Those who fear a cultural disaster in Syria because of the landmines that ISIL is said to have laid around Palmyra’s ancient ruins, should take some comfort in the extremist group’s avarice. Its iconoclasm admittedly led it to sledgehammer the lamassu sculptures in Mosul museum, but ISIL seems too savvy to adopt a mass destruction strategy, even if reports yesterday suggest it destroyed two ancient shrines close to Palmyra.
Despite its barbarity, ISIL has more business acumen than the Taliban. Its complex asset management strategy recognises the true worth of antique objects of unique value. Unlike the Taliban, who simply blew up the two massive 6th century Bamiyan Buddhas hewn into the sandstone cliffs of central Afghanistan, ISIL is heavily invested in antiquities trafficking. Generally, it levies a 20 per cent tax on sales of cultural booty by all the petty smugglers, tomb raiders and small time crooks who hawk early Christian icons, wall mosaics, Bronze Age votive busts, Roman vases and whatever other artefacts they find in ISIL-controlled territory.
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