When the self-styled Islamic State captured Palmyra in May, there was little hope that the ancient city — a Unesco World Heritage Site — would escape the murderous group’s iconoclastic fervour.

As subsequent events have shown, that sense of foreboding was entirely justified. According to Syria’s antiquities chief and a Syrian human rights group, IS has blown up one of the most important sites in Palmyra, the 2000-year-old Baal Shamin temple, known as the “pearl of the desert”. Then, on Tuesday, the group executed Khaled al-Asaad, an acclaimed archeologist and scholar who had worked for over 50 years as head of antiquities in Palmyra.

Before his murder, the 82-year-old was subjected to torture for more than a month to extract information about the location of artefacts that had been removed for safekeeping before the arrival of IS militants. Asaad refused to cooperate, choosing instead to give up his life to protect the priceless relics that bear the imprint of the many civilisations that crossed paths in Palmyra in times past.

Syria is believed to contain archeological sites and historical monuments in greater numbers than almost any other country.

The chaos that prevails there in large swathes, not only those areas captured by IS but also those where troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad are fighting rebel fighters and Islamist groups, has wreaked havoc on this heritage.

Aside from the physical damage, the smuggling of antiquities has also thrived in the shadow of war. Religiously inspired zealots have often engaged in destruction of cultural heritage, not only for ideological but also political reasons.

The Afghan Taliban, for instance, sought to convey their contempt for international opinion by destroying the Bamiyan Buddhas.

The IS, however, seems to be largely driven by a nihilistic rage unparalleled in its brutality. Meanwhile, as the world stands by and wrings its hands, what survived for thousands of years through war and peace, through the eras of caliphs, kings and despots, is deliberately and methodically being ground into dust.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2015

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