Archinect - News

Palmyra recaptured from ISIS; first photos show level of destruction

2017-03-03T13:24:00-05:00

Syrian government troops have retaken Palmyra from Islamic State forces, with help from Russian air support, the Syrian army said in a statement on Thursday. Politicians in Russian welcomed the news as a triumph, as widely reported by the state’s media, but few details have emerged about the condition of the ancient site, where Isil has previously wreaked large-scale destruction. [...] Isil first took Palmyra in May 2015 and the extremist group destroyed a number of important monuments [...].

The Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities & Museums published an initial set of photos of the extent of destruction after ISIS troops had been driven out of Palmyra's archaeological sites on March 2, 2017.

↑ Roman Theater

↑ Tetrapylon

↑ Triumphal Arch (previously on Archinect)

↑ Palmyra Museum

All images via dgam.gov.sy under Creative Commons License.

ISIS militants retake ancient city of Palmyra

2016-12-12T15:09:00-05:00

ISIS forces have retaken the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria, according to Syrian government media, the ISIS media wing and a human rights monitor. [...] ISIS first seized control of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in May 2015. Syrian government forces recaptured it in March this year. [...] ISIS demolished many of the city's ancient treasures, including the 1,800-year-old Arch of Triumph and the nearly 2,000-year-old Temple of Baalshamin, as well as the Temple of Bel.

Palmyra previously in the Archinect news:

ISIS believed to have bulldozed 2,900-year-old Assyrian ziggurat in Nimrud, Iraq

2016-11-14T18:42:00-05:00

One of the tallest surviving structures from the ancient world has been totally destroyed by Isil extremists at Nimrud, the former capital of Assyria, which was captured by Iraqi government forces on 13 November. The ziggurat, which was nearly 2,900 years old, was obliterated. Only the largest Egyptian pyramids are higher than Middle Eastern ziggurats and central American step pyramids. [...] incidents represent “the worst damage that Isil has inflicted on Iraqi archaeology”.

An older satellite photo from August 31, 2016 shows the Ziggurat and Temple of Ishtar still intact. Image via ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives Facebook page.

Replica of Palmyra Arch presented in New York

2016-09-22T17:57:00-04:00

A recreation of Palmyra’s Arch of Triumph was unveiled in New York on Monday, almost a year after Islamic State militants destroyed the original structure. The 1,800-year-old Roman arch was blown up by the extremist group last October, but a team of archeologists at Oxford University’s Institute for Digital archeology (IDA) set about recreating it, in an act of resistance to Isis’s rampant acts of cultural destruction in Iraq and Syria.

The recreation, which is two-thirds the size of the original, was constructed with 3D printing technology using Egyptian marble. Historically, the arch marked the entrance to the Temple of Baal, which was later converted into a church and then a mosque.

The recreated arch was displayed last spring in Trafalgar Square. It will stay in New York — at City Hill park — for one week before heading to Dubai.

Watch a video of the construction here:

For more on Palmyra and the destruction caused by ISIL, follow these links:

Download a 3D model of a column from Palmyra

2016-06-28T20:48:00-04:00

In ‘A World of Fragile Parts’, La Biennale di Venezia and the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) explore the threats facing the preservation of global heritage sites and how the production of copies can aid in the preservation of cultural artifacts. Ecological uncertainty, violent attacks, and the increasing demands of tourism are just a few of the factors putting global heritage sites and cultural artifacts at risk of destruction and loss.

For the Venice Biennale exhibit "A World of Fragile Parts," the digital archaeology project #NEWPALMYRA made a chrome version of a capital from the recently-destroyed city of Palmyra. Now, anyone can download the 3D model and print it, use it in a model of their own, or simply spin it around.

Palmyra is an ancient city dating back to the Neolithic era that housed one of the world's most impressive collections of Roman colonial architecture. But last year, ISIL took control of the city and destroyed many of the ruins.

#NEWPALMYRA has been carefully remaking the destroyed archaeological site using digital means, and making their work freely available to the public. For more information, or to download the model, visit their site.

Play around with it here:

Palmyra after ISIS: a first look at the level of destruction

2016-03-28T19:15:00-04:00

As the Two-Way reported on Sunday, the Syrian government says its forces have retaken the desert city of Palmyra, in the center of Syria. The self-declared Islamic State seized the city in May of last year — and soon unleashed a wave of destruction on its defenders, inhabitants and archaeological treasures.

