Damage to Syria’s Heritage – 29 January 2017

Aleppo24 writes (in Arabic) about ongoing looting in Membij here, noting it is occurring at a number of sites in the area.

Al-Monitor writes that in Egypt, Syrian perfume-makers continue their longstanding tradition of crafting fragrances. “In Syria this is tradition, but in Egypt it is not common.” Read more here.

SANA reports on Aleppo’s book club, a eight-month-old youth initiative with 450 members that has been focused on books concerning intangible heritage. See more here.

Culinary Backstreets reported on the culinary heritage of Syria, including a new restaurant in Lisbon where displaced Syrians are sharing their culinary heritage, “preserving a taste of home” and sharing “their cultural heritage through the universal language of food.” Read more here.

The Kansas City Star reported here on recent efforts to revitalize Aleppo’s souk. Some shopkeepers have already reopened, despite the lack of power, and the government organized an exhibition at the bazaar in November, hoping to breathe new life into the Khan al-Gumruk.

The General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums has completed the restoration of the building for the  Directorate of Archaeology and Aleppo Museums (here) to enable them to continue to work towards the protection and restoration of Aleppo’s heritage.

The Authority of Tourism and the Protection of Antiquities have completed the restoration of the Byzantine Al Farahiya Tomb. Work was completed with support of UNDP and the national evangelical Presbyterian church. See photos here.

Three Byzantine mosaic panels, one of which includes a Greek inscription, have been discovered in the eastern countryside of Hama. Read more on the Greek Reporter website here.

An ancient obelisk has been discovered in the field of Al-Omer in Deir Al-Zour.
Read more on the ATPA website here.

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The British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund has announced a new project to preserve and revitalise the tradition of domed houses to offer a housing solution to displaced Syrian families. Read more on the British Council website here.

The article “Digitally Mediated Iconoclasm: the Islamic State and the war on cultural heritage”, by José Antonio González Zarandona, César Albarrán-Torres & Benjamin Isakhan, formerly published in International Journal of Cultural Heritage Studies, is now available for free on Academia.edu (free registration required).

Erin Thompson on “Legal and Ethical Considerations for Digital Recreations of Cultural Heritage”, in the Chapman Law Review, is now available on Digital Commons.

• The Chicago Tribune wrote about the future of Daesh here, including how they profit from the sale of illicitly trafficked antiquities.
• The BBC wrote here about life in Aleppo as “Syrians now mend what they care about most, bit by bit. That’s how this painstaking and painful process of rebuilding a celebrated city goes.”
• The BBC wrote here about the history of settlement and current competing interests in Afrin, the most densely Kurdish populated part of Syria.
• The Brooklyn Eagle wrote here about a recent book covering the history of Brooklyn’s Syrian Jewish community.