Merry Wanderer of the Night:
Syria

The report analyzes six of the 12 sites that Syria has nominated as World Heritage Sites: Dura Europos, Ebla, Hama's Waterwheels, Mari, Raqqa, and Ugarit. A forthcoming report will analyze the additional six sites.

"As we continue to study the conditions at Syria's important cultural sites, we have observed significant destruction that is largely the result of conflict. However, unlike our previous analysis of Syria's World Heritage Sites, we're seeing a lot of damage that appears to be the result of widespread looting," said Susan Wolfinbarger, director of the AAAS Geospatial Technologies and Human Rights Project, which authored the report. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania Museum's Penn Cultural Heritage Center and the Smithsonian Institution also contributed to the research.

"This report helps us understand how the extensive the actual damage is to Syria's cultural heritage. It will inform future emergency preservation efforts," said Brian Daniels, director of research and programs at the University of Pennsylvania Museum's Penn Cultural Heritage Center.

In the report, images from 2014 show numerous pits throughout three sites where ancient cities once stood. The pits generally do not appear in similar images from 2011, when the conflict in Syria began. "We interpret these pits as evidence of looting due to the distinct craters visible within the satellite images," said Jonathan Drake, a senior program associate at AAAS.

"This type of documentation really allows us to make a firm statement based on scientific observation of things that have happened at a site," said Wolfinbarger.

"Sometimes when things are reported in the news media or social media, details can be obscured or purposefully misconstrued. But this analysis is replicable. We can say definitively, 'we see this.' And when it is tied it in with other types of information, satellite imagery can give us a more complete picture in parts of the world that are difficult to access."

"These images show the destruction of ancient artifacts, architecture, and most importantly, archaeological context that is the record of humanity's past," said Katharyn Hanson, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Museum's Penn Cultural Heritage Center and a visiting scholar at AAAS. "From the origins of civilization to the first international empires, Syria's cultural heritage and these sites in particular are vitally important to our understanding of history."

The most extensive looting identified in the report was at Dura-Europos, which was founded in the 3rd century B.C. and served as a frontier city as well as the main hub for caravan routes. The site represents a blend of cultural traditions, including Greek, Mesopotamian, Aramaic, Persian, and Roman influences. There have been numerous reports of damage through social media and news reports, and the AAAS report now documents the extent of this activity.

Based on the imagery analysis, 76% of the area within the city wall had been damaged by April 2014, and the looting pits were so close together it was impossible to distinguish individual pits, the researchers report. Looting pits outside the city wall were less dense but still numerous; approximately 3,750 individual pits were observed. Images from 2 April 2014 show four vehicles among the ancient Roman ruins in close proximity to the looting, suggesting that the disturbances at the site may have been ongoing at that time, according to the report.

The second site described in the report is Ebla, the site of an important kingdom in the Early Bronze Age. The site is best known for its archive of several thousand written tablets that "revolutionized knowledge regarding the ancient history and political economy of the region," the report says. Ebla is constructed out of mud brick, so without preservation it is vulnerable to erosion.

The images in the analysis show looting pits, including 45 new holes observed between 18 August 2013 and 4 August 2014, as well as eroded walls, earthen berm fortifications, and heavy vehicle tracks. Military compounds have been constructed on the site, likely due to the fact that the site is elevated over the surrounding plain and provides a good view of the area.

Looting is also widespread at the ancient Mesopotamian city of Mari, which was founded in the early 3rd millennium B.C. and prospered as a node on the trade routes. Like Dura-Europos, Mari is located in the Deir ez-Zor province that has seen violent clashes during the conflict. The Albu Kamal region, where Mari is located, came under the control of ISIS in June 2014.

The looting appears to have ramped up during the last year. The researchers identified 165 visible pits dug between August 2011 and March 2014 (an average of 0.17 pits formed per day). Between 25 March and 11 November 2014, however, they identified 1,286 new pits, an average rate of 5.5 pits dug every day over the seven-month period.

