10 incredible historic sites, forever lost foolishly

There is no limit of the human glupostiMy already talked about many important things that have managed somehow to lose. We mourn the lost books, and we were sad to realize how priceless cultural artifacts and beautiful natural places we somehow destroyed in the war, due to vandalism or stupidity. Again and again we prove that the people - the latter being in the universe who can be trusted with anything of value.

1. Singapore kamenVy probably heard of the Rosetta Stone. So, the Singapore stone was similar to his older brother. Colossal boulder, three meters high and 3 meters wide, located at the mouth of the Singapore River, and the ancient inscriptions made on it, no one could decipher. Today we are almost sure that it was a version of the language drevnesumatranskogo 10-14 century, but for the people who discovered it in 1819, it was completely incomprehensible language. Stone was a very important finding, and was considered sacred.





But we blew it. In 1843, the British army requisitioned the land on which the stone to build the fort. Rather than take away the stone in the British Museum or other safe place, they broke it into pieces, and the pieces were used as building material.

Although a few fragments were saved, and now they are in the National Museum of Singapore, the holy place was destroyed and most of the text is lost forever. What was it - evidence of ancient victories, a local legend or just a report on daily life? We never had this not learn.

2. Cypress "Senator" 3500 years ago, the earth fell modern Florida cypress seed and take root. It sprouted and over the next three and a half thousand years turned into a 36-foot tree. This giant saw the birth of Jesus Christ, the arrival of Columbus, the collapse of Wall Street and the fall of the Berlin Wall ...





In 2012, the local drug addicts Sarah Barnes, under the influence of drugs, climbed on a cypress. When it got dark, she decided to light a fire, immediately did what he usually does with fire wood, and the situation got out of control.

According to the emergency, Senator flared like a torch, and a couple of hours turned into a pile of ashes. Barnes was arrested and sentenced to prison. His friends, she said she can not believe that she "burned the tree, which older than Jesus».

3. Paradise NauruKroshechnoe island nation of Nauru is now known primarily as a place of detention of criminals. Just a hundred years ago it was known as a "paradise". When in the 18th century, Europeans discovered it for the first time, the island was covered with so lush and dense tropical vegetation that they officially called it "A nice island." Even today, pictures of his beaches are so beautiful that they can be easily mistaken for installation.





Now Nauru looks like a pile of stones, devoid of any signs of life. Unfortunately inhabitants of the island, their country was right above one of the largest phosphate deposits in the world. After 1900 due to the actions of the colonial powers, the island is completely deprived of any vegetation. When in the 1960s the government of Nauru declared its independence, the new government continued to phosphate mining on the island, leaving a desert, where nothing could grow longer. Although physically Nauru still exists, something that made his sailors discovered fall in love with this place, has disappeared forever.

4. Archaeological sites AtakamyPustynya Atacama - the driest place on Earth. Due to the lack of moisture fragile pre-Columbian artifacts and drawings perfectly conserved there to this day. Some dunes even preserved traces of the winds that formed them 18,000 years ago. The last thing I want to do with these unique hills - to drive them away. But that's what made the rally "Dakar" in 2009.





Before the race was held in Africa, but the terrorist threat in 2008, the venue was moved to South America. Unfortunately, the organizers did not consider it necessary to examine the route well, and this has led to the destruction of six unique monuments Atacama. From ancient geoglyphs - drawings, which can only be considered from a great height - there were only traces of tires. Columbian hunter-gatherer camp was destroyed and turned into dust. A number of other important objects irreparably damaged.

Worse, the next race track brought even more destruction. According to the newspaper Santiago Times as a result of the race it was irreparably damaged 44% of archaeological sites. So Atacama cultural heritage in ruins.

5. Tomb of Prophet IonyV Mosul, the final resting place of the Old Testament prophet Jonah swallowed by the whale, was the goal of the pilgrimage and Muslims, and Christians. It is also a popular place for archaeologists, as the oldest part of the complex of tombs dating back to the eighth century BC. But all this did not stop the leaders of the group LIH ("Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant"), which looked at this invaluable historical monument, decided to blow it up.



In July 2014 troops LIH during prayer entered the mosque, located above the grave, and ordered everyone to leave. Then they set explosives and completely destroyed the monument and several neighboring buildings. According to their understanding of Islam ultrastrogomu they rescued from attending worship a false idol. But in the understanding of the whole of humanity, they have deprived us of the priceless cultural treasures.

Apparently, the destruction of cultural property LIH considers his supreme mission. In February 2015 they were blown save since the time of ancient Nineveh wall, which was 2700 years, set fire to and destroyed a large part of Iraq's history.

