||This article needs additional citations for verification.
(August 2012)| Iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction within a
culture of the culture's own religious icons and other symbols
or monuments, usually for religious or political motives. It is
a frequent component of major political or religious changes.
The term does not generally encompass the specific destruction
of images of a ruler after his death or overthrow (damnatio
memoriae), for example Akhenaten in Ancient Egypt. People who
engage in or support iconoclasm are called "iconoclasts", a term
that has come to be applied figuratively to any individual who
challenges established dogma or conventions. Conversely, people
who revere or venerate religious images are (by iconoclasts)
called "iconolaters". In a Byzantine context, they are known as
"iconodules", or "iconophiles". Iconoclasm may be carried out by
people of a different religion, but is often the result of
sectarian disputes between factions of the same religion. In
Christianity, iconoclas