The fourth site is Raqqa, and important city center that exemplifies the transition of a Greek/Byzantine urban center into an Islamic city by 796 A.D. Since 2013 Raqqa has been at the center of the conflict in Syria. After fighting by opposition groups, ISIS took control of the city in October 2013, and in September 2014, the United States and partner nations began an airstrike campaign against ISIS in Raqqa.

The observed damage in vicinity of the Tentative World Heritage site in Raqqa appears to be different from that of the other sites in the analysis, according to the report, with little evidence of direct military conflict. "Rather, when damage is present, it appears to be nearly total and targeted, with specific buildings disappearing while the surrounding buildings remain untouched," the report states.

This phenomenon appears too precise to have been caused by the Syrian Arab Republic Government's military forces, and while it is well known that the United States and other partner air forces have the ability to deliver munitions with high precision, the destroyed sites are all cultural sites located within the UNESCO Tentative World Heritage site boundary, according to the report. "The more plausible explanation is that the demolitions in the vicinity of the Tentative World Heritage site's boundaries are the result of actions by ISIS," the report states.

The two other areas that the researchers analyzed -- the historic waterwheels of Hama, which raised water up to aqueducts for drinking and irrigation, and the ancient site of Ugarit, a mostly stone city that connected the ancient empires of Mesopotamia with those of the Mediterranean -- do not appear to have been damaged.

Copies of the report can be downloaded at http://www.aaas.org/geotech/culturalheritage-SyrianTWHS-122014.html.

Source: American Association for the Advancement of Science [December 17, 2014]

Since his 2012 appointment as head of antiquities in the midst of Syria s civil war, Maamoun Abdulkarim says just one thing has been on his mind -- avoiding a repeat of the kind of looting that ravaged Iraq s heritage after the 2003 invasion.

"The images of the looting of the museum in Baghdad and other Iraqi sites are always on my mind, and I told myself that everything must be done to avoid a repeat of that here," he told AFP.

Widespread illegal excavation and the destruction of artefacts and religious sites by jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) group have only added to the sense of urgency.

Before the Syrian conflict began in 2011, Abdulkarim was co-director of a French-Syrian mission working excavating the 700 so-called Dead Cities of northern Syria, which date back to Roman and Byzantine times.

Syria has been the home of many civilisations over the millennia, from the Canaanites to the Ottomans, and is rich in both artistic and architectural treasures.

Since his appointment, Abdulkarim and his colleagues have worked to protect Syria s heritage from a conflict that has killed more than 215,000 people.

So far, they have wrapped and stored some 300,000 items and thousands of manuscripts in secret locations protected from fires, shelling and floods.

The pieces come from 34 museums, including 80,000 items from Damascus alone.

Perhaps the most dramatic rescue yet was from the eastern city of Deir Ezzor last August.

After Mosul in neighbouring Iraq fell to IS in June, and the destruction began there, a decision was taken to evacuate the 13,000 artefacts remaining in Deir Ezzor.

Large parts of the city were in IS hands, but the airport and some districts remained under government control.

Yaarub al-Abdullah, the former director of antiquities for Deir Ezzor, said: "I worked for a week with two colleagues to wrap everything. We put it into a truck that came under heavy machinegun fire.

"We put the boxes on a military plane among dead and injured soldiers. It was terrible, but we managed it," added Abdullah, who now heads the National Museum.

Back in Damascus, Abdulkarim followed the operation with trepidation.

"I didn t sleep for a week after I took the decision to evacuate the artefacts," he said.

"If the plane had crashed, I would have lost three friends and gone to prison for losing 13,000 items," he said, with a smile.

He said an estimated 99 percent of Syria s museum collections had been preserved, thanks to his 2,500 employees, including those in opposition-held areas.

"They feel that protecting our heritage is a question of honour, like defending the honour of their mothers," Abdulkarim said.

But their work has come with a price: around a dozen of them have been killed in the conflict, including five during the course of their work.

Despite their best efforts, Abdulkarim fears thousands of artefacts have already been stolen across the country.

Even worse is the damage that has been done to 300 sites and 445 historic buildings.

In some cases the damage came in fighting. In others, it has come from illegal excavation, even with bulldozers, in places like Mari, Doura Europos, Apamee and Ajaja in the northeast, the Yarmuk valley in southern Daraa, and Hamam near Raqa in the north.

