Heritage preservation efforts in northwest Syria

Summary

As the security situation in northern Syria deteriorated following the beginning of the Syrian Revolution/civil war, members of civil society, heritage activists, and museum workers have placed themselves at risk to safeguard the country’s cultural heritage. This paper discusses two heritage protection projects in the Idlib region in northwest Syria, a region that has fallen out of the control of the Assad regime to opposition groups. The projects are self-initiative efforts by local activists and are supported by the international Safeguarding the Heritage of Syria and Iraq Project. Situated at one World Heritage Site and another important Tentative World Heritage Site, these projects aim to document damage, preserve the most at-risk parts of the sites, and prevent further site looting. Implementation teams leading these efforts are working closely with local communities and internally-displaced Syrians who have taken refuge at the heritage sites, with the goal of involving these affected groups directly in the protection of their cultural heritage

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Public Engagement and Education: Developing Heritage Stewardship

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