THE SAVIORS OF
SYRIA’S MONUMENTS
The IDA sought to protect the identity
of its numerous volunteer s just as an
intelligence agency shields its agents.
Every contact was kept anonymous,
and the institute’s archive was closed
to public view in an effort to prevent
people from drawing any conclusions
about where the work was under way.
Time was of the essence for all those
working to save the monuments: They
sometimes had just a few hours after
a r riving at an e ndange re d site to take
photos of the most crucial structures
and vanish before anybody noticed.
Not all of them survived.
The militias of ISIS were not just
destroying Syria’s cultural treasures
for ideological reasons; they were
also plundering archeological sites
in order to sell the looted objects on
the black market and finance their
struggle. The work of those trying to
capture images of the monuments
threatened this illegal activity: The
photos are marked with GPS data
and the date. Thus, even years later,
the spe cific origin of an obje c t can be
identified, so the information creates
a nightmare for the black marketeers.
ISIS put a bounty on the heads of the
IDA volunteers, but still they were not
deterred. In only a few months’ time
the IDA server contained more than
10 million photos of endangered ruins
and art treasures. When ISIS finally
reached Palmyra, the full importance
of the project became evident.IN THE FACE OF TERROR
Jamal has been pacing the ruins of
Palmyra for almost three hours and
has taken photos of most of the site.
Now exhausted, he sits down in the
shadow of a column as he checks
the display on his camera: “Upload
8 6% complete.” T he n he se e s a white
pickup approaching. After taking
another quick glance at the display
(“91%”), Jamal stows his equipment
away. The truck stops nearby, and
four hooded men with Kalashnikovsjump down from the back. Could they
be ISIS fighters? Jamal’s blood runs
cold. If he can’t complete the upload,
Palmyra may be lost forever. It’s clear
to him that ISIS intends to demolish
the monuments. The men approach
him. “What are you doing out here?
You’ve got to leave. ISIS is getting
close,” yells one of them. Jamal is
in luck: These are soldiers from the
Syrian Army who are trying to defend
the city. Jamal takes one last look at
his camera: “100%.” He breathes a
sigh of relief. Palmyra will live forever
on the IDA server.
Palmyra was named a UNESCO
World Heritage Site in 1980 as “one
of the most important cultural centers
of the ancient world. Standing at the
crossroads of several civilizations,
Palmyra married the Greco-Roman
techniques with local traditions and
Persian influences.” And that history
made the city a thorn in the side for
the fundamentalist ISIS militias. “The
true intention of such destruction is
to deprive the Syrian people of its
knowledge, its identity, and history,”
says former UNESCO Director-General
Irina Bokova. “This destruction is an
immense loss for the Syrian people
and for humanity.”
ISIS reached the city in May of
2015, driving out Syrian government
forces. However, in their search for
antiquities to loot and sell, they soon
realized some of the most important
ones were no longer there. That was
thanks to the efforts of archeologist
Khaled al-Asaad, head of antiquities
in the cit y of Palmyra , a position he’d
held for more than 40 years. As ISIS
approached the city, al-Asaad helped
evacuate and hide the contents of its
main museum. After he was captured
by ISIS militants, he refuse d to reveal
the hiding place despite having been
interrogated and tortured for a month.
An ISIS executioner then beheaded
the 83-year-old scholar, and his body
was hung up from a pole for public
display. ISIS had murdered Palmyra’s
custodian and destroyed much of thehistoric city. But what they could not
destroy was the cache of 3-D images
on the IDA server.HOW DO YOU REBUILD A
WORLD HERITAGE SITE?
When Roger Michel and his team at
IDA heard of the horrific murder and
destruction, they’d sought to send a
clear message to ISIS: “Your barbaric
ac tion is me aningle s s. We will rebuild
what you have destroyed!” In April of
2016, IDA erected a scale model of
Palmyra’s Arch of Triumph in London’s
Trafalgar Square. Two-thirds the size
of the original, it was based on IDA
photos of the original monument.
Using 3-D printing technology, it was
made of Egyptian marble by an Italian
company. Thus less than a year after
militants had destroyed the original,
people could once again admire the
ancient structure. Later in the year it
was erected in New York City before
traveling to other destinations around
the world. Until peace returns to Syria
it will be too dangerous to take the
replica to its original home, but there
are plans to rebuild the Arch along
with the Temple of Baalshamin and
the Temple of Bel using the surviving
remains. IDA’s director of technology,
Alexy Karenowska, says: “The arch is
not a physical replacement, but when
cultural monuments are destroyed in
a wanton ac t, it is vital to re constr uc t
them.” A French company called Art
Graphique et Patrimoine, which has
worke d on 2,0 0 0 or so monume nts in
18 countries, has scanned the rubble
of Palmyra to create a plan for partial
restoration. Some archeologists and
historians have suggested leaving
Palmyra as it is now, as a memorial
to the brutality of the civil war. Others
would like a rebuilt Palmyra to stand
as a monument to Khaled al-Asaad
and the others who risked and lost
their lives trying to protect the city.
But regardless of what Syria decides
to do about Palmyra in the end, the
ancient oasis city will remain alive on
PHO the server of the IDA.
TOS
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ideasanddiscoveries.com 37 May 2020