Ayham al-Fakhry, 39, fled his post as director of antiquities in Raqa in 2012, and laments the irreversible losses to Syria s rich heritage.

"Not only do you have the barbarity of the IS jihadists who destroy any representation of humans and Muslim mausoleums, but also the greed of mafia groups coming from Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey to buy pieces found by local residents," he said.

"They pay IS 20 percent of the estimated value and then the mafias take the objects to be sold in Europe or the Gulf," he said.

Despite international action to prevent smuggling antiquities from Syria, Abdulkarim and his colleagues say sanctions on Damascus have left them isolated.

"We felt like we had the plague," he said."Can there be an embargo on heritage? It belongs to the whole world."

Recently though, there have been signs of change, with invitations to Germany and France for directorate staff and an award in Venice for their work.

Abdulkarim urged the international community to rally around those in Syria trying to save their heritage.

"There must be a international mobilisation to save culture and civilisation. It s not just our responsibility, but a collective one," he said.

Author: Sammy Ketz | Source: AFP [March 27, 2015]

“A sort of ‘blue helmets of culture’ are needed, as there are blue helmets that intervene to protect in situations of war,” said Dario Franceschini told the Guardian, referring to the signature uniforms of UN peacekeeping troops.

“There should be an international rapid response force to defend monuments and archaeological sites in conflict zones,” he said.

Franceschini was speaking following the partial destruction of Iraq’s Hatra, an ancient fortress city that the Roman empire repeatedly failed to conquer. Local residents on 7 March reported hearing a large explosion, as Isis militants went on a destructive rampage through the city.

Such attacks were described by Unesco as “a turning point in the appalling strategy of cultural cleansing underway in Iraq,” coming just two days after the Islamist groups bulldozed their way through the 13th-century BC city of Nimrud.

Isis militants have also decimated collections at Mosul museum, which housed artefacts dating back 3,000 years, and set about razing the ancient city walls of nearby Dur-Sharrukin.

As the extremists continue their wanton destruction of Iraq’s prized heritage, Italy’s culture minister urged the international community to wake up to a new form of warfare.

“At one time great monuments were hit accidentally in wars, during bombing. Now they’re hit precisely because they are symbols of culture, symbols of a religion,” he said. Building a force specifically to protect heritage in crisis situations could not be left to an individual state, Franceschini said, and must be initiated by the international community.

The UN security council agreed measures last month to combat the trafficking of antiquities plundered from Iraq and Syria, but safeguarding culture has yet to be written into the mandate of peacekeeping operations.

As historians mourn the loss of Iraq’s cultural heritage, fears have been raised that the same destruction could be wrought on Libya. Amid growing instability, Isis has been gaining ground in Libya, where five sites have been awarded Unesco world heritage status.

Author: Rosie Scammell | Source: The Guardian [March 20, 2015]

Looters have breached tombs and Roman temples have been damaged in Palmyra, once a vital stopping point for caravans crossing the Syrian desert carrying spices, silks and perfumes, said Ahmad Deeb told Reuters in his office in Damascus.

Clashes between the army and rebels have damaged historical sites and buildings throughout Syria, during the four-year-long conflict that has also killed 200,000 people.

"Special authorities in Palmyra have done great work during the last year when they returned more than 120 antiques, the most important of which were tombstones that were secretly excavated," Deeb said.

Unfortunately, some of the looted artefacts have been moved outside Syria, he added.

Syria is a cultural treasure trove and home to six UNESCO World Heritage sites. Four of these sites, including Palmyra and the Crusader castle Crac des Chevaliers, have been used for military purposes, the United Nations says.

Nearly two dozen funeral busts and the headstone of a child from the necropolis at Palmyra were looted in November, according to UNESCO. From the 1st to the 2nd Century, the art and architecture of Palmyra married Greco-Roman techniques with local traditions and Persian influences, UNESCO says.

Satellite imagery shows that 290 cultural heritage sites in Syria, which has a history stretching back to the dawn of civilization, have been damaged by the civil war, the United Nations' training and research arm said in December.

