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Islamic State blew up the ancient temple of Baal Shamin in the Unesco-listed Syrian city of Palmyra, the country’s antiquities chief has said. [...]
Baal Shamin was built in 17AD and it was expanded under the reign of Roman emperor Hadrian in 130AD. Known as the Pearl of the Desert, Palmyra, which means City of Palms, is a well-preserved oasis 130 miles north-east of Damascus.
— theguardian.com
Reports of the destruction of the Unesco-listed Baalshamin temple surfaced only days after the news broke that ISIS militants had beheaded Khaled Al-Asaad, a leading Syrian archaeologist and unrivaled Palmyra expert.Meanwhile destruction in the name of so called "cultural cleansing" is also... View full entry
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.
— theartnewspaper.com
Previously in the Archinect news:ISIL destroys ancient mausoleums in historic PalmyraISIS allegedly not interested in bulldozing Palmyra architecture but intends to "pulverize" statuesISIS militants seize control of ancient Syrian city of PalmyraAncient Syrian city of Palmyra under threat by ISIS View full entry
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...
— Al Jazeera
Previously on Archinect:ISIS allegedly not interested in bulldozing Palmyra architecture but intends to "pulverize" statuesISIS militants seize control of ancient Syrian city of PalmyraAncient Syrian city of Palmyra under threat by ISISISIS continues destruction of ancient artefacts, burns Mosul... View full entry
In an apparent video message, ISIS forces occupying the ancient city of Palmyra and its environs have stated that they do not intend to bulldoze its architecture, but plan to “pulverize” unspecified statues that they believe have been worshipped by “heretics” in the past. [...] The veracity of the message cannot be independently confirmed, but it has been assumed to be authentic by specialists on the subject, including the journalist Hassan Hassan, co-author of “ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror.” — artinfo.com
Previously:ISIS militants seize control of ancient Syrian city of PalmyraAncient Syrian city of Palmyra under threat by ISISMeanwhile in Palmyra: ISIS executes more than 300 civilians in Syria’s Palmyra View full entry
Islamic State militants swept into the desert city of Palmyra in central Syria on Wednesday, and by evening were in control of it [...].
Palmyra has extra resonance, with its grand complex of 2,000-year-old colonnades and tombs, one of the world’s most magnificent remnants of antiquity [...] that has raised fears both locally and internationally that Palmyra, a United Nations world heritage site, could also suffer irrevocable damage.
— nytimes.com
Previously: Ancient Syrian city of Palmyra under threat by ISIS View full entry
The ruins of an ancient city that have withstood centuries of conflict in the Syrian desert are now facing their greatest threat yet: the militants of the Islamic State.
Activists, officials and citizens of the city say ISIS has launched a prolonged assault on Palmyra, an "oasis in the desert" north of Damascus that the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO says contains the "monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world."
— mashable.com
UPDATE: ISIS militants seize control of ancient Syrian city of PalmyraPreviously View full entry
