Posted on 02/24/2017 7:19:47 PM PST by marshmallow
Why a Christian wants to rescue Islamic artifacts
Rescuing the world’s most precious antiquities from destruction is a painstaking project—and a Benedictine monk may seem like an unlikely person to lead the charge. But Father Columba Stewart is determined. Soft-spoken, dressed in flowing black robes, this 59-year-old American has spent the past 13 years roaming from the Balkans to the Middle East in an effort to save Christian and Islamic manuscripts threatened by wars, theft, weather—and, lately, the Islamic State.
“Given what’s happened in the last years since the rise of ISIS, it’s very clear that things are really endangered,” Stewart said. “It’s imperative to make sure that these manuscripts are safe, because we don’t know what will happen to them.”
As ISIS militants have destroyed countless artifacts, Stewart has attempted to counter them by working with Christian and Muslim communities in hotspots such as Iraq and Syria. He has trained local teams to photograph centuries-old books with the help of the non-profit organization he directs, the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML). Based out of Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minnesota, HMML is dedicated to preserving endangered manuscripts on microfilm and in digital format. So far, it has managed to photograph more than 140,000 complete manuscripts, for a total of more than 50,000,000 handwritten pages, according to the organization’s website.
But digitization is only the last stage in a slow and sometimes frustrating process. Getting in touch with the various religious orders, cultural organizations, and families that hold manuscript collections can require years of traveling and a lot of diplomacy aimed at gaining trust—with no guarantee of a positive outcome.
Many of the communities Stewart approaches have been scarred by years of war, persecution or displacement, and are wary of outsiders. Some are especially skeptical about granting.....
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
Sounds like a valuable Academic.
Canticle For Liebowitz
It was so long ago...but such a timely book still.
Not sure I got the spelling right.
A free pdf version. Have your antivirus and ad-ware protection on before clicking link.
https://7chan.org/lit/src/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz_-_Walter_M__Miller,_Jr__4.pdf
“Saves” or “HIDES”?
Monks Saving Civilization (again)
Bump
I still have the book someplace. I read it about 1980.
Sir Kenneth Clarke’s BBC Series, “Civilisation” series from 1969 is available on YouTube. I highly recommend it, particularly the first two episodes :)
ISIS kills anyone who tries to save history from them. They beheaded 82 year old Syrian archeologist Khaled al-Asaad, though you could say the hope of gold and greed were as involved as religious zeal.
Trump should award him the Medal of Freedom.
For some reason I never did read it. I started it last night and it seems interesting. I remember it being a choice for the Sci-Fi book club back in the 80’s
I have that entire series on tape, plus the transcript/book. It was the one course I took in high school that I truly loved.
Another series (I can’t remember the name) on art that was fantastic was hosted by a “Sister Wendy”. Clear and concise explanations of the symbolism used in Renaissance paintings.
I’m particularly fond of the series as it came out the year I was born :)
I have the book as well, but in the context of this thread, i was particularly referring to the first episode, “The Skin Of Our Teeth,” with regards to the fragile birth of western civilization, the muslim threat and the efforts of a precious few monks and scribes who preserved it.
Today....I'm not sure we would even call it sci-fi....
"Superficial" differences? What are those, pray tell?
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