Slight emendation: the cradle of civilization IS the grave of civilization.

Bye bye artifacts.

Bye bye earliest known piece of writing ever.

Bye bye historic correspondence, prehistoric objects, papers flying in the wind

— the library and archives burnt to the ground.

How did we let this happen?

Carla says in her piece on circulars that we should keep on struggling until we drop.

Yes. But in a way we have already dropped.

The desecrating marauders and their toxic trail of chaos are holding sway.

Meanwhile, we fill out our 1040s.