UPDATE: It is being reported by Gulf News that the government of Morocco has released a statement asserting that the Muslim radicals did not destroy any rock carvings. In consideration of the fanatics' past history, one finds it difficult to believe that someone simply made up this story. The jury remains out - we would love to see images of the carvings, now that the world's attention is on them. The original story came from a "local rights group," The Amazigh [Berber] League for Human Rights, and it is difficult to believe this NGO would falsify such a story, unless to draw attention to the jihadis in their lands?
Here is one reason I continually try to educate about the dangers of religious fanaticism, especially of the intolerant, monotheistic Abrahamic variety. This fanaticism has been destroying ancient cultures and their artifacts for over 2,500 years now, as found in the Old Testament and Christian history. This atrocity in Morocco is merely the latest incarnation - very distressing, especially for students and scholars of archaeology. To archaeologists, such destruction borders on blasphemy. One of my archaeologist friends says he is physically sickened by this sort of anti-humanity vandalism. The individuals involved in this blasphemous behavior should be charged with a crime against humanity in denigrating and destroying part of our shared ancestral heritage. For shame!
Note that these ancient artifacts had to do with sun worship/solar mythology, a massive part of humanity's religious traditions dating back thousands of years. This astrotheological development occurred when human beings made observations of their natural world, including the sun, moon, planets, stars and constellations. The erasure of our past is like a virus eradicating the global computer files of humanity. It is utterly disgraceful and, again, blasphemous against our religion/philosophy. It must be stopped!
Salafists blamed for destroying pagan rock carving in Morocco
An 8,000-year-old rock engraving depicting the Sun as a divinity has been destroyed in the south of Morocco, local residents said, blaming Salafists seeking to impose their fundamentalist view of Islam.
Ahmed Assid, a prominent activist for the indigenous Amazigh people and member of the Royal Institute for Amazigh Culture (IRCAM), said the pagan rock engraving, known as a petroglyph -- was destroyed this week in the Toubkal National Park.
"The information we have received from Amazigh activists in the area suggests Salafists were behind the act," Assid told Reuters, noting however that he had yet to see pictures of the destroyed petroglyph.
"This act follows a noticeable rise in Salafist activities in predominantly-Amazigh regions of Morocco to enforce a puritanical interpretation of Islam," he added.
He said, for example, Salafists were encouraging parents not to play traditional Amazigh music at their children's weddings, giving them cash handouts to opt instead for Islamic religious chants.
"Their view is that aspects of Amazigh culture, including pre-Islamic heritage, still present today defeat the purpose of the Islamic conquests," he added.
Morocco has generally followed a tolerant form of Sunni Islam, but Salafists rose to prominence after the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, with hundreds jailed for 2003 bombings in the town of Casablanca.
After the popular uprisings which swept the Arab world last year - which Morocco mostly escaped - they have been expanding their influence across North Africa.
Meryem Demnati, of the Amazigh Freeedoms and Rights Watchdog, also confirmed the destruction of the petroglyph and added that residents in the area blamed Salafists.
Officials at the Moroccan culture ministry could not be reached for comment.
Amazigh, or Imazighen, lived in north Africa long before Muslims set foot in the land in the 7th century. While there are no official figures on their numbers, Morocco is widely believed to have the biggest Amazigh community in the world.
Assid said Moroccan authorities were partly to blame for failing to protect ancient artifacts and other Amazigh archaeological sites.
"Some 37,000 Amazigh petroglyphs like the one that was destroyed this week have been smuggled out of Morocco in the past 20 years," said Assid.
In July, al Qaeda-linked Islamist fighters used pick-axes, shovels and hammers to shatter earthen tombs and shrines of local saints in Mali's fabled desert city of Timbuktu on the grounds they were defending the purity of their faith against idol worship.
(Reporting By Souhail Karam; Editing by Myra MacDonald)
The AFP article also discusses the artifact as having to do with sun worship:
Salafists destroy ancient Morocco carvings: NGO
Stone carvings in Morocco's High Atlas mountains dating back more than 8,000 years and depicting the sun as a pagan divinity have been destroyed by Salafists, a local rights group said on Wednesday.
"These stone carvings of the sun are more than 8,000 years old. They were destroyed several days ago," Aboubakr Anghir, a member of the Amazigh (Berber) League for Human Rights, told AFP.
"One of the carvings, called 'the plaque of the sun,' predates the arrival of the Phoenicians in Morocco," Anghir said.
