Same thing was common in Mesopotamia: There is a "breath of life" theme in the ancient mythology of the middle east that is closely related to the destruction o

Same thing was common in Mesopotamia: There is a "breath of life" theme in the ancient mythology of the middle east that is closely related to the destruction of noses. This believe is ridiculed in the Hadith, which leads many to the conclusion that the damage must be pre-islamic, as islam would either completely destroy it or not at all, but i think that highly underrates the strong mysticism and superstition of late-ancient culture and overrates how quickly one culture replaces another while ignoring how that is accomplished in practice. Destruction of iconography during culture shifts was common in the area that spawned islam. Attacking the nose has become uncommon once they stopped making noses, so yes they kinda stopped it, but even today destruction of iconography, especially if it has religious meaning, is a very muslim thing. It is about asserting dominance and a visibly disfigured and broken statue can be better at that then one that is gone.