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Arab News
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Why Syria's cultural heritage continues to face a looming threat
LONDON: Across Syria, looters are disturbing ancient graves and buried treasures, tearing through layers of history to steal artifacts hidden for thousands of years. Day and night, the earth trembles not from bombs or shellfire but from the strikes of pickaxes and jackhammers. Since the collapse of Bashar Assad regime's control last December, Syria's cultural heritage has come under increasing threat. Looting has surged across the country, from the famed ruins of Palmyra to remote coastal regions, as economic desperation and lawlessness take hold. In January, images circulating on social media showed looting and vandalism at the museum on Arwad Island, off the coast of Tartus. At least 38 artifacts were reportedly stolen — pieces that told the story of a civilization now at risk of being erased. Local news media in Syria and Lebanon, citing unnamed sources, reported that unknown individuals raided the museum following the regime's loss of security control on December 8. According to Amr Al-Azm, an archaeologist and co-director of the Antiquities Trafficking and Heritage Anthropology Research (ATHAR) project, three key factors are fueling the surge in looting: demand, economic collapse and breakdown of law and order in many areas. 'First, there's the persistent and growing demand,' Al-Azm told Arab News. 'This is fundamentally a supply-and-demand issue: conflict zones like Syria make up the supply side, while the demand largely comes from North America and Western Europe.' Artifacts flow into black markets because buyers exist — whether motivated by profit or a misguided belief that they are preserving history, Al-Azm said. 'Regardless of intent,' he said, 'both groups fuel demand, which perpetuates the problem.' • Electronic treasure-hunting devices are openly sold in major Syrian cities, with looted artifacts advertised on social media. • All six of Syria's UNESCO World Heritage Sites were declared endangered in 2013 due to widespread looting and destruction. (Sources: International Council of Museums, UNESCO) The second driver is what Al-Azm calls 'treasure-hunting fever,' a phenomenon that extends far beyond Syria but has intensified amid the country's post-regime economic collapse. 'When people lose their livelihoods, they seek alternative ways to survive,' he said. 'If they know — or even believe — that something valuable is buried nearby, they'll dig for it in hopes of supplementing their income.' This desperation may also be accompanied by a misguided sense of entitlement. Many Syrians, Al-Azm explained, believe these artifacts rightfully belong to them, especially given how corrupt officials from the ousted regime hoarded or sold cultural property for personal gain. Amr Al-Azm, an archaeologist and co-director of the ATHAR project. (Supplied) 'When a government is widely seen as corrupt, and its officials and employees are perceived to be stealing constantly, that belief becomes ingrained,' he said. 'People begin to think: Why should I let the government take this? They're just going to steal or sell it anyway.' He added that for many Syrians, that legacy of corruption reinforces a personal claim: 'This artifact is coming from my land, my backyard, my village — why shouldn't I have a claim to it?' The third factor is institutional collapse. As government structures and enforcement mechanisms fell apart, they left a vacuum. 'In many areas, the absence of enforcement has created a vacuum,' Al-Azm said. 'Following the regime's collapse, people often reverted to the opposite mindset: if something was banned before, it's now assumed to be permitted. 'That shift in perception has contributed to the surge in looting activity.' While the current crisis has intensified looting, looting in Syria predates the civil war that began in 2011, revealing a deeper, long-standing crisis threatening the nation's cultural heritage. 'Looting is an age-old global phenomenon,' Al-Azm said. 'Since humans began burying their dead with valuables, others have sought to dig them up and recover those treasures.' Since 2011, the civil war has shattered Syrian society — dividing communities along social, economic, sectarian and geographic lines. Cultural heritage, Al-Azm said, was an early casualty. 'This war has deeply damaged Syrian society,' he said. 