Latest news with #Parthian
New York Post
27-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
What followed Trump's Iran strikes was almost as stunning as the attack itself
It is hard even to digest the incredible train of events of the last few days in the Middle East. Iran was reduced to an anemic, performance-art missile attack on our base in Qatar — the last Parthian shot from a terrified regime, desperate for an out — and a cease-fire. Iran would have been better off not launching such a ceremonial but ultimately humiliating proof of impotence. Even worse for the theocracy, Iran's temporary reprieve came from the now magnanimous but still hated US President Donald Trump. So ends the creepy mystique of the supposedly indomitable terror state of Iran, the bane of the last seven American presidents over half a century. For Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, it was hard to swallow that US bombers got their permission to fly into Iranian airspace from the Israeli air force. A good simile is that Trump put a pot of water on the stove, told Iran to jump in, put the lid over them, then smiled, turned up the heat — and will now let them stew. As post-bellum realities now simmer in Iran, the theocracy is left explaining the inexplicable to its humiliated military and shocked but soon-to-be-furious populace. All the regime's blood-curdling rhetoric, apocalyptic threats against Israel, goose-stepping thugs and shiny new missiles ended in less than nothing. A trillion dollars and five decades' worth of missiles and centrifuges are up in smoke. That money might have otherwise saved Iranians from the impoverishment of the last 50 years. How about the little Satan Israel, to which Iran for nearly 50 years promised extinction? Israel had destroyed Iran's expeditionary terrorists, Iran's defenses, its nuclear viability and the absurd mythology of Iranian military competence. And worse, Israel showed it could repeat all that destruction when and if necessary. So, the most hated regime in the world crawled into the boiling pot because it looked around in vain for someone to void Trump's ultimatum for a cease and desist. But there were no last-minute saviors to rescue them. The dreaded decades-long Iranian nuclear threat? It is either gone for now, or if it resurfaces, it will be again far easier to vaporize at will than to rebuild a lost trillion-dollar investment. Russia? Its former Obama-Kerry re-invitation back into the Middle East lasted only a decade. It will now cut its losses like it did with the vanished Assad kleptocracy in Syria. Vladimir Putin exits the Middle East not entirely displeased that his lunatic Iranian client did not get a bomb — but did get its just deserts. A tense Middle East tends to prop up Russian export oil prices. Did China come to the mullahs' aid? No, it wasn't not shy about ordering its Iranian lackey to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, through which 50% of Chinese-purchased oil passes. For Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Iranians are treated as little more than Uyghurs with oil. The world decided that it was tired of a half-century of crybully terrorism, empty nuke threats, mindless mobs screaming scripted banalities, cowardly murdering and medieval theocrats threatening the general peace. So, the world turned its back on Iran. And with a wink and nod, it let Israel and the United States do what they had to. As for Iran's terrorist appendages, Hezbollah's commanders are either dead, maimed or in hiding. Hamas has fled into a subterranean labyrinth. The last Assad thug fled to Russia. The crazy Houthis? They are reconsidering the idea of launching their last missile at the cost of their last port or power grid. The anti-Trump Democrats and loony left? Their talk of impeaching Trump for the supposedly 'illegal' 35-minute, one-off strike will fade. The Trump mission equaled less than one day of President Barack Obama's predator drone strikes, targeted killings or five-year chaotic bombing in Libya. Is the incoherent left furious that there is no more Iranian nuclear threat? Mad that no Americans were killed last Saturday night? Furious America likely killed few if any Iranians. Or is it raging because Trump ignored Iran's last-gasp attack and instead orchestrated a cease-fire? Of course, in the Middle East, there is never a real end to anything. We may see freelancing terrorists try to fill the vacuum of Iran's decline. Or Iran itself may try to let loose a terrorist cell. It may later boast it has hidden away some enriched uranium. But no matter. The dimensions of this new Middle East will persist. The new reality is that either Israel or the United States — if they keep their earned confidence within proper limits — can now ensure a non-nuclear Iran by easily blowing up its costly nuclear program as often as it is rebuilt. Victor Davis Hanson is a distinguished fellow of the Center for American Greatness.
