it's a practice that started in the 500s bc when darius invaded sumeria from the mountains and killed the insurrectionist fravatish. tablets state: fravatish was taken and brought unto me. i cut off his nose, his ears, and his tongue, and i put out one eye, and he was kept in fetters at my palace entrance, and all the people beheld him. then i crucified him in hagmataneh. this became the standard practice for desecrating symbols of defeated peoples, as opposed to complete destruction.
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