'And cultural heritage has been a casualty from the very beginning.' Today, efforts to recover stolen artifacts face daunting challenges. Investigators must navigate deeply entrenched smuggling networks that, for more than a decade, have trafficked Syria's cultural legacy into black markets around the world. With over 10,000 archaeological sites vulnerable to illegal digs, the fight to protect Syria's heritage is now a fight to preserve its identity. In 2020, the UN agency for education, science and culture, UNESCO, warned of 'industrial-scale' looting in Syria, citing satellite images showing thousands of illegal excavations. Irina Bokova, UNESCO's director-general, also highlighted links between antiquities trafficking and funding for extremist groups, urging swift global action to halt the trade. Among the most widespread forms of theft is 'subsistence looting,' in which locals dig for artifacts to survive. 'In Syria, many people live on, next to, or very close to archaeological sites, so they're well aware that valuable artifacts may be buried nearby,' Al-Azm said. 'Often, these sites have been previously excavated or are active dig locations with foreign — usually Western — archaeological missions, sometimes in partnership with Syrian teams. 'Locals are often hired as laborers on these missions, which gives them both familiarity with the landscape and exposure to the types of objects that may be found underground.' In May, a video surfaced online showing content creators using metal detectors to search for artifacts in an old home in Deraa, southern Syria. The homeowner had reportedly contacted them after making a discovery beneath the house. The video, shared on YouTube by the channel NewDose, included a promotion for a metal detector company and ended with the unearthing of ancient copper and gold coins. It also claimed the homeowner had previously uncovered a church beneath the property. Al-Azm believes that social media has worsened the looting crisis. 'With platforms like Facebook, people can easily post finds, ask questions, and buy or sell looted antiquities — all in the open. It's made the situation increasingly unmanageable,' he said. He noted that traffickers and looters often operate within Facebook groups. 'Right now, we monitor more than 550 groups just in the MENA region — and many of them are huge. Some have 100,000 members, others 500,000, and one group has even surpassed a million members,' he said. Syria, often referred to as the cradle of civilization, was home to some of the world's earliest cities and innovations. From Ebla and Mari to Ugarit, these ancient societies helped shape governance, language, trade and urban life. Their legacy is now at risk of being lost forever. Alongside small-scale looting, Syria also faces more organized theft. These crimes are carried out by longstanding trafficking networks and criminal groups that view cultural property as a highly lucrative commodity. Al-Azm pointed out that many of these long-standing trafficking networks 'have operated in the region for decades, if not centuries.' 'These groups engage in a range of criminal activities, including the looting and trafficking of antiquities, because it's highly profitable,' he said. 'The sale of cultural property generates significant revenue, making it an attractive enterprise for such networks.' As looters continue to chip away at Syria's cultural identity, the global community faces a crucial test: whether to act decisively or stand by as one of the world's oldest cultural legacies disappears — artifact by artifact, site by site. To confront this growing crisis, Al-Azm says Syria will need comprehensive international support — both from its archaeologists and heritage experts, many now scattered across the diaspora, and from global institutions ready to take necessary action. Central to that support, Al-Azm noted, is the Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums in Damascus, the national institution tasked with protecting Syria's cultural heritage. 'That includes supporting the institution responsible for overseeing this work,' he said. During the conflict, much of the burden of preservation fell to NGOs, local communities, and individual stakeholders. Al-Azm emphasized that these grassroots actors played a crucial role in protecting Syria's heritage when official capacity was limited. 'These groups played a vital role, and we should continue to encourage, support, and facilitate their efforts moving forward,' he said. Legal experts echo the need for a multilayered response. Amir Farhadi, a US-based international disputes and human rights lawyer, points to international law as a critical line of defense against antiquities trafficking. 'The main pillar of the international legal framework is the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, which was adopted through UNESCO in 1970,' Farhadi told Arab News. Syria is among the many countries that have ratified the convention, which aims both to deter the theft of cultural property and to facilitate its return when stolen. Farhadi noted that while the Convention and similar treaties are not retroactive, they remain effective tools for addressing recent crimes. 'The more recent the theft of cultural property, the more robust the legal framework for its restitution,' he said. 