Aaron discusses the ideas from his new book, The Idols of Isis: from Assyria to the Internet. The ISIS video of men smashing statues in Mosul Museum reminded him of a lost scene from Sargon’s palace. What are images? Why do we need them? Can they ever be anything other than incomplete and imperfect? And does that matter?

2:53 images, idolatry and iconoclasm

5:39 meanings of images in relation to Iraqi heritage

9:09 ISIS videos 

12:44 Sargon of Assyria and ancient iconoclasm

17:52 virtuous iconoclasm?

21:55 how museums might display meanings

Idols of Isis is available from the University of Chicago Press: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo60920783.html 

Music by Ruba Hillawi

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