"It lies in a well-known archaeological site in the Yakour plain south of Marrakesh, 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Mount Toubkal."
"There are several Salafist groups active in the region and it's not the first time these pre-Islamic sites have been attacked. We have sent a message to the ministry of culture, but have not yet received a reply," he added.
Salafists, Muslims who adhere to a hardline Sunni interpretation of Islam similar to that practised in Saudi Arabia, which strictly prohibits "idolatry," have enjoyed a surge in strength in Arab Spring countries, benefiting from wider freedom.
Late on Monday, one of Tunisia's main Sufi mausoleums was burned down in an overnight arson attack, seemingly the latest in a spate of attacks on unorthodox Sufi shrines by the country's increasingly assertive Salafists.
In northern Mali, which is close to Morocco, radical Islamists have destroyed ancient World Heritage shrines they consider idolatrous since seizing control of the region earlier this year.
Further Reading
Muslim clerics call for destruction of Egypt's Great Pyramid and other antiquities
Quotes from the Bible
Victims of the Christian Faith
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|2012-10-19 00:37:54 Anonymous - Not really news...Not new, the Taliban destroyed those Buddhist rock carvings in Afghanistan years back. Big bas-reliefs of the Buddha, they smashed them with explosives IIRC.
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|2012-10-19 00:50:30 Shane - What a bunch ofMisguided dummies! Maybe because they aren't doing something important enough to make their day exciting enough ? To go out and cut some rock? Put some indoor plumbing in or dig a well or something, sheesh!! Do something productive, and quit proving to the world that all you can do is destroy sh*t! What's the matter with the world when brainless douche bags get to decide what intellectual things are evil?
" , me go bang , bang, bang on rock, me make evil looky thingy go by by! " " ugh ugh ee ee ah ah!" " we go burn ,kill kill ,Allah ! Pa -lease! Get a real job. Quit trying to do your god's work. Impatient little children .- peace
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|2012-10-19 01:30:59 hp - they all look the same to meIf one is perceived to be an idolator, one might expect all three of the desert relatives to act pretty much the same, ultimately.
Sort of an exclusive agreed upon anomaly, an exception to the rule.
By idolator I don't mean money worship or any material endeavor, rather the opposite, the true meaning of arca-vigraha, deity worship.
Harmless, sweet, beautiful, transcendental.
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|2012-10-19 02:31:24 Paul Pace - IslamIslam is a completely false and diabolical religion started by an epileptic, hash abusing, pedophile. The sooner the world destroys this evil cult, starting with nuclear bombs on Mecca and Medina, the better!
Islam is war propaganda disguised as religion!
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|2012-10-19 04:58:43 Anonymous - Only HumanThe only human phenomenon more paradoxical than our radical identification with physical form is our rabid identification with ideology. With the dissolution,... that we may become true human beings.
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|2012-10-19 05:01:53 CindyThis is sad! Were there no photos of it before it was destroyed? I'm so curious as to what it looked like, but notice that no one apparently has photos of the original carvings.
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|2012-10-19 13:57:14 Anonymous - OopsiesLooks like this article is a work of fiction...
http://gulfnews.com/news/region/morocco/morocco-denies-salafist-des...
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|2012-10-19 16:10:25 Acharya SThank you. My article is not "fiction." I have accurately related what two out of many news agencies reported, based on the claims by a local rights group and NGO, The Amazigh [Berber] League for Human Rights.
The jury is still out. We need to find out why this local group made these claims, if no damage was actually done. Could it be to draw attention to Islamic radicals in the region?
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|2012-10-19 17:42:26 Anonymous - IslamIn ancient times before written history, women dominated society over that of man. Karma occured and now in recent history it is a male dominated society with Islam being one vehicle. Although there were other cultures and religions that did this as well. Now with the dawning of the new age a lot of this karma has been balanced and supposedly we are entering an era where both male and females are more or less going to be on equal footing. Islam will either have to go or have to become much more liberal towards its treatment of women if it wants to survive the new age.
Although I don't personally like the demonization of Islam, I understand the spiritual and also the conspiratorial reasons as to why it is happening.
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|2012-10-20 00:23:55 Lokkopop - False info by exremist berbersBeen debunked as journalists including from AFP and governement official went on site yesterday afternoon and found nothing destroyed !!! Video on youtube
The Amazigh (berber) group that gave this false info is known to be an extremist nationalist berber group and their main opponents are salafist muslims.