'This is good news for Syria, since most antiquities trafficking that took place during the war years would fall within the scope of the 1970 convention.' He contrasted Syria's position with that of countries seeking the return of colonial-era artifacts. 'For example,' he said, 'there is no binding legal mechanism applicable to the dispute between Greece and the UK over the Parthenon (Elgin) Marbles. 'Instead, the two countries could pursue optional mediation through a specialized UNESCO committee, although the UK has in the past refused.' In Syria's case, Farhadi said, additional legal protections specific to Syria were introduced during the height of the looting campaign carried out by the terrorist group Daesh. In 2015, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2199, calling on all member states to prevent the cross-border trade of Syrian cultural property removed since March 15, 2011. The resolution explicitly urges the return of looted items to the Syrian people. The urgency behind that resolution was clear. Daesh began in 2014 systematically looting and destroying key cultural sites across Syria, including in Raqqa, Manbij and Palmyra. Between 2014 and 2017, the group's occupation of territory marked the most intense period of destruction, targeting museums, tombs and archaeological landmarks. • 900+ Syrian monuments and archaeological sites looted, damaged, or destroyed from 2011 to 2015. • 95 Facebook groups trading Syrian antiquities in 2019. (Sources: Association for the Protection of Syrian Archaeology, ATHAR Project) Still, Farhadi cautioned that strong legal frameworks alone are not enough. 'While the UNESCO Convention and Security Council Resolution clearly prohibit the international trafficking of Syrian cultural property and require its restitution, enforcement depends on concrete action by individual states,' he said. 'Locating and authenticating stolen heritage is not straightforward,' Farhadi said. 'It requires cooperation among stakeholders — law enforcement in both the source and destination countries, museums and auction houses willing to conduct due diligence, and authorities in the country of origin.' In Syria's case, the challenge is immense, he added. 'There are reports of thousands, if not tens of thousands, of looted objects that entered the black market over the past decade.' 'But how do you differentiate a Bronze Age figurine looted by Daesh from one that entered the market legally decades ago? That's where provenance becomes critical — and where trafficking networks try to exploit gaps.' Verifying authenticity often depends on access to site inventories and museum records — information that only Syrian authorities and cultural institutions can provide. 'Mechanisms like the Red Lists published by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) are helpful,' Farhadi said. 'But the danger is for less high-profile objects, or those for which records were lost during the war.' In his view, success hinges on diplomacy. 'Cooperation must happen at the highest levels — bilaterally between Syria and countries where trafficked objects end up, and multilaterally through organizations like UNESCO,' he said. 'This would require the new government to prioritize this issue, which of course is much easier said than done in this time of transition,' he added. Farhadi believes the responsibility also lies with international organizations. 'UNESCO has the responsibility — if not the obligation — to support Syria in setting up concrete mechanisms to facilitate the restitution of property,' he said. 'Back in 2015,' he added, 'the Security Council expressly called on UNESCO to do this.' While past collaboration was often hindered by international reluctance to engage with the Assad regime, Farhadi said that obstacle is no longer relevant. 'With the political landscape shifting, the goodwill to support Syria in this transition could finally jump-start new multilateral efforts to recover and restore its looted heritage,' he said. Al-Azm, the archaeologist, emphasized the broader significance of heritage in rebuilding Syrian society. 'Cultural heritage has a critical role in enhancing the Syrian identity,' he said. He envisions a new, inclusive Syrian identity that moves beyond the ideologies of the past. 'It's going to be a new Syrian identity, unlike the previous one that was heavily infused with ideologies like Baathism, Pan-Arabism and Nazism, and even at one point Islamism, if we were to go there.' 'We need a national identity rooted in shared history and common aspirations, free from ethnic, sectarian or tribal divisions,' Al-Azm said. 'Preserving what remains of Syria's decimated ancient sites — like Dura-Europos, Apamea and the Dead Cities — is essential.' 'These remnants of the past,' he added, 'can help forge a unified future for Syrians. Protecting our heritage is ultimately about protecting our future.'
