Before the Syrian civil conflict, the ruins of Palmyra – a Unesco World Heritage site – was one of Syria’s most-visited tourist attractions. After 10 months under the control of ISIL and, as the military finishes clearing the area of the remnants of war, the full extent of the extremists’ damage to the ancient city is being revealed.
Two thousand years ago, under the Roman Empire, Palmyra was a wealthy city in the heart of the Syrian Desert where merchant caravans traversing the Silk Road would stop for rest and to trade. A failed rebellion against the Empire by Queen Zenobia resulted in the Romans destroying the prosperous outpost, but since then, its sand-coloured pillars and temples have attracted visitors from across the world – until the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War.
ISIL seized control of the city in May 2015 and, within months, the militants wreaked havoc. First, they released images on social media of the 1,900-year-old Temple of Baalshamin being blown up. Then, they targeted the Temple of Bel – one of the largest and best-preserved sites in Palmyra – reducing the ancient structure to rubble. After that, they turned their attention to other architectural treasures.
In the aftermath of the Syrian Arab Army offensive to retake the city from ISIL, during which no more damage was inflicted on the ruins, soldiers clambered over chunks of broken pillars and posed for photos amid the ruins. But their victory was tarnished by the scale of the destruction of the country’s ancient heritage, which was felt keenly.
“I couldn’t see what they did to the ancient site because I was in prison after being captured trying to escape, but I heard all these massive explosions,” a former resident told me on a trip to Syria this month. He has been living in a refugee centre in Homs with his family. “I asked my captors what was happening and they told me they were blowing up the antiquities,” he said.
The Temple of Bel was once connected to the other end of the city by the Great Colonnade – a covered avenue stretching more than one kilometre, the pillars of which had remained standing for almost two millennia.
Several sections of the colonnade were demolished by ISIL when they blew up the Arch of Triumph, which stood at one end, but other stretches remain intact.
The head of Syria’s antiquities and museums authority Dr Maamoun Abdulkarim said the Arch was one of several damaged structures that could potentially be rebuilt using ‘anastylosis’ – a reconstruction process utilising remnants of the original building.
One of the few key structures ISIL left intact was the ancient theatre, which they utilised for public executions, particularly of SAA soldiers.
“Daesh didn’t blow up the theatre because they used it to terrify and control local people, making them watch when they slaughtered prisoners here,” said one SAA general on condition of anonymity. “When the Russian Air Force were carrying out air strikes on IS in Palmyra, they had a very good rule not to hit the ancient ruins.”
It was not just the sprawling ruins which the extremists damaged. Before turning Palmyra’s museum of antiquities into a court where punishments were meted out to unsuspecting residents, they ransacked the premises. Statues were ripped from the walls, exhibition cases smashed and ancient sarcophagi defaced.
The head of antiquities, Khaled Al Asaad, who tried to protect monuments from ISIL, was beheaded in August. In the museum grounds, the Lion of Al Lat – a statue dating back to the first century AD depicting a lion with a gazelle sitting between its giant paws – lay in pieces. Abdulkarim said there was hope that the statue could be reconstructed.
Other precious artefacts from the museum have vanished, presumably stolen to be sold in the global market for Greco-Roman artefacts. The Syrian authorities have started a campaign to track down looted items and five statues have been recovered near Homs, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency. The ruined museum is located in modern Palmyra, which has also been extensively damaged.
“ISIL destroyed statues, antiquities and ruins but fighting and air strikes damaged a lot of the modern town,” said former resident Hassan.
Since the retaking of Palmyra, the destruction has continued as bomb disposal units have had to detonate hundreds of booby traps that the retreating militants left rigged across the city.
The destruction of ancient Palmyra provoked an international backlash. Its recapture was better received internationally. Irina Bokova, director-general of Unesco, welcomed ISIL’s retreat from the city, saying: “For one year, Palmyra has been a symbol of the cultural cleansing plaguing the Middle East. The dynamiting and pillage of its treasures, to break an entire society, sparked a unanimous indignation and strengthened the unprecedented mobilisation in favour of the values that unite all humanity.”
The destruction of heritage is a war crime and Unesco aims to document the damage so crimes against the ancient monuments will not go unpunished.
Tom Westcott is a freelance journalist who reports from North Africa and the Middle East.
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About Takalam
Date started: early 2020
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MATCH INFO
Manchester City 3
Danilo (16'), Bernardo Silva (34'), Fernandinho (72')
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Ulloa (20')
LAST 16
SEEDS
Liverpool, Manchester City, Barcelona, Paris St-Germain, Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, Valencia, Juventus
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Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tuesday, April 24 (10.45pm)
Liverpool v Roma
Wednesday, April 25
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid (10.45pm)
Europa League semi-final, first leg
Thursday, April 26
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The Greatest Royal Rumble card as it stands
50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias
Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
WWE World Heavyweight Championship AJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura
Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal
SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos
Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt
Casket match The Undertaker v Chris Jericho
Singles match John Cena v Triple H
Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v tba
The Greatest Royal Rumble card as it stands
50-man Royal Rumble
Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos
Casket match The Undertaker v Chris Jericho
John Cena v Triple H
Matches to be announced
WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Raw Tag Team Championship, United States Championship and the Cruiserweight Championship are all due to be defended
Sukuk
An Islamic bond structured in a way to generate returns without violating Sharia strictures on prohibition of interest.
Ready Player One
Dir: Steven Spielberg
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Stars: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford
Four stars
FIXTURES
Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan
The top two teams qualify for the World Cup
Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.
Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place play-off
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Company profile
Date started: Founded in May 2017 and operational since April 2018
Founders: co-founder and chief executive, Doaa Aref; Dr Rasha Rady, co-founder and chief operating officer.
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: Health-tech
Size: 22 employees
Funding: Seed funding
Investors: Flat6labs, 500 Falcons, three angel investors
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
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Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Rameez Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Adnan Mufti, Mohammed Usman, Ghulam Shabbir, Ahmed Raza, Qadeer Ahmed, Amir Hayat, Mohammed Naveed and Imran Haider.
'Morbius'
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'Avengers: Infinity War'
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Four stars
In Search of Mary Shelley: The Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein
By Fiona Sampson
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T20 WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
Qualifier A, Muscat
(All matches to be streamed live on icc.tv)
Fixtures
Friday, February 18: 10am Oman v Nepal, Canada v Philippines; 2pm Ireland v UAE, Germany v Bahrain
Saturday, February 19: 10am Oman v Canada, Nepal v Philippines; 2pm UAE v Germany, Ireland v Bahrain
Monday, February 21: 10am Ireland v Germany, UAE v Bahrain; 2pm Nepal v Canada, Oman v Philippines
Tuesday, February 22: 2pm Semi-finals
Thursday, February 24: 2pm Final
UAE squad:Ahmed Raza(captain), Muhammad Waseem, Chirag Suri, Vriitya Aravind, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Raja Akifullah, Karthik Meiyappan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Zafar Farid, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Rahul Bhatia
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McIlroy's struggles in 2016/17
European Tour: 6 events, 16 rounds, 5 cuts, 0 wins, 3 top-10s, 4 top-25s, 72,5567 points, ranked 16th
PGA Tour: 8 events, 26 rounds, 6 cuts, 0 wins, 4 top-10s, 5 top-25s, 526 points, ranked 71st
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Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