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|2012-10-20 16:57:29 ASYes, I included an update at the top of the article. Why are the natives of a country besieged by foreigners, including slavers and invaders with their desert warrior cult, being called "extremist nationalists?" And why should they not fight against some of the most evil cultists on Earth?
They have gotten our attention regardless. These Salafis should not even be in Morocco in the first place. Get them out! They are invaders bent on destroying the pre-Islamic culture, and these NATIVES know that fact very well.
Knowing what is coming, after the demented Salafists have destroyed the shrines of Timbuktu and countless other sacred sites worldwide, I can't say as I blame these NATIVES for putting out the call before the obvious occurs.
I wish them luck - like I say, these sites represent humanity's shared cultural heritage, and they had best be protected. So should the pre-Islamic Berber culture.
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|2012-10-20 15:41:22 AnonymousInterestingly christianity is a full boat of idolatry including crosses,pictures of Jesus,obelisks and statues of saints and Angels and the adoration of a man called Holly Father, not to mention the bastardized Saturnalia disguised as christmas and the worship of the
weekly Sun- day.
In conclusion,all religions are wrong and self serving as well as divisive.
Where are the voices of dissent?...
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|2012-10-20 19:33:56 Pray Hard - I knew ...that someone would have to toss in the usual equivocation about Christians. As much as I'd like to wake some morning and learn that Islam had utterly disappeared from the Universe, I'd almost enjoy it as much to read an article about Islam, anywhere, where I didn't also have to read posters equivocating about how bad Christians and or Jews are also.
Anyway, in a sense, it doesn't really matter whether this particular piece of "news" is true or not. (Of course, I prefer it to not be true) There are so many other instances of Islamic barbarity involving the destruction of the records of our common history and humanity. And, without worldwide intervention against Islam, these sorts of things will continue to happen and get worse. I don't have an answer about how we do that except by educating ourselves and following sites like this one.
Obviously, Islam is growing in size, speed, vileness, destructiveness, etc., at an ever increasing pace involving more and more geographical territory. It is something that we have lost the luxury of being "neutral" on. The USG can say that we're not at war with Islam. However, that is a meaningless statement, because they are at war with us. Because Islam is an addictive mind meme, an unquenchable infinite regression, it can never be satisfied. This makes it eternally, perpetually, increasingly destructive. If the entire surface of the Earth was burnt to a crisp and all Jews, Christians, infidels, kuffars, 14 year old girls and dumbass Baptist preachers were burned to ashes, Muslims would still not be satisfied. As can be seen 24/7/365/1,400, when they can't slaughter us, they slaughter each other. When there's no one to slaughter, they destroy things. So, attempting to appease, whitewash, explain, rationalize, equivocate their behavior is a complete and dangerous waste of time. Clear your minds, boys and girls, and stop trying to be politically correct. It will do you no good with Muslims. The sooner you realize that Islam is poison and start thinking and acting accordingly, the better off we all will be.
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|2012-10-21 00:53:11 Archie1954 - Pray Hard-I knewBut it is also Muslims who are reporting these crimes and attempting to prevent them from happening again.
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|2012-10-21 06:31:54 Pastor PeteSalafists Blamed for Vandalizing Morocco Stone Carvings
http://www.africanseer.com/latest-additions/224547-salafists-blamed-fo r-vandalizing-morocco-stone-carvings.html
This blog has been posted here:
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread891838/pg1
Will somebody please address these insulting arses, 'adjensen' and 'eight bits', at:
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread891838/pg1#pid15173258
The ass-hats 'adjensen' and 'eight bits' owe Acharya S an apology for their insults - she merely posted what was in the NEWS - smearing the MESSENGER is not necessary at all. However, it does reveal your own lack of character and integrity.
'adjensen' you admitted that your comment was put through and Acharya updated it, which proves she has no intention of dishonesty here. So, you should be held accountable for such defamation of character. Grow up a bit, ahh.
As an archaeology student I am angered at those who would show such disrespect to the relics of the past. And as a rational thinking being I am angered at those who show such little respect to knowledge in general.
That the carvings represented something they disagreed on is no excuse for their behaviour, no matter how much they insist it was. Regardless of what the carvings represented they had historical value.
Much as I dislike religion in general, I would never destroy any church, mosque or temple, would never deface a religious carving, would never burn any religious text, or anything along those lines. Such things, regardless of what they represent, are still of historical value and destroying them would be vandalism of history.
I can only hope that the more sane people of the world manage to preserve as many historical carvings, texts, monuments and so on, as is possible. We can't afford to lose our history just because of some ignorant bigots.