To preserve its history, Deeb said all Syrian museums were emptied two years ago and the artefacts were put in stores. A list of antiquities smuggled from archaeological sites have been documented on a "red list" distributed to Interpol, he said.

Deeb estimates that more than 1,500 items may have been stolen from museums in Raqqa, a city in northeastern Syria now controlled by ISIS militants, and Deir Atiyah in northern Damascus. Some of are still in Syria, he said.

As jihadis who adhere to a hardline school of Islam have grown in power, they present a new threat to Syria's heritage. Shrines and tombs in areas under their control have been targeted and destroyed as idolatrous symbols.

More than 750 archaeological sites have been attacked, Deeb said. The U.N. Security Council last month banned all trade in antiquities from the war-torn country.

Author: Kinda Makieh | Source: Reuters [March 19, 2015]

Qais Hussein Rashid of Iraq's Tourism and Antiquities Ministry, speaking at the Baghdad conference on the effects of IS on the country's antiquities, said that some sales of Iraqi artifacts on the international black market have been stopped. He added some artifacts of the country's Assyrian era, which can date back to 1900 B.C., have been sold, and 1,500 ancient manuscripts were burned.

He added that two important sites in Mosul, the shrines of Ibn Al-Atheer and the Prophet Yunus, were completely demolished by IS militants.

The mission of IS includes the destruction of religious artifacts pertinent to pre-Muslim times.

Tourism and Antiquities Minister Adel Shershab said archeological sites through Iraq have been destroyed, and asked "friendly countries to take a genuine stand to restore the stolen antiquities."

While the destruction has outraged the world, it can be regarded as a diversion from the sale of antiquities, which is helping fund IS activities, an American archaeologist suggested.

"There are people in the world who know what this stuff is worth, and it is very clear that at least part of the destruction of the Iraqi museum in 2003, that part of that, was induced by people on the outside getting dealers on the inside to go in and try to get specific things," said McGuire Gibson of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. "There's archaeological work going on right now in Iraq, in places where it's relatively secure, work is going on. Whether or not it will be secure next week, we don't know, but we try to work when and where we can."

Edward Planch of the United Nations' UNESCO noted his organization is working with border agencies to recover artifacts seized at border checkpoints adjacent to Iraq and Syria.

"The objective is to have these surrounding countries with us, aware of the traffics, of the kinds of objects going out, able to seize the pieces and keep them in a safe place," Planch told the Voice of America, which noted many of the artifacts in the vandalized Mosul museum were catalogued digitally, a factor which could aid in their recovery.

Author: Ed Adamczyk | Source: UPI [March 13, 2015]

The new project, entitled Endangered Archaeology, has been launched at Oxford and Leicester Universities, funded by the Arcadia Fund. The researchers are using satellite imagery and aerial photos, such as Google Earth, to record and monitor the most endangered, and often undocumented, archaeological sites across the Middle East and North Africa. Nearly all the archaeological remains are made of stone or earth and are visible from the air.

They include tombs, settlements, forts, towns, cities, and field and irrigation systems of all periods – from prehistory to the 20th century.  Many of the countries are currently inaccessible on the ground due to ongoing conflicts. Recent work in Jordan by Professor David Kennedy and Dr Robert Bewley has already shown the scale and intensity of development, and that the methodology works, which is why it is being applied on a larger scale across the region.

Project director Dr Bewley, from Oxford University’s School of Archaeology, said: 'This exciting project is very timely as the threats to the region’s most important archaeological sites are increasing at an unprecedented pace and the situation is only going to become more critical if we don’t act now.'

The research team estimates that across the Middle East and North Africa there could be as many as 3-5 million archaeological sites, many of which are under immediate threat, and even more are likely to become endangered in the future. Information about the historical context and condition of each of the sensitive sites will be made available in an open-access database. The information can then be used by everyone, but especially by local archaeologists and volunteers in each of the countries.

Where possible, the project will cooperate with local authorities responsible for the protection of sites, Departments of Antiquities or similar agencies. It is hoped that through the project, a network of local 'wardens' will be created to manage and preserve the landscape and sensitive sites.

