Palymra, located north-east of Damascus suffered extensive damage since the Syrian conflict started. Once a great hub of trade and culture it was a key tourist destination. It was held by the Islamic State group for almost an year before it was captured by Syrian forces.
A UNESCO statement says that the experts who inspected the archaeological site, “… found that most of those statues and sarcophagi that were too large to be removed for safekeeping were defaced, smashed, their heads severed, their fragments left lying on the ground. They observed the destruction of the Triumphal Arch and Temple of Baal Shamin, which was smashed to smithereens.”
Yet the hope that remains is, “The mission considered that despite the destruction of several iconic edifices, site of Palymra retains a large part of its integrity and authenticity.”
Now, this can be a saving grace but we know what happened to the Bamiyan Buddhas during the Afghanistan take over by Taliban. We can still say that Bamiyan Buddhas retain their authenticity, but really in what shape?
The world has thousands of precious archaeological sites and monuments that could become the target of attack of one senseless terrorist group or the other at any given point of time. What we urgently need is to make a “Global Register of War Ruins & Sites”, so we at least know the precious cultural heritage existing in the world. This has to be guarded at any cost and saved from demolition under a protocol signed by all nations. Further, all nations must agree to free the capture of any such site by any armed group whosoever.
The cultural heritage of the world is common to us and we must preserve it for posterity!