Destruction of Palmyra

Two pieces at qunfuz.com on Palmyra and more:

The dissolution of past and present

Instead of freedom, annihilation.

News timeline on Palmyra (Reuters).

Palmyra in this blog.

Daesh tortured and on August 18 publicly beheaded Palmyra’s head of antiquities, the 81-year-old Khaled al-Asaad, perhaps because he had refused to reveal the location of hidden treasures.

Guardian, August 25:

“Maamoun Abdulkarim, Syria’s antiquities chief, after the destruction of the Baal Shamin temple: ‘All of my memories were torn to shreds; I lost a part of my being. […]’

“Abdulkarim, a university professor in Damascus who has worked pro bono for three years as director of antiquities and museums to preserve Syrian heritage through the war, described the day of the temple’s destruction as ‘dark, sad and frightening’, saying the loss of Palmyra was robbing his work of meaning.”