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Why Syrian antiquities are flooding Facebook Marketplace
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Listed alongside the more familiar knackered sofas and unwanted books are ancient, stolen treasures: Facebook Marketplace has become a profitable hub for the sale of looted and trafficked Syrian antiquities. Since the fall of the Assad regime, "widespread poverty" and the "collapse" of the nation's "once-feared security apparatus" have sparked a "gold rush" of looters, robbing 2000-year-old graves for artefacts to sell online, said The Guardian. Syria's location in the "heart of the fertile crescent where settled civilisation first emerged", means it is "awash" with "mosaics, statues and artefacts" that "fetch top dollar" from Western collectors. Nearly a third of the 1,500 Syrian cases that the Antiquities Trafficking and Heritage Anthropology Research project has documented since 2012 have occurred since December alone. When Assad fell, there was a "huge spike on the ground", said Amr al-Azm, a co-director of the ATHAR project. There was a "complete breakdown" of any of the constraints that used to control looting. "The last three to four months has seen the biggest flood of antiquities trafficking I have ever seen, from any country, ever," said ATHAR's other co-director Katie Paul. This has upset many Syrians and some have protested outside the National Museum in Damascus, demanding the protection of the nation's antiquities from illicit excavations. The "destruction" of our cultural heritage is a "blatant attack on our history", one of them told Syrian news agency Sana, and it must be confronted "by all possible means". The looters, "armed with pickaxes, shovels and jackhammers", come by night to "disturb the dead", said The Guardian. Under "cover of darkness", they dig up ancient graves in Syria's ancient city of Palmyra, searching for historic booty. Once the treasures are "out of the ground", they "make their way online", and Facebook has "emerged as a key hub" for their sale, with public and private groups offering "ancient coins, entire mosaics and heavy stone busts" to the "highest bidder". In one post on Facebook, "a user offered a pile of ancient coins for sale", writing, "I have been holding them for 15 years, Free Syria." In a video "shared in a Facebook group in March", a man with a Syrian accent displays "a mosaic depicting Zeus on a throne, using his mobile phone for scale". "This is the fastest we've ever seen artefacts being sold," said ATHAR's Paul. It used to take a year to sell a mosaic but now they can go in just two weeks. In response, ATHAR is tracking the route of trafficked Middle Eastern antiquities online and building a database of more than 26,000 screenshots, videos, and pictures. But the team wants more help from Facebook. In 2020, the social media behemoth banned the sale of historical antiquities on its platform but Paul says the policy is rarely enforced. So it continues to be used as a "gateway for traffickers", linking "low-level looters" in Syria to "criminal networks" that smuggle the artefacts out of the country and ship them "around the world to create fake bills of sale and provenance". After 10 to 15 years, the treasures make their way into legal auction houses, where collectors and museums, mostly in the US and Europe, "snap them up".
Asharq Al-Awsat
09-06-2025
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Antiquities Smuggling Surges After Fall of Syria's Assad
The collapse of a once-feared security apparatus, coupled with widespread poverty, has triggered a gold rush in Syria where experts say social media has emerged as a key hub for the sale of stolen antiquities. Located in the heart of the fertile crescent where settled civilization first emerged, Syria is awash with mosaics, statues and artifacts that fetch top dollar from collectors in the west and the site of looting since 2012, The Guardian reported on Sunday. According to the Antiquities Trafficking and Heritage Anthropology Research Project (ATHAR), which investigates antiquities black markets online, nearly a third of the 1,500 Syrian cases it has documented since 2012 have occurred since December alone. It said that much of the looting is being carried out by individuals desperate for cash, hoping to find ancient coins or antiquities they can sell quickly. In Damascus, shops selling metal detectors have proliferated while ads on social media show users discovering hidden treasure with models such as the XTREM Hunter, which retails for just over $2,000. They come by night. Armed with pickaxes, shovels and jackhammers, looters disturb the dead. Under the cover of darkness, men exhume graves buried more than 2,000 years ago in Syria's ancient city of Palmyra, searching for treasure. 'These different layers are important, when people mix them together, it will be impossible for archaeologists to understand what they're looking at,' said Mohammed al-Fares, a resident of Palmyra and an activist with the NGO Heritage for Peace, as he stood in the remains of an ancient crypt exhumed by looters. By day, the destruction caused by grave robbers is apparent. Three-meter-deep holes mar the landscape of Palmyra, where ancient burial crypts lure people with the promise of funerary gold and ancient artifacts that fetch thousands of dollars. Al-Fares picked up a shattered piece of pottery that tomb raiders had left behind and placed it next to the rusted tailfin of a mortar bomb. Palmyra, which dates back to the third century BC, suffered heavy damage during the period of ISIS control, when militants blew up parts of the ancient site in 2015, deeming its ruins apostate idols. Palmyra is not the only ancient site under threat. Experts and officials say the looting and trafficking of Syria's antiquities has surged to unprecedented levels since the opposition overthrew former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December, putting the country's heritage further at risk. 