Damage to Syria’s heritage – 14 June 2016

Reports are circulating about “new” looting at Palmyra by the soldiers who have recaptured it. See coverage from CTV News here and the Guardian here.

However, we advise caution, as the original quote actually says the soldiers “plundered the ruins of Palmyra before the Isis takeover” (our emphasis); it is not new looting.

An official report issued by the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM) for the Rif Damascus governorate revealed the destruction inflicted upon the city of Maaloula and its historical Christian sites (a Tentative World Heritage site). This report was issued after a visit made by a specialized mission of the Directorate to probe the level of losses incurred by the city.

The report was published on the Syria Steps website (in Arabic), and discussed in Al-Monitor here.

Dr Donna Yates makes her research available online to create a database of art and antiquities crime news. More information can be found here.

Neil Brodie considers issues of provenance in the auctioning of antiquities from Syria and Iraq on May 30 at Markets of Mass Destruction blog here.

• None

The DGAM attended the June 2-4 meeting in Berlin (see below).

• None

Between June 2 and 4 an international experts meeting was held in Berlin for about 230 international experts to discuss damage to Syria’s heritage. Among other measures, the meeting “called for a comprehensive list of looted objects from Syria to complement the International Council of Museum’s existing Red List and appealed on all governments to implement United Nations Security Council Resolutions banning the trade in cultural heritage from the country.”

(1-2 June – Unite for Syrian Heritage Young Experts Forum on the Safeguarding of Syrian Cultural Heritage
2-4 June – International expert meeting on preservation of cultural heritage in Syria.)

See details of the meeting at UNESCO here,  the DGAM here, or the Apollo Magazine here.

On June 8 a meeting was held in Washington DC, “Safeguarding our Cultural Heritage: The Challenges of International Cooperation in a Global World” here.

ASOR is partnering with TerraWatchers, and the Center for Cyber-Archaeology and Sustainability to monitor endangered archaeological sites. See full details, and how you can help,  here.

The John Marshall Review of Intellectual Property Law 336 (2016) publishes “The Destruction of Cultural Heritage: A Crime Against Property or a Crime Against People?” by Prof. Patty Gerstenblith, leading expert on law and cultural heritage destruction – it can be downloaded here.

(Note: a log in is required, but it’s free, and a good website)

JSTOR, one of the biggest online repositories on academic articles, has a program offering free, read-online access to individual scholars and researchers. Details here.

• At a lecture in Cyprus, the UN Special Rapporteur Karima Bennoune argued that protecting heritage is not a “luxury”. Read the report from the Cyprus Mail here and Greek Reporter here.
• Fiona Rose-Greenland of the University of Chicago discusses the work of MANTIS (Modeling the Antiquities Trade in Iraq and Syria) for The Conversation on May 30 here.

“The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) issued a statement calling on the international community to take immediate action to save Aleppo from deliberate and complete destruction by the Assad regime and its allies.

According to the statement, Aleppo is the capital of Islamic culture, because of its historical value, as well as because of the city’s scientific, cultural and archaeological heritage, adding that Aleppo is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.”

See a summary here.

On June 3 Sputnik reports that Germany and Russia are considering joint action for conservation/restoration at Palmyra. See here.

• Vocativ on May 25 enters the debate over concern for ruins rather than lives here.
• In an article for The Huffington Post Irina Bokova writes about what the world should do for the Syrian people. Read the article here.
• UNESCO in a piece for DW here asserts that Palmyra will not be “Disneyfied”. This article is in response to another piece for DW by Sarte-Fauriat expressing this concern, which can be found here.
• The Guardian profiles the DG of UNESCO Irina Bokova on June 3 here.
• One June 2 Hyperallergic asks “Why Do We Care About Palmyra So Much?” here.
• James Cuno, President of the Getty Trust, discusses the need for intervention to protect cultural heritage when nations fail to do so on May 31 here.