Photo Credit: AFP

Palmyra freed from IS control

Palmyra has been liberated from Islamic State forces in an important victory in Syria. With the help of Russian jets, the Syrian forces battled IS in the Palmyra region for three weeks.

An oasis in the Syrian desert, northeast of Damascus, the site has been home to human communities going back to the bronze age.

Listen

Professor Clemens Reichel, of the University of Toronto, is Associate Curator for the Ancient Near East at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. He has visited the region many times. He thinks he may have been one of the last foreigners on the site when he brought a camera crew to film Palmyra, and other sites in Syria, in December 2010, just a few weeks before the first demonstations began. 

By the spring of 2011 all foreign archaeologists had left the country and Professor Reichel says there has been “a shroud of silence” about the state of the place.

Khaled al-Asaad in a 2002 photo, as Director of Antiquities and Museum in Palmyra. He refused to leave and was beheaded by IS forces, his remains left dangling on a Roman colanade in Palmyra for weeks following his execution. © Getty/Marc Deville

The Syrian Department of Antiquities remained until the takeover in May 2015. But revered scholar, Khaled al-Asaad, who was born in Palmyra, would not leave and was exectuted at the site.

Professor Reichel says the 81 year-old was tortured in an effort to get him to reveal more of the treasures of Palmyra, but he refused.

Recent drone footage of the area is being greeted with some relief, as it shows much of the ancient city is still standing,

Professor Reichel describes ancient Palmyra as “the complete antithesis of ISIS”. He says, “It was multi-cultural, it was enlightened… it had a very strong near-eastern heritage.” As the crossroads of the world it was home to many cultures in its time.

Professor Reichel says it is time to assess the damage and the looting from the site. If asked to contribute his expertise he says he will gladly participate.

The current head of the Department of Antiquities in Damascus, Dr. Al-Karim vowed to rebuild the Temple of Ba’al in five years. Professor Reichel says “given enough time, money and resources it certainly could be possible”. He cites the example of the Acropolis in Greece which was partially re-constructed during the 19th century. For the Temple of Ba’al, Reichel’s foresees a longer timeline.

Categories: Economy, Immigration & Refugees, International, Internet, Science & Technology, Politics, Society
Tags:

Do you want to report an error or a typo? Click here!

For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.