Professor Andrew Wilson, the project’s Principal Investigator, said: 'The project will provide tools and strategies for the future conservation and management of threatened heritage, both individual sites and entire archaeological landscapes. This region contains the world’s richest concentration of significant archaeological remains spanning prehistory, the Persian, Greek, Roman, and Islamic empires.'

The project’s website http://ea.arch.ox.ac.uk will be available next month and the database with images and contextual information will follow later in the year.

Source: University of Oxford [February 20, 2015]

The BBC has been investigating the trade, and the routes from Syria through Turkey and Lebanon to Europe.

The Smuggler

It has taken many calls and a lot of coaxing to get a man we are calling "Mohammed" to meet us. He is originally from Damascus but now plies his trade in the Bekaa valley on the border between Syria and Lebanon. He's 21 but looks much younger in his T-shirt, skinny jeans and black suede shoes. As we sit in an apartment in central Beirut I have to lean forward to hear the softly spoken young man describe how he began smuggling looted antiquities from Syria. "There's three friends in Aleppo we deal with, these people move from Aleppo all the way to the border here and pay a taxi driver to sneak it in." He specialised in smaller items which would be easier to move on - but he says even that has become too risky. "We tried our best to get the items which had most value, earrings, rings, small statues, stone heads," he says.

He made a good profit but bigger players with better connections "sold pieces worth $500,000, some for $1m", he says. When I ask who's making the money and controlling the trade in Syria his gentle voice takes on a flinty tone: "IS are the main people doing it. They are the ones in control of this business, they stole from the museums especially in Aleppo," he says. "I know for a fact these militants had connections overseas and they talked ahead of time and they shipped overseas using their connections abroad." Mohammed is still involved in cross-border trade, but no longer in antiquities. "Anyone caught with it gets severe punishment," he says. "They accuse you of being IS."

The Go-between

To sell looted antiquities you need a middle-man, like "Ahmed". Originally from eastern Syria, he is based in a town in southern Turkey - he doesn't want me to specify which one as he doesn't want the police to know. As a Turkish-speaker he is popular with Syrian smugglers, who ask if he can move goods on to local dealers. When I speak to him via Skype he shows me a blanket next to him filled with artefacts - statues of animals and human figures, glasses, vases and coins. They were dug up in the last few months. "They come from the east of Syria, from Raqqa, all the areas controlled by ISIS (Islamic State)," he says. Islamic State plays an active part in controlling the trade, he tells me. Anyone wanting to excavate has to get permission from IS inspectors, who monitor the finds and destroy any human figures, which are seen as idolatrous (those Ahmed is showing me have slipped through the net). IS takes 20% as tax. "They tax everything," he says.

The main trade is in stoneworks, statues and gold, and it can be extremely lucrative. "I have seen one piece sold for $1.1m," he says. "It was a piece from the year 8500BC." He gently handles each artefact as he brings it closer to the webcam to give me a better view. He has had to pay a sizeable bond to the smugglers to get this material and he doesn't want to lose any of it. The final destination is Western Europe, he says. "Turkish merchants sell it to dealers in Europe. They call them, send pictures... people from Europe come to check the goods and take them away." Ahmed will have to return the looted artefacts to his Syrian contacts, as I am clearly not buying them, but he won't be returning to his homeland. "If I went back I'd be killed," he says.

The Dealer

It's an unremarkable tourist shop in the centre of Beirut. Inside the glass cases are ancient oil lamps, rings and glassware but the shop owner, a laconic man in his late 40s, has an unusual selling tactic - he says much of it is fake. However, he assures me he does have genuine pieces from the Hellenic and Byzantine periods, around 1,000 years old. I'm interested what other items he can get, mosaics for example? I had been advised by archaeologists that mosaics would almost certainly be looted - at the moment, that would mean most likely from Syria. He asks which kind I want. Faces, animals, geometric designs? "If you're serious we can have a serious negotiation... there is always a way," he promises. When I ask if it's legal he smiles as he tells me the only way to legally ship these items is with official documentation from a museum saying they have been cleared for export.