Shafaq News
01-05-2025
- General
- Shafaq News
Saladin: Ancient burials, artifacts discovered at Ashur Site
Shafaq News/ A German archaeological team has uncovered graves, skeletal remains, and pottery at the ancient site of Ashur in northern Iraq, as part of an ongoing excavation in coordination with Iraq's Ministry of Culture, the site's director said Wednesday. .Speaking to Shafaq News Agency, site director Salem Abdullah said the German team has conducted seasonal excavations at Ashur for the past three years, working two months annually, followed by documentation and analysis. The latest finds—graves and skeletal remains—were uncovered across three layers: Parthian, Hellenistic-Seleucid, and the original Assyrian stratum, the site's deepest and most significant. 'The goal is to reach the core of the original Assyrian city,' Abdullah said, adding that the discoveries highlight Ashur's long-standing role as a cultural and political hub. A UNESCO delegation also visited the site, praised its historical value, and called for urgent restoration of the Ashur ziggurat, which was damaged by recent earthquakes and rain. Situated along the Tigris River in Nineveh Province near Sharqat, Ashur was the first religious and political capital of the Assyrian Empire and is named after its chief deity, Ashur.
Voice of America
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Voice of America
Experts push to restore Syria's war-torn heritage sites, including Roman ruins at Palmyra
Experts are returning to Syria's war-ravaged heritage sites, hoping to lay the groundwork for restoring them and reviving tourism, which they say could provide a much-needed boost to the country's decimated economy after nearly 14 years of war. Once-thriving landmarks like the ancient city of Palmyra and the medieval Crusader castle of Crac des Chevaliers remain scarred by years of conflict, but local tourists are returning to the sites, and conservationists hope their historical and cultural significance will eventually draw international visitors back. Palmyra One of Syria's six UNESCO World Heritage sites, Palmyra, was once a key hub to the ancient Silk Road network linking the Roman and Parthian empires to Asia. Located in the Syrian desert, it is renowned for its 2,000-year-old Roman-era ruins. It is now marked by shattered columns and damaged temples. Before the Syrian uprising that began in 2011 and soon escalated into a brutal civil war, Palmyra was Syria's main tourist destination, attracting around 150,000 visitors monthly, Ayman Nabu, a researcher and expert in ruins told The Associated Press. Dubbed the "Bride of the Desert," he said "Palmyra revitalized the steppe and used to be a global tourist magnet." The ancient city was the capital of an Arab client state of the Roman Empire that briefly rebelled and carved out its own kingdom in the third century, led by Queen Zenobia. In more recent times, the area had darker associations. It was home to Tadmur prison, where thousands of opponents of the Assad family's rule in Syria were reportedly tortured. The Islamic State group demolished the prison after capturing the town. IS militants later destroyed Palmyra's historic temples of Bel and Baalshamin and the Arch of Triumph, viewing them as monuments to idolatry, and beheaded an elderly antiquities scholar who had dedicated his life to overseeing the ruins. Between 2015 and 2017, control of Palmyra shifted between IS and the Syrian army before Assad's forces, backed by Russia and Iran-aligned militias, recaptured it. Fakhr al-Din al-Ma'ani Castle, a 16th-century fortress overlooking the city, was repurposed by Russian troops as a military barracks. Nabu, the researcher, visited Palmyra five days after the fall of the former government. "We saw extensive excavation within the tombs," he said, noting significant destruction by both IS and Assad government forces. "The (Palmyra) museum was in a deplorable state, with missing documents and artifacts — we have no idea what happened to them." Inside the city's underground tombs, Islamic verses are scrawled on the walls, while plaster covers wall paintings, some depicting mythological themes that highlight Palmyra's deep cultural ties to the Greco-Roman world. Crac des Chevaliers Beyond Palmyra, other historical sites bear the scars of war. Perched on a hill near the town of Al-Husn, with sweeping views, Crac des Chevaliers, a medieval castle originally built by the Romans and later expanded by the Crusaders, was heavily bombarded during the Syrian civil war. On a recent day, armed fighters in military uniform roamed the castle grounds alongside local tourists, taking selfies among the ruins. Hazem Hanna, an architect and head of the antiquities department of Crac des Chevaliers, pointed to the collapsed columns and an entrance staircase obliterated by airstrikes. Damage from government airstrikes in 2014 destroyed