Five thousand years ago, the first heroic poem in the history of mankind was written about King Gilgamesh coming from Mesopotamia to Mount Lebanon, where cedar trees are the symbol of eternity, but he came to cut its timber in order to perpetuate his memory,
And he fought with Khmpapa, the forest guard, who was appointed by God Enlil the god of air, so Gilgamesh stabbed him, and Khmpapa fell, so the cedars and the forests mourned, and Mount Lebanon and Hermon Mountain wept upon hearing his voice…
What is happening in Lebanon today from cutting trees, vexatious fires, converting Mountains to quarries and crushers, and random construction, is just like the selfish work of Gilgamesh, which leads to erasing the Lebanese natural heritage, which the Lebanese immigrants dream of, and the Lebanese residents sacrifice their life for it, and the poets write poems for it, which are sung by artists…
And what is happening today in Iraq and Syria from the destruction of cultural heritage at the hands of ISIS is just to erase the historical memory of the people of the region. So, whoever destroys the national and cultural World Heritage will be given the name “ISIS”, and whoever destroys the national and natural World Heritage will be called “Gilgamesh”, and whoever protects a natural or cultural site will be called Khmpapa for his heroic deeds.
