The Destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan

Two of the largest and oldest statues ever created were the giant Buddhas near the small town of Bamyan, Afghanistan. They were carved directly into the sandstone cliffs near the town in the sixth century A.D. and stood 180 and 121 feet tall. They were considered the largest standing Buddha statues in the world. They stood for over 1,500 years, and are truly one of the marvels of the world.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the religious extremists in the Taliban government cracked down on all un-Islamic parts of Afghan society, banning television among other things. This crackdown eventually led to the declaration the monumental statues as un-Islamic. In March of 2001, in a shadow of perhaps what was to come later in September of that year, the Taliban government in Afghanistan ordered the Buddhas to be destroyed. It took almost a month, since the statues were carved directly into the mountain, but eventually, after repeated barrages of artillery fire, and other methods, the Buddhas were destroyed.

The condemnation of the act by the Taliban from the international community, was, as you might have guessed, universal. I believe that the human race lost a priceless piece of its heritage when the Taliban made that deplorable decision. On a positive note, since the Taliban government was overthrown, there have been plans to rebuild the monuments.


An old photo showing one of the Buddha's before it was destroyed:


During one of the barrages that eventually destroyed the Buddhas:

Winged Victory of Samothrace

Possibly one of my favorite sculptures is the Winged Victory of Samothrace (shown below). Though badly damaged, missing the head and arms, every time I came across photos of the sculpture I always found it inspiring. (I have never seen the sculpture in person, and hope to some day). The history of the sculpture makes it even more compelling I think. It is estimated that it was made in the second or third century B.C. Great art that has been created so long ago adds such a richness to the history of the human race, and goes to show that people are people, no matter when or where they lived. They had the same desires, aspirations, and built and created innovative things as we do today.

It currently resides at the Louvre, and is one of the most celebrated sculptures in the world.