much of the central courtyard and the arabesque-adorned columns, Hanna said. The Dead Cities In northwest Syria, more than 700 abandoned Byzantine settlements called Dead Cities, stretch across rocky hills and plains, their weathered limestone ruins featuring remnants of stone houses, basilicas, tombs and colonnaded streets. Despite partial collapse, arched doorways, intricate carvings and towering church facades endure, surrounded by olive trees that root deep into history. Dating back to the first century, these villages once thrived on trade and agriculture. Today, some sites now shelter displaced Syrians, with stone houses repurposed as homes and barns, their walls blackened by fire and smoke. Crumbling structures suffer from poor maintenance and careless repurposing. Looters have ravaged the ancient sites, Nabu said, leaving gaping holes in search of artifacts. Local visitors carve names and messages into centuries-old walls. Sheep enclosures dot the ruins, plastic debris blending with ancient stone. Moustafa Al-Kaddour, a local resident, returned after eight years. Touring the ruins with family members he brought from Quneitra. He said the Assad forces had established a military position in the village, subjecting the ruins to heavy shelling and gunfire. The area was then controlled by rebels, who made the area off-limits to most Syrians and international tourists, unlike Palmyra, which still saw some visitors during the war. The Dead Cities were added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2011 as an open-air museum, said Nabu.
The Independent
17-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Syria hopes it's war-torn heritage sites could help bring back tourists
Syria's battered heritage sites are seeing the return of experts, kindling hopes of restoration and a revival of the tourism sector. The initiative aims to inject life into the nation's devastated economy after nearly 14 years of brutal conflict. Landmarks like the ancient city of Palmyra and the medieval Crac des Chevaliers castle, though bearing the scars of war, are already attracting local tourists. Conservationists are optimistic that the historical and cultural significance of these sites will eventually draw international visitors back to Syria. Palmyra One of Syria's six UNESCO World Heritage sites, Palmyra was once a key hub to the ancient Silk Road network linking the Roman and Parthian empires to Asia. Located in the Syrian desert, it is renowned for its 2,000-year-old Roman-era ruins. It is now marked by shattered columns and damaged temples. Before the Syrian uprising that began in 2011 and soon escalated into a brutal civil war, Palmyra was Syria's main tourist destination, attracting around 150,000 visitors monthly, Ayman Nabu, a researcher and expert in ruins told The Associated Press. Dubbed the 'Bride of the Desert,' he said 'Palmyra revitalized the steppe and used to be a global tourist magnet.' The ancient city was the capital of an Arab client state of the Roman Empire that briefly rebelled and carved out its own kingdom in the third century, led by Queen Zenobia. In more recent times, the area had darker associations. It was home to Tadmur prison, where thousands of opponents of the Assad family's rule in Syria were reportedly tortured. The Islamic State group demolished the prison after capturing the town. IS militants later destroyed Palmyra's historic temples of Bel and Baalshamin and the Arch of Triumph, viewing them as monuments to idolatry, and beheaded an elderly antiquities scholar who had dedicated his life to overseeing the ruins. Between 2015 and 2017, control of Palmyra shifted between IS and the Syrian army before Assad's forces, backed by Russia and Iran-aligned militias, recaptured it. They established military bases in the neighboring town, which was left heavily damaged and largely abandoned. Fakhr al-Din al-Ma'ani Castle, a 16th-century fortress overlooking the city, was repurposed by Russian troops as a military barracks. Nabu, the researcher, visited Palmyra five days after the fall of the former government. 'We saw extensive excavation within the tombs,' he said, noting significant destruction by both IS and Assad government forces. 'The (Palmyra) museum was in a deplorable state, with missing documents and artifacts — we have no idea what happened to them.' At the theater, the Tetrapylon, and other ruins along the main colonnaded street, Nabu said they documented many illegal drillings revealing sculptures, as well as theft and smuggling of funerary or tomb-related sculptures in 2015 when IS had control of the site. While seven of the stolen sculptures were retrieved and put in a museum in Idlib, 22 others were smuggled out, Nabu added. Many pieces likely ended up in underground markets or private collections. Inside the city's underground tombs, Islamic verses are scrawled on the walls, while plaster covers wall paintings, some depicting mythological themes that highlight Palmyra's deep cultural ties to the Greco-Roman world. 