One of the most morbid realities we’ve had to contend with, as a movement of those who venerate the Pagan Gods, is the damage done to our past. Jews, Christians, Muslims, Communists, even Buddhists and movements smaller still like the Jainists have raised a heavy hand against us. What was lost, in say, the ultimate destruction of the Library of Alexandria, can never be replaced. In some ways, we, as a culture, are only restarting our great recovery now, a work started in earnest during the Renaissance, which was the breaking dawn after the long night of the Christian Dark Ages.
And yet, all around the world, our collective heritage suffers still. For all the supposed conflict between the Abrahamic Three, one thing they seem unanimous upon is the ceaseless hatred and destruction levied against all things Pagan. It’s only by the grace of the Gods that the pyramids, or frankly, anything still stands. In the times of Emperor Theodosius, the terrible Christian tyrant he was, millennia of work was undone in the span of mere months to years.
As everyone is well aware, Muslims gleefully continue this great undoing. The why of it is apparent, and will be the focus of this article, which will highlight three specific attacks wrought upon our Pagan birthright of the gentile peoples of the world. Beyond the theological justifications they use, which will be gone into, the more subtle truth is this.
Muslims, nor their Christian siblings and Jewish masters, wish for you to know of a better time. They offer you a fabricated history, and portray themselves as the great civilizers of the Heathens, as if everyone was praying to the dirt and eating bugs before they came along. However, before Islam reared its hideous head, those of the expanded Graeco-Roman world (and of the civilized polytheist world at large) knew a high quality of life. They knew liberty, culture, high art. Their women could live freely indeed in comparison to what Islam offered. Beyond all else, not only do the Muslims not wish for you to know that literally anything existed before they did, but that it was better. Far better.
From there, sordid justifications then venture into the theological. In the Hadith collection Sahih al-Bukhari, it is stated that upon his entry into Mecca, Muhammad encountered 360 idols around the Kaaba. He began to stab these idols with a stick in his hand while reciting, “Truth (Islam) has come and Falsehood (disbelief) has vanished,” (which is, in turn taken from the verse Quran 17:81).
Though, it’s far from only Muhammad Muslims have to draw inspiration from. Abraham himself (called Ibrahim in Islam), is denoted as the “Father of Prophets”, and the example set by him is considered sacred enough that he’s the primary acknowledgement of the Eid al-Adha, one of Islam’s most sacred days.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone, as such, that one of the main focuses of Ibrahim’s story in the Quran was his destruction of the “Pagan Idols.”
وَتَٱللَّهِ لَأَكِیدَنَّ أَصۡنَـٰمَكُم بَعۡدَ أَن تُوَلُّوا۟ مُدۡبِرِینَ
فَجَعَلَهُمۡ جُذَ ٰذًا إِلَّا كَبِیرࣰا لَّهُمۡ لَعَلَّهُمۡ إِلَیۡهِ یَرۡجِعُونَ
Then he said to himself, “By Allah! I will surely plot against your idols after you have turned your backs and gone away.” So he smashed them into pieces, except the biggest of them, so they might turn to it ˹for answers˺.
Qu’ran 21:57-58
There are, in fact, about 155 separate disparagements of “idols” in the Quran alone. All of them, ultimately, are extensions upon the same Jewish lie told in the Torah, that gentiles “worshipped” the idols as Gods. This lie has been perpetuated over and over again to try and demean Paganism when there was never any truth of it. Pagans the world over knew their statues and holy sites were only artful, symbolic representations of their divinities. But the Jews, and by extension, their Abrahamic proxies, were always unable to understand human art and beauty, and spent most of history vilifying it. So when you see footage of Islam destroying a Pagan site, in their minds, they are achieving a great victory, as they believe they’re literally destroying a Pagan God when they destroy their statue. They say this outright in much of their propaganda. For instance, these quotes, from a documentary released by the ISIL media outlet Al-Hayat, upon the destruction of Mosul and Nineveh (which will be covered).