Previously in the Archinect news:

Destruction of Iraq’s oldest Christian monastery by ISIS militants went unreported for 16 months

2016-01-20T17:01:00-05:00

Iraq’s earliest Christian monastery has been destroyed by Isil extremists. [...] This seems to have occurred in September 2014, three months after the site on the southern outskirts of Mosul was seized by Isil forces. [...] If the near-total destruction of Mar Elia is confirmed, 16 months after the event, it is worrying that it went unreported, since it suggests that other Christian sites may have also been destroyed without publicity.

Milan to pay stipend to residents willing to host refugees

2016-01-07T20:50:00-05:00

The second-biggest Italian city is offering a monthly payment of 350 euros ($376) to every resident willing to host a refugee, or an asylum seeker, in their home. The city of Milan announced Monday with a post on its Facebook page that soon local residents will be paid for giving shelter to one or more refugees.

Related:

Fear grows over ISIS threat against Unesco World Heritage site in Libya

2015-12-16T12:53:00-05:00

Concern is growing over the threat to the Roman antiquities of Sabratha after Isil supporters temporarily occupied the Libyan town. [...] After the recent destruction of antiquities by Isil extremists in Iraq (Mosul, Nineveh, Nimrud and Hatra) and Syria (Palmyra), there is great concern about Libya. Sabratha, a Unesco World Heritage Site, was a Phoenician trading centre in the fifth-century BC and later became an important Roman port.

Previously in the Archinect news:

ISIS militants have reportedly blown up Palmyra's Arch of Triumph

2015-10-05T13:13:00-04:00

Islamic State militants in northern Syria have blown up another monument in the ancient city of Palmyra, officials and local sources say. The Arch of Triumph was "pulverised" by the militants who control the city, a Palmyra activist told AFP news agency. It is thought to have been built about 2,000 years ago. IS fighters have already destroyed two ancient temples at the site, described by Unesco as one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world.

Previously in the Archinect news:

ISIS beheads leading archaeologist in Palmyra

2015-08-19T13:44:00-04:00

Isil militants have beheaded one of Syria’s most respected archaeologists and an expert on the ancient Roman city of Palmyra. Khaled Al-Asaad, who was director of antiquities at the Unesco World Heritage Site from 1963 to 2003, was murdered on 18 August and his body tied to an ancient column within the 2,000-year-old archaeological site. According to Abdulkarim, Al-Asaad was [...] killed for refusing to help Isil find antiquities that were hidden before the invasion of Palmyra.

Previously in the Archinect news:

ISIL destroys ancient mausoleums in historic Palmyra

2015-06-24T13:39:00-04:00

Members of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have destroyed two historic mausoleums in the ancient city of Palmyra, Syria's top antiquities official said Wednesday, raising fears that the armed group could next target the town's famed Roman ruins. Maamoun Abdulkarim, the head of the government's Antiquities and Museums Department, told [AP] that ISIL destroyed the grave of Mohammad Bin Ali, a descendant of Imam Ali, cousin of Islam's Prophet Muhammad...

Previously on Archinect:

ISIS Threatens Southern Tunisian Towns Including the Star Wars Set for Tatooine

2015-03-25T14:50:00-04:00

Tataouine, the town in Tunisia where George Lucas filmed parts of Star Wars, has become embroiled in the country’s unrest with Isis. The town’s simple domed structures became iconic after they were used for Luke Skywalker’s home planet of Tatooine, and die-hard fans often make pilgrimages to them. But the town has become increasingly unsafe, as it is a waypoint for Isis fighters travelling to and from training bases in Libya, 60 miles to the east.

The article doesn't note that the design of the set is based off the architecture of the adjacent Berber-speaking village of Matmata. Tourists are driven in old Land Rovers by guides across the sweeping dunes of the Northern Sahara to the more famous set, which isn't actually inhabited, but is named after the nearby city/region of Tataouine. I visited the site in 2011 – less as a Star Wars enthusiast and more as a student, then engaged in research on the revolution. At the time, the area was considered a bit dangerous but for slightly different reasons: borders in the Sahara are much more porous than they appear on a map, and armed militants from Libya had been sighted in the region. Now that those forces have pledged allegiance to ISIL, the permeability of Tunisia's borders becomes an even graver issue.

Matmata is a rather sleepy town containing incredibly beautiful and unique architecture. That being said, with the exception of the bar adapted for use in the first Star Wars, none o...