If it was only a small mosaic I wanted, I could take the chance and try to smuggle it out myself but he warns it's a serious decision, as I could get caught. For a fee he can have them shipped to the UK but it will cost me many thousands of pounds. We shake hands as I leave and he gives me his business card. It has only taken 10 minutes to be offered illicit antiquities. Arthur Brand, an investigator who helps recover stolen antiquities isn't surprised, it chimes with his experience in Lebanon. "I've been there several times and at times and it really is amazing," he tells me from his base in Amsterdam. "The illicit trade is run as a professional business with offices and business cards and you can buy antiquities from Lebanon, but also from countries like Syria, Iraq." The link between smugglers and dealers is the dirty secret the art world doesn't want to admit to, he says.

The Cop

He could easily pass for the star of an Arabic cop show but Lt Col Nicholas Saad is a real policeman, head of Lebanon's bureau of international theft. In his office, filled with certificates from the FBI and Scotland Yard, he shows me photos of huge Roman busts seized in a recent raid in Lebanon. We go up to the roof of his police station, where out to the east, beyond the mountains, is the border with Syria. This is where refugees pour into the country and are exploited by the smuggling gangs.

"The refugees come in big numbers and the gangs put things between the belongings of the refugees," he explains. Since the conflict in Syria he has noticed a significant increase in the smuggling of looted artefacts, "especially from the Islamic parts, Raqqa (the base) of the Islamic State", he adds. His team has seized hundreds of Syrian artefacts. "We have the archaeology expert that said they're very valuable from the Roman period, from the Greek period, years before Christ," he says. But there isn't a market for them in Lebanon. "Lebanon is a transit station, it's one of the the doors that goes to Europe. The real money is made in Europe."

The Treasure

Inside the Beirut National museum are treasures from the cradle of civilisation - Hellenic, Roman and Byzantine statues, busts and sarcophagi 3,000 years old. Hidden away from the public in a store room below the main galleries, seized looted antiquities wait to be returned to Syria. My guide is Dr Assaad Seif, an archaeologist and head of excavations at the directorate general of antiquities in Beirut. He rings a bell and a wrought iron door is unlocked. Inside are scores of items - pottery, stonework - but the most valuable items are sealed away in a warehouse. "We have huge funeral sculptures, representing men and women used to seal the tombs, from Palmyra," he says.

Most of the seized items are from excavations rather than thefts from museums. The looters target warehouses at ancient sites like Palmyra, a Unesco world heritage site. "The warehouses at archaeological sites have objects they know are not listed or catalogued yet, and they think it could be easier to sell them," he says. "The Palmyra objects had value for people in Syria... it gives a kind of identity," he says. Although reluctant to put a price on any of the bigger items, after some coaxing he relents. "We have a dozen objects that would sell for $1m each on the open market." I understand why they keep them out of sight of curious foreign visitors.

The Destination 

It has taken days to get through to Dr Maamoun Abdulkarim, the archaeologist in charge of Syria's dept of antiquities in Damascus. When I do reach him, he's angry. "The sites under the control of ISIS, in these areas we have a disaster, a lot of problems. IS attack all things just for the money," he says. "It is our memory, our identity, for the government, the opposition, for all Syria." It's impossible to stop the looting but he is adamant more could be done to crack down on the trade. "We are sure through all the sources a lot of objects go from Syria to Europe, in Switzerland, in Germany, in UK - and Gulf countries like Dubai and Qatar," he says.

It was a common refrain. Everyone from the Lebanese police to Mohammed the smuggler and Ahmed the go-between said the main market was Europe. In the UK there have been no prosecutions or arrests for selling looted Syrian artefacts but Vernon Rapley, who ran the Metropolitan Police's art and antiquities squad for almost a decade, says too much shouldn't be read into this. "I'm quite confident that there have been seizures of material like this," he confidently states, as we stroll around his new workplace, the Victoria and Albert museum, where he is director of security.

Rapley still liaises closely with his former police unit and he is certain that artefacts from Syria are being sold here. He wants the trade in these antiquities to become "socially repugnant and unacceptable" so that in the future, he says, "we don't have interior decorators looking for these things to decorate people's houses".

Author: Simon Cox | Source: BBC News Website [February 17, 2015]