“Oh Muslims, the remains that you see behind me are the idols of peoples of previous centuries, which were worshipped instead of Allah. The Assyrians, Akkadians, and others took for themselves gods of rain, of agriculture, and of war, and worshipped them along with Allah, and tried to appease them with all kinds of sacrifices… Since Allah commanded us to shatter and destroy these statues, idols, and remains, it is easy for us to obey, and we do not care [what people think], even if they are worth billions of dollars.”
“The Prophet Muhammad shattered the idols with his own honourable hands when he conquered Mecca. The Prophet Muhammad commanded us to shatter and destroy statues. This is what his companions did later on, when they conquered lands.”
Meanwhile, in the wake of the destruction at Palmyra, their propagandists offer this lie, as part of their online periodical known as Dabiq.
“Baal is a false divinity for which people sacrificed their children as indicated in the book of Jeremiah (Old Testament). But by the Grace of Allah, soldiers of the Caliphate destroyed it.”
Nobody can try to claim the Quran does not encourage these things, or that it’s only “extremist” Muslims who support these ideas. You do not need a specific interpretation of the content in order to come these conclusions. It’s stated and shown plain as day.
Matter of fact, the Wahhabists (a sect covered at length in a separate article) have gone so far as to destroy Islam’s own supposed sacred sites, in the belief that doing so will prevent the sites becoming “idolatrous” and therefore “Pagan”. The destruction is limitless as one believes, with even the Buddhists losing the famous Bamiyan Buddhas of central Afghanistan to Al-Qaeda in early 2001.
Though Paganism has suffered the absolute worst of the atrocities, the entire world needs to realize nothing is sacred to Islam. It will destroy anything.
Further, one thing people often fail to understand is that, despite Islam and Christianity being associated with “conservative” mindsets, the reality is quite the opposite. Much like within Communism, the idea of anything “nationalistic” is abhorred, as it represents the unity of folk and cultural identity, as opposed to the all-conquering concept of Islam which is meant to utterly consume everyone of all races and creeds. Yes, one may be aware of the fact Saudis and the like are extremely racist to those they perceive as “lesser” Muslims from Southeast Asia, but in true Muslim fashion, they don’t care about this hypocrisy, it’s irrelevant to them.
Here’s a quote from another Dabiq article.
“The kuffār [unbelievers] had unearthed these statues and ruins in recent generations and attempted to portray them as part of a cultural heritage and identity that the Muslims of Iraq should embrace and be proud of. Yet this opposes the guidance of Allah and His Messenger and only serves a nationalist agenda.”
The end goal of Islam is the same as Christianity; a world completely and utterly underneath the boot heel of Abrahamic theocracy. In this fantasy of theirs, nation lines and folk become irrelevant, and the world becomes little else other than a Caliphate ruled by Sharia law. Whenever notions of folk identity rise in Europe, sympathies towards ideas like one’s ancestry begin to manifest. Soon after, people begin contemplating the Pagan faith of their ancestors. The only way to truly stop this is to utterly dissect people from their heritage, to the point no folk or distinct tribal identity remains. Historically speaking, the true genocide of any people usually begins to entail things like eradicating cultural dress, or forcing people to name their children names unrelated to their culture.
Perhaps one can then understand why Islam is increasingly forcing a global dress code in line with Wahhabism, and why it’s a cultural practice for one to always name their Muslim son Muhammad? If they had it their way, every last man on this earth would be named Muhammad and every woman would be obscured by a black trashbag with nothing but her eyes visible.
The politics behind the terrorism levied against ancient heritage run deeper still, however. Consider the modern history of the Middle East, including times where much of it was ruled by European forces like the British Crown. In the 18th and 19th centuries in particular, there was a trend often referred to as “Orientalism”. In effect, this refers to a certain fascination held by parts of the West over Eastern history, aesthetics and culture.
Among other things, this lead to something of an archaeological boom for the region. Much of what was buried in the Middle East was promptly unburied, to fill museums both at home and abroad at the behest of Western powers. Historical projects started by colonial powers were later picked up by generally secular minded, educated people who followed in similar footsteps. To this day, the preservation and documentation of ancient heritage is something of a global cooperative project, (see UNESCO).