'When the [Assad] regime fell, we saw a huge spike on the ground. It was a complete breakdown of any constraints that might have existed in the regime periods that controlled looting,' said Amr al-Azm, a professor of Middle East history and anthropology at Shawnee State University in Ohio and co-director of the ATHAR project. For her part, Katie Paul, a co-director of the ATHAR project and the director of Tech Transparency Project, said: 'The last three to four months has been the biggest flood of antiquities trafficking I have ever seen, from any country, ever.' 'This is the fastest we've ever seen artifacts being sold. Before for example, a mosaic being sold out of Raqqa took a year. Now, mosaics are being sold in two weeks,' said Paul. Paul, along with Azm, tracks the route of trafficked Middle Eastern antiquities online and has created a database of more than 26,000 screenshots, videos and pictures documenting trafficked antiquities dating back to 2012. The report said that Syria's new government has urged looters to stop, offering finder's fees to those who turn in antiquities rather than sell them, and threatening offenders with up to 15 years in prison. But preoccupied with rebuilding a shattered country and struggling to assert control, Damascus has few resources to protect its archaeological heritage. In 2020, Facebook banned the sale of historical antiquities on its platform and said it would remove any related content. However, according to Paul, the policy is rarely enforced despite continued sales on the platform being well documented. 'Trafficking of cultural property during conflict is a crime, here you have Facebook acting as a vehicle for the crime. Facebook knows this is an issue,' said Paul. She added that she was tracking dozens of antiquities trading groups on Facebook that have more than 100,000 members, the largest of which has approximately 900,000 members. A representative from Meta, the parent company of Facebook, declined to respond to the Guardian's request for a comment. The Facebook groups are used as a gateway for traffickers, connecting low-level looters in Syria to criminal networks that smuggle the artifacts out of the country into neighboring Jordan and Türkiye. From there, the pieces are shipped around the world to create fake bills of sale and provenance so they can be laundered into the grey market of antiquities. After 10 to 15 years they make their way into legal auction houses, where collectors and museums, primarily located in the US and Europe, snap them up.
Zawya
26-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Bank Nizwa signs MoU with ATHAR to strengthen strategic partnership in the health endowment sector
Muscat: In line with its ongoing commitment to supporting sustainable development initiatives with lasting social impact, Bank Nizwa, the leading and most trusted Islamic bank in the Sultanate of Oman, has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Health Endowment Foundation (ATHAR). This strategic partnership aims to enhance the role of the health endowment sector in promoting inclusive development, aligned with the national priorities outlined in Oman Vision 2040. The agreement was signed by Mr. Khaled Al Kayed, Chief Executive Officer of Bank Nizwa, and Mr. Ahmad Abdullah Al Khanji, Chairman of the Executive Committee, Board Member of the ATHAR Foundation, in the presence of senior officials from both institutions. The memorandum aims to strengthen institutional cooperation between the two parties, with Bank Nizwa providing logistical and technical support to the ATHAR Foundation in implementing its strategic and operational plans—particularly in the areas of endowment investment and the development of health-related projects with sustainable impact. The collaboration also includes capacity-building initiatives designed to enhance professional competencies, as well as promoting ATHAR's financial services and activities through Bank Nizwa's various communication channels. Under the agreement, ATHAR will maintain its primary banking relationship with Bank Nizwa and recognize the bank as its strategic partner across all relevant media platforms. Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Khaled Al Kayed stated: 'At Bank Nizwa, we firmly believe in leveraging our Islamic banking expertise to support endowment institutions that serve meaningful social objectives, especially in vital sectors like healthcare. This partnership stands as a model for effective integration between Islamic finance and the endowment sector, reinforcing our shared commitment to sustainable development and delivering long-term value to Omani society.' For his part, Mr. Ahmad bin Abdullah Al Khanji emphasized that the MoU represents a strategic step towards developing an integrated health endowment model based on partnership and specialization. He stated, 'We are committed to advancing institutional and professional health endowment services that benefit all segments of Omani society. This partnership with Bank Nizwa will further strengthen our capabilities and expand our positive impact.' The memorandum also provides for the formation of a joint working group to oversee the implementation of mutually agreed programs and projects, and to submit periodic reports to the senior management of both institutions. Additionally, it allows for the signing of separate executive agreements for any future initiatives. This partnership aligns with Bank Nizwa's ongoing efforts to reinforce its position as a leading Islamic financial institution committed to supporting sectors with substantial social and economic impact, by providing innovative, Sharia-compliant financial solutions that embody national sustainability values.
