015-10-15 2:17

malgorzata

amazing sculpture and at least the image of it will be preserved in photos like yours. devils in the surface of the world can do such damages in the mankind but it faced many others during its journey before and at the end the crazy branches were ever defeated by the light.

hugs

jorge