destruction of antiquities by the Islamic State terrorist group, the religious rationale also covers for economic and political factors. "Cultural cleansing is a way to claim political power within a certain territory as well as control over history." The assyriologist Eckart Frahm said, "Such iconoclasm is not specifically Islamic... What is quite unique in the case of ISIS is that the destruction is directed against images that are thousands of years old, often damaged, and no longer worshipped by anyone, and that there is a concerted effort to use these acts of vandalism as propaganda by broadcasting them through videos." See also Arabic poetry Hanif Pre-Islamic Arabia Rahmanism Stunde Null Takfir Year Zero (political notion) References Further reading External links Arabic words and phrases Islamic terminology Conversion to Islam Pre-Islamic Arabia Ignorance