'Syria has a treasure of ruins,' Nabu said, emphasizing the need for preservation efforts. He said Syria's interim administration, led by the Islamist former insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has decided to wait until after the transition phase to develop a strategic plan to restore heritage sites. Matthieu Lamarre of the U.N.'s scientific, educational and cultural organization UNESCO, said the agency had since 2015, 'remotely supported the protection of Syrian cultural heritage" through satellite analyses, reports and documentation and recommendations to local experts, but it did not conduct any work on site. He added that UNESCO has explored possibilities for technical assistance if security conditions improve. In 2019, international experts convened by UNESCO said detailed studies would need to be done before starting major restorations. Crac des Chevaliers Beyond Palmyra, other historical sites bear the scars of war. Perched on a hill near the town of Al-Husn, with sweeping views, Crac des Chevaliers, a medieval castle originally built by the Romans and later expanded by the Crusaders, was heavily bombarded during the Syrian civil war. On a recent day, armed fighters in military uniform roamed the castle grounds alongside local tourists, taking selfies among the ruins. Hazem Hanna, an architect and head of the antiquities department of Crac des Chevaliers, pointed to the collapsed columns and an entrance staircase obliterated by airstrikes. Damage from government airstrikes in 2014 destroyed much of the central courtyard and the arabesque-adorned columns, Hanna said. 'Relying on the cultural background of Syria's historical sites and their archaeological and historical significance to enthusiasts worldwide, I hope and expect that when the opportunity arises for tourists to visit Syria, we will witness a significant tourism revival," he said. Some sections of Crac des Chevaliers were renovated after airstrikes and the deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake in 2023 that struck a wide area of neighboring Turkey and also Syria, Hanna said. However, much of the castle remains in ruins. Both Nabu and Hanna believe restoration will take time. 'We need trained technical teams to evaluate the current condition of the ruin sites,' Nabu said. The Dead Cities In Northwest Syria, more than 700 abandoned Byzantine settlements called Dead Cities, stretch across rocky hills and plains, their weathered limestone ruins featuring remnants of stone houses, basilicas, tombs and colonnaded streets. Despite partial collapse, arched doorways, intricate carvings and towering church facades endure, surrounded by olive trees that root deep into history. Dating back to the first century, these villages once thrived on trade and agriculture. Today, some sites now shelter displaced Syrians, with stone houses repurposed as homes and barns, their walls blackened by fire and smoke. Crumbling structures suffer from poor maintenance and careless repurposing. Looters have ravaged the ancient sites, Nabu said, leaving gaping holes in search of artifacts. Local visitors carve names and messages into centuries-old walls. Sheep enclosures dot the ruins, plastic debris blending with ancient stone. Moustafa Al-Kaddour, a local resident, returned after eight years. Touring the ruins with family members he brought from Quneitra, he reflected on childhood memories. 'This is where we went to school,' he said, pointing in the distance. 'In the middle of class, we used to leave and come here to see the ruins.' 'My feelings are indescribable,' al-Kaddour, who also saw his father for the first time in years, told the AP. 'My brain still cannot comprehend that after eight years, by God's will, we made it back home.' He said the Assad forces had established a military position in the village, subjecting the ruins to heavy shelling and gunfire. The area was then controlled by rebels, who made the area off-limits to most Syrians and international tourists, unlike Palmyra, which still saw some visitors during the war. The Dead Cities were added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2011 as an open-air museum, said Nabu. Idlib province alone hosts 'over 1,000 heritage sites spanning different time periods — about a third of Syria's total ruins,' he added. Beyond the bombings and air raids, looting and unauthorized digging have caused significant damage, Nabu said, adding that new construction near the ruins lacks planning and threatens preservation. 'Tens of thousands' of looted artifacts remain undocumented, he said. For those documented, authorities are compiling case files for international circulation in coordination with the Directorate of Antiquities and Museums to locate them and hopefully retrieve them.
