Worried about a possible strike against Syria, American and international cultural heritage organizations are urging President Obama to ensure the protection of that country’s archeological sites, among the oldest on earth, before taking military action.
In a letter to Mr. Obama, the United States Committee of the Blue Shield and other prominent groups asked the president to issue an executive order requiring federal agencies to “enter into agreements with any allies and any rebel forces†to safeguard such sites. Many date back 6,000 years to the Neolithic age, while others include clay and bronze artifacts, human skulls, and the ruins of habitations from the Roman, Hellenistic, Hittite, Byzantine and Babylonian periods.
The Blue Shield, created in 1954 during the Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property During Armed Conflict, was conceived as a Red Cross of sorts for heritage sites.
“Syria is also the home to numerous religious groups whose religious sites, along with medieval and Ottoman structures, dot the Syrian landscape,†the groups said in the letter dated Sept. 10. “Syria’s museums, archives and libraries contain seminal and irreplaceable cultural remains ranging from ceramics to sculptures and from ancient cuneiform texts to Islamic manuscripts.â€
The looting and destruction of Syria’s ancient treasures has been well documented since the January 2011 uprising against the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The Times in April reported that an internationally protected site at Ebla, in western Syria, featuring ancient tombs and 5,000-year-old cuneiform tablets, had been garrisoned by rebels and raided by looters.
Unesco, the United Nation’s cultural arm, said recent satellite images show that sites in places like Aleppo have been torn apart by raiders and that thousands of Syrian artifacts are turning up on the black market. “The situation is catastrophic,†Unesco officials said in late August.
The Defense Department made the protection of cultural property part of its training of American forces after the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan a decade ago. Those efforts include war games that simulate battles on archaeological sites and decks of “cultural heritage awareness playing cards†that introduce soldiers to the fragile ruins and relics they may encounter.
