Protecting archaeological heritage during conflicts. Syria’s archaeological heritage during the conflict and the local efforts to protect it

Abstract

Since the start of the Syrian conflict Syria‘s archaeological heritage was a victim, the role of the international heritage organization was very modest and limited , the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM) have worked valiantly to safeguard monuments, museums, and sites, but the challenges of operating during wartime require special expertise, and heritage professionals cannot operate in many parts of the country. There are no disaster plans for museums and sites, and Syrian heritage professionals lack crisis training.

The structure of this thesis is with collection of six different articles which they deal with the situation of Syrian arcaheological heritage . The research started with the first publication which is the management of Syrian archaeological heritage before and during the Syrian conflict: Comparison Study, then to analyze how the conflict effected on Syrian archaeological heritage, the second article ―The Illegal Excavation and Trade of Syrian Cultural Objects: A View from the Ground‖ treis to analyze who the illegal excavation and the illegal trade of Syrian antiquities is one of the main reason to destroy Syrian archaeological sites . the rest of the four publications ―Syrian civil society and cultural heritage before and during the conflict‖, ―The Extraordinary, Ordinary Syrian: Syria‘s Heritage Protectors‖, ―Protecting heritage during conflict: the Work of Heritage for Peace‖ and ―The Multaka Project: a cultural initiative for the refugees in Berlin‘s museums‖ , these four articles try to show the role of Syrian civil society on the protection of Syrian archaeological heritage. Then after presenting the contribution by these articles , then the thesis will include a discussion of the main finidings and the results of this research ,it will finish by giving a recomandation for future research on this subject