Nahar Net
17-02-2025
- Politics
- Nahar Net
Experts push to restore Syria's war-torn heritage sites, including Palmyra Roman ruins
by Naharnet Newsdesk 17 February 2025, 12:46 Experts are returning to Syria's war-ravaged heritage sites, hoping to lay the groundwork for restoring them and reviving tourism, which they say could provide a much-needed boost to the country's decimated economy after nearly 14 years of war. Once-thriving landmarks like the ancient city of Palmyra and the medieval Crusader castle of Crac des Chevaliers remain scarred by years of conflict, but local tourists are returning to the sites, and conservationists hope their historical and cultural significance will eventually draw international visitors back. Palmyra One of Syria's six UNESCO World Heritage sites, Palmyra was once a key hub to the ancient Silk Road network linking the Roman and Parthian empires to Asia. Located in the Syrian desert, it is renowned for its 2,000-year-old Roman-era ruins. It is now marked by shattered columns and damaged temples. Before the Syrian uprising that began in 2011 and soon escalated into a brutal civil war, Palmyra was Syria's main tourist destination, attracting around 150,000 visitors monthly, Ayman Nabu, a researcher and expert in ruins told The Associated Press. Dubbed the "Bride of the Desert," he said "Palmyra revitalized the steppe and used to be a global tourist magnet." The ancient city was the capital of an Arab client state of the Roman Empire that briefly rebelled and carved out its own kingdom in the third century, led by Queen Zenobia. In more recent times, the area had darker associations. It was home to Tadmur prison, where thousands of opponents of the Assad family's rule in Syria were reportedly tortured. The Islamic State group demolished the prison after capturing the town. IS militants later destroyed Palmyra's historic temples of Bel and Baalshamin and the Arch of Triumph, viewing them as monuments to idolatry, and beheaded an elderly antiquities scholar who had dedicated his life to overseeing the ruins. Between 2015 and 2017, control of Palmyra shifted between IS and the Syrian army before Assad's forces, backed by Russia and Iran-aligned militias, recaptured it. They established military bases in the neighboring town, which was left heavily damaged and largely abandoned. Fakhr al-Din al-Ma'ani Castle, a 16th-century fortress overlooking the city, was repurposed by Russian troops as a military barracks. Nabu, the researcher, visited Palmyra five days after the fall of the former government. "We saw extensive excavation within the tombs," he said, noting significant destruction by both IS and Assad government forces. "The (Palmyra) museum was in a deplorable state, with missing documents and artifacts — we have no idea what happened to them." At the theater, the Tetrapylon, and other ruins along the main colonnaded street, Nabu said they documented many illegal drillings revealing sculptures, as well as theft and smuggling of funerary or tomb-related sculptures in 2015 when IS had control of the site. While seven of the stolen sculptures were retrieved and put in a museum in Idlib, 22 others were smuggled out, Nabu added. Many pieces likely ended up in underground markets or private collections. Inside the city's underground tombs, Islamic verses are scrawled on the walls, while plaster covers wall paintings, some depicting mythological themes that highlight Palmyra's deep cultural ties to the Greco-Roman world. "Syria has a treasure of ruins," Nabu said, emphasizing the need for preservation efforts. He said Syria's interim administration, led by the Islamist former insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has decided to wait until after the transition phase to develop a strategic plan to restore heritage sites. Matthieu Lamarre of the U.N.'s scientific, educational and cultural organization UNESCO, said the agency had since 2015, "remotely supported the protection of Syrian cultural heritage" through satellite analyses, reports and documentation and recommendations to local experts, but it did not conduct any work on site. He added