6. City BeninDo 19th century, the city of Benin was one of the greatest places on Earth. Portuguese merchants indicated that the city with large ornate buildings and streets was bigger even than Lisbon. Both the Palace in the center of the city was so beautiful that the Dutch engravers depicted him with the same accuracy with which they portrayed Florence, do not miss any details of the turret or the cityscape. Many Europeans admire them as well as their cities. But then came the British and burned it to the ground.

In 1892, the British signed a treaty with the rulers of Benin, giving them the right to use the land. But when the government of Benin has refused to comply with the requirements of the UK trade, London was sent ten men to be calm. All ten were killed. In response, the British assembled an army armed to the teeth and sent to Benin. During fierce fighting, which lasted 17 days, the palace was destroyed both the city looted and fire virtually left no stone unturned. It was worse than a similar death in the fire in Paris or Athens, because before this tragedy nobody cared.

7. Lake UrmiyaEsche in the 1990s, Lake Urmia in Iran was a tourist paradise. Known for its turquoise waters and hundreds of islands that serve as home to all sorts of exotic animals, it attracted crowds of tourists from around the globe. Some bathed, treated with curative mud, while others come to admire the flocks of flamingos. The lake is the size of Luxembourg was known as one of the natural wonders of the world. Today it a wasteland.





Because of dubious government policy, comparable to the one that destroyed the Aral Sea, Lake Urmia is on the verge of extinction. Its waters receded so far that it became unnecessary rusting boats in the scorched earth, and all the animals that live here are long gone. In its place is now raging toxic salt storms that destroy everything, spreading death in their wake. Although the Iranian government and has pledged billions of dollars for the restoration of the lake, no one seriously expects them to fulfill their promise.

8. Cave Meyriers15 000 years ago a group of cavemen who lived in the south-west of modern France, decided to start drawing on the cave walls Meyriers. The result of this creative impulse was two rock carvings of bison made with incredible skill and a sense of beauty. Although these works of art and could not match the impressive figures Chauvet cave, but they were in remarkably good condition and considered priceless. Just before the time when, unfortunately, attracted the attention of local virtues.





In the spring of 1992 the local Protestant youth club decided to do a good deed by clearing some nearby caves graffiti. Armed with metal brushes and a lot of ignorance, 70 teenagers descended into the cave and began to scrub away Meyriers prehistoric art. Figures destroyed French officials in a rage, and the youth group had done this, he was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize for his contribution to the destruction of the heritage of our past.

9. Ancient Syrian pamyatnikiSegodnya Syria, located in the heat of a terrible war, razed to the ground. Along with the appalling loss of life, this war has deprived the world of treasure more than any other modern military conflict.





Almost at the very beginning of hostilities historic cities of Damascus and Aleppo suffered damage, turning them into ruins. In 2012, the fire went through the ancient bazaar of Aleppo, killing one of the most important trading center on the Great Silk Road. A year later, under UNESCO protection Crusader castle Krak des Chevaliers been aviaobstrelu and the ancient minaret of the Great Mosque of Aleppo leveled after 1000 years of existence. War - it is an excellent cover for the looting of graves professional who looted many priceless historical monuments, so that from them there was nothing left.

In December 2014 the United Nations announced that across the country have been damaged or completely destroyed 300 objects of cultural heritage. LIH, which bombed the cultural monuments in the north of the country, every day only increases the number of irreplaceable losses.

10. All in Saudi AraviiMy already told you about the strange transformation of Mecca into a kind of Las Vegas of the Middle East. But even this can not be compared with the absolute madness of the Wahhabi kingdom. Since 1985, the ruling family of Saudi Arabia voluntarily destroyed more than 98% of the cultural heritage of the Islamic kingdom.





This does not just mean that they demolished several old buildings to build new hotels. There is abundant evidence pointing to a deliberate attempt to destroy as many cultural values. The mosque belonged to the first Islamic Caliph Abu Bakr, has recently been wiped out and replaced by the ATM. A famous cleft in the mountain of Uhud in Medina, to which supposedly retreating after the battle Muhammad himself was filled with concrete and fenced off from the pilgrims. In its place it never built.

Probably the craziest thing to do Saudi government was an attempt to rewrite history. As soon as the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, it was decided to build a new palace, it was announced that there was no evidence that Muhammad was born there. And after the mountain of Uhud was filled with concrete, it announced that this mountain is nothing special, and never was. For one night only the bulldozers did not leave a hint of what this place once was a cultural and historical monument.

Because Wahhabism prohibits the worship of false idols and priests in the kingdom of encouraging the destruction of monuments and artifacts that might distract people from the worship of Allah. And thus destroying the rich ancient history of Islam.

via listverse.com/2015/02/22/10-incredible-historic-sites-we-lost-forever-due-to-stupidity/