Recent Destructions in Palmyra, Syria: Looting and Illegal Antiquities Trade

Abstract

Since 2011, the best preserved monuments of the unique antique city of Palmyra, Syria, were damaged or destroyed, either by “collateral” damage of war activities or by wanton destructive vandalism, especially executed by the so-called Islamic State (Daesh). Some of these destructions become visible especially on satellite pictures. Furthermore, several underground tombs were broken and robbed; many funerary sculptures were destroyed, damaged or stolen. Such illegally exported sculptures are offered more and more in international art galleries, also in the Internet, with the provenance of “Syria” and ownership as “property of a gentleman”. During the last years, the illegal trade in plundered artefacts especially also from Palmyra did increase enormously. Several national and international projects have the aim to curb illegal trade in cultural heritage and to increase the consciousness that buying or dealing with illicitly exported antiquities is a crime and a theft of the historical heritage and memory of us all.