You can then understand that, from the perspective of something like ISIL, destroying one of these sites is an easy way of showing your apparent dominance over the supposedly decadent West who treasures these “evil idols”. They have no interest, in people knowing of their past, to remember something that wasn’t Islam.
There was a natural evolution of aesthetics within Paganism, that depictions and legends of the Gods were reflections of the soul of any individual folk. Again, something forbidden in Islam. Not only are you not allowed to depict the Divine, but cultural mainstays like art, music, theatre, etc are forbidden. You are not allowed to have things that could separate you as a culture unto yourself. Again, this is why movements like Wahhabi fundamentalism have become so odious. In the rare instances certain tribes have allowed certain culture quirks to exist even after forced conversion to Islam, it’s these dogmas which threaten to destroy even the few measly things that are left. For another quote from an Al-Hayat video.
“Some of the infidel organisations say the destruction of these alleged artefacts is a war crime. We will destroy your artefacts and idols anywhere and Islamic State will rule your lands.”
The truth is, Islamic terrorist organizations love the pomp and ceremony of the destruction of anything of merit. It generates headlines, news stories, righteous outrage. When you’re fighting a long, bloody war and your men have to grow accustomed to squatting in a desert cave and you’re in dire need of new fighters, something you can post shocking before-after photos of will stir the hearts of the Islamic masses. One has to remember that so-called “moderate Islam” does not exist. Most Muslims will act like they decry ISIL, because of the bloodshed and carnage, but they’ll still nod and agree that the destruction of “idols” still must happen. With enough sympathy, and enough success to plaster online, you’ll have a much easier time swaying the minds of potential recruits to your despicable cause. Destroy enough “evil Pagan Temples” and maybe those moderate Muslims will actually start to believe you’re the one true Caliphate under Allah after all.
And, as a further bit of hypocrisy, for all the hatred and bile spewed towards all things Pagan, do you know what happens, after they tear these statues and Temples down? They pocket the shattered remains and individual relics, which they put on the highly lucrative artifact black market, most of which goes straight into the hands of rich Emiratis and such who pay top dollar to have a “debaucherous” heathen relics plastered to their walls like the remains of hunted animals. In turn, the terrorist organization has funded its war chest, and that’s a thousand Jihadis armed, fed and ready for battle.
Now that one understands the logic, the rest of the article will be to remind people of just a few examples of what has been lost, because there’s a very simple thing that everyone needs to wake up and realize. Once you let enough Muslims into the West that they become a majority force in any given area (like what is becoming of parts of South London or Malmö in Sweden), there is nothing at all stopping them enacting what they’ve done within their own territories. How long until someone petitions the local government to tear down Stonehenge because it’s offensive to their religion?
If you’re prepared to have your blood boiled by the destruction of the world’s Pagan heritage, then continue reading.
Mosul Museum & Nineveh
Mosul Museum is Iraq’s second largest antiquities museum. This museum was most dedicated to Assyrian and Hellenistic artefacts. The ruins of Nineveh, on the other hand, are a short distance across the river from the historical city centre of Mosul. Once, Nineveh was the largest city in the Ancient World, at around 612 BCE, though, the actual scholarly history of it goes all the way back to 6000BCE, and beyond, given that modern academia tends to intentionally underestimate the scale of time as a poor attempt at keeping things in the context of the “Biblical timeline”.
For an artist’s depiction:
As you might imagine, it was the beautiful outer walls of Nineveh which ISIL targeted.
The contents of the nearby Museum were not spared either. One is likely to find these images particularly rage inducing.
If you wish, for whatever reason, to see these degenerates undertaking the process in action, this article contains a video which shows several clips.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/26/isis-fighters-destroy-ancient-artefacts-mosul-museum-iraq
Of course, the destruction didn’t end there. The local history library was also burned to the ground, and the next image should show just how far they’re willing to go.