that UNESCO has explored possibilities for technical assistance if security conditions improve. In 2019, international experts convened by UNESCO said detailed studies would need to be done before starting major restorations. Crac des Chevaliers Beyond Palmyra, other historical sites bear the scars of war. Perched on a hill near the town of Al-Husn, with sweeping views, Crac des Chevaliers, a medieval castle originally built by the Romans and later expanded by the Crusaders, was heavily bombarded during the Syrian civil war. On a recent day, armed fighters in military uniform roamed the castle grounds alongside local tourists, taking selfies among the ruins. Hazem Hanna, an architect and head of the antiquities department of Crac des Chevaliers, pointed to the collapsed columns and an entrance staircase obliterated by airstrikes. Damage from government airstrikes in 2014 destroyed much of the central courtyard and the arabesque-adorned columns, Hanna said. "Relying on the cultural background of Syria's historical sites and their archaeological and historical significance to enthusiasts worldwide, I hope and expect that when the opportunity arises for tourists to visit Syria, we will witness a significant tourism revival," he said. Some sections of Crac des Chevaliers were renovated after airstrikes and the deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake in 2023 that struck a wide area of neighboring Turkey and also Syria, Hanna said. However, much of the castle remains in ruins. Both Nabu and Hanna believe restoration will take time. "We need trained technical teams to evaluate the current condition of the ruin sites," Nabu said. The Dead Cities In Northwest Syria, more than 700 abandoned Byzantine settlements called Dead Cities, stretch across rocky hills and plains, their weathered limestone ruins featuring remnants of stone houses, basilicas, tombs and colonnaded streets. Despite partial collapse, arched doorways, intricate carvings and towering church facades endure, surrounded by olive trees that root deep into history. Dating back to the first century, these villages once thrived on trade and agriculture. Today, some sites now shelter displaced Syrians, with stone houses repurposed as homes and barns, their walls blackened by fire and smoke. Crumbling structures suffer from poor maintenance and careless repurposing. Looters have ravaged the ancient sites, Nabu said, leaving gaping holes in search of artifacts. Local visitors carve names and messages into centuries-old walls. Sheep enclosures dot the ruins, plastic debris blending with ancient stone. Moustafa Al-Kaddour, a local resident, returned after eight years. Touring the ruins with family members he brought from Quneitra, he reflected on childhood memories. "This is where we went to school," he said, pointing in the distance. "In the middle of class, we used to leave and come here to see the ruins." "My feelings are indescribable," al-Kaddour, who also saw his father for the first time in years, told the AP. "My brain still cannot comprehend that after eight years, by God's will, we made it back home." He said the Assad forces had established a military position in the village, subjecting the ruins to heavy shelling and gunfire. The area was then controlled by rebels, who made the area off-limits to most Syrians and international tourists, unlike Palmyra, which still saw some visitors during the war. The Dead Cities were added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2011 as an open-air museum, said Nabu. Idlib province alone hosts "over 1,000 heritage sites spanning different time periods — about a third of Syria's total ruins," he added. Beyond the bombings and air raids, looting and unauthorized digging have caused significant damage, Nabu said, adding that new construction near the ruins lacks planning and threatens preservation. "Tens of thousands" of looted artifacts remain undocumented, he said. For those documented, authorities are compiling case files for international circulation in coordination with the Directorate of Antiquities and Museums to locate them and hopefully retrieve them.
