Syria's ancient treasures pulverised

[Mark]

Various fragmentary news items:

The Ummayad mosque at Aleppo

The civil society has rescued the wooden platform built in 564 H. /1168 AD. This minbar has been dismantled, packed up and brought to a safe place far from the combat zone. We are grateful to the Qatibet Al-Tawhid and all the people who took part in this hazardous undertaking. One of them has been injured by a bullet shot by a sniper of the official army while the platform was being dismantled:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDZzYa4I05o

The Citadel at Qala'at el-Mudiq

In 2012, the citadel was bombed for several days by tanks positioned in the archaeological area of the ancient site of Apamea. As soon as the official Syrian army took control of the citadel, it used bulldozers to trace a road on the flanks of the tell on top of which sits the citadel.

Photos : https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.409362039170913.1073741833.324869057620212&type=3
vidéo : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6LzpQMWvOQ&feature=youtu.be

Palmyra

Report on the Baal Temple and the installation of heavy weapons in the archaeological area:
vidéo : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTarYxt8ujo
Photos : https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.384545504985900.1073741827.324869057620212&type=1

Al-Raqqaha

The city wall of Raqqah (built 156 h - 772 AD) bombed and partly destroyed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLNeS_PfS5w

Homs

Snipers in the citadel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbap1fNke6c

[Mark]

It Took 5,000 Years to Build Aleppo—And Two Years to Destroy It - Syrian civil war devastates ancient city

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/3eccdbe4f753 - go there for depressing images.

The city of Aleppo in northern Syria lies at the historical crossroads of the world's greatest civilizations. Ruled in turn by the Hittites, Assyrians, Akkadians, Greeks, Romans, Umayyads, Ayyubids, Mameluks, Ottomans and Syrians, the city's ancient center bears the imprint of each group. Its towers, churches and markets are architectural treasures.

But the Syrian civil war could erase everything. For two years Aleppo has been a battleground: rebels battling each other and the regime of Syrian Pres. Bashar Al Assad plus Al Assad's allies from Iran and Lebanon. "The old city witnessed some of the conflict's most brutal destruction," the Syrian government reported to the U.N.

[Mark]

http://www.policymic.com/articles/71193/5-breathtaking-monuments-have-been-destroyed-forever-during-syria-s-civil-war

I won't reproduce the article here as it's mainly a set of pictures of the following sites, in before and after states:

1. The Umayyad Mosque
2. Aleppo's Souk al-Madina
3. Al-Omari Mosque
4. Crac-des-chevaliers
5. Palmyra

[Patrick Waterson]

And still going on ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28191181