Pictured, are barrel bombs, set outside the Northwest Palace of Nimrod.
Hatra
Hatra was an Ancient city, one that flourished in the Parthian period of the 1st and 2nd centuries. Though Zoroastrianism was present in the region, Hatra was still a predominant force of traditional Babylonian culture, but also blended more Western Hellenistic elements into its aesthetic. Among the myriad of Temples here, and there were many, given its place as a sacred site for Pagan pilgrims, were the Temple of Nergal, the Temple of Hermes [Thoth], the Temple of Shamash [Azazel], the Temple of Atargatis (Astarte), and more.
Sadly, this wasn’t the first time Monotheists had struck out against Hatra, as the Sasanian Persian (Zoroastrian) Empire assaulted the city around 241 AD. Even still, much of the original structure and its statues still remained, as evidence of true Arabic heritage and historical lineage. One notable appearance (and insult) upon the site was the 1973 movie The Exorcist. Again, the Monotheistic hate for this city seemed to be neverending.
Mid-2014, marked the capture of the city by ISIL, and the threats soon followed.
In this video, you can see ISIL fighters firing at the carved faces on the walls. The desecration of statue faces has been a longstanding favorite of all Abrahamics, as one can see from the many destroyed faces of icons from South America at the behest of the Catholic evil which infested and oppressed Spain for generations.
Of course, much as in Nineveh, what guns couldn’t do, sledgehammers and other equipment did.
Palmyra
Palmyra was a prosperous Silk Road trade city of the second and third century AD. It was heavily attached to the Roman province of Syria, and was responsible for the creation of several great works, including the Great Colonnade, and the Temple of Bel. It had, at the time, managed to fend off an assault from the same Zoroastrian King that felled Hatra. However, much like Hatra, it’d be fallen upon by the Islamic plague known as ISIL in 2015.
Pay witness to these before and afters.
I would offer a word of respect, to one Khaled al-Asaad, a Syrian archaeologist, and the head of antiquities at Palmyra. He held this position for over 40 years.
He was a preserver and restorer of many of the artifacts in Palmyra, and had worked with various global heritage movements.
When ISIL captured the city, he helped others evacuate, but himself, was captured. He was detained for weeks, and tortured at length, as ISIL demanded to know where he hid some of the most precious of artifacts.
He did not give them what they wanted to know, even despite that.
He was then publically beheaded.
https://www.nytimes.com./2015/08/20/world/middleeast/isis-palmyra-syria-antiquities-scholar-beheaded.html
Following his death, the Islamic State hanged a placard upon his corpse listing his alleged “crimes”.
Being an “apostate”, representing Syria at “infidel conferences”, serving as “the director of idolatry” in Palmyra, visiting “Heretic Iran”, and so on. To quote the general director of UNESCO.
“They killed him because he would not betray his deep commitment to Palmyra. Here is where he dedicated his life.”
With all this hopeless death and destruction, one should still take heart. The Gods have not turned their back on humanity. They are patient, and though they do not strike out in wrath often, they will, to remind the degenerates of the Muslim word that one day, the storm will come.
In fact, they received a taste of it.
The Temple of Baal was destroyed on August 30th, 2015. If you know Baal, you will know him as a God of storm and lightning. A mere 11 days later, this struck the heart of the Islamic world. Mecca itself.
Powerful winds and lightning lashed Mecca, right as the Hajj pilgrimage was starting to commence. A crane collapsed into the nearby Grand Mosque. 111 Muslims were killed, 394 were wounded.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/9/12/storm-hits-mecca-with-devastating-consequences
If the Muslim world did not take this as a warning, then they are doomed. For every statue smashed, for every column pulled down, for every preserver executed, the Gods have kept tally. One day, there will be a storm to end all storms, and the Muslims behind these atrocities will know the full, almighty strength of Baal.
Arcadia
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Various Additional Sources:
https://theconversation.com/erasing-history-why-islamic-state-is-blowing-up-ancient-artefacts-78667
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34112593
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