A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Friday, June 21, 2013

UNESCO Lists All Six Syrian World Heritage Sites as Endangered by the War

My frequent posting of old pictures as nostalgia for the weekend will be a little different this week, since UNESCO has listed six Syrian World Heritage Sites as endangered due to the fighting there. We've posted many earlier posts about damage to historic mosques, the old suq and the Great Mosque in Aleppo, and the ruins at Palmyra; now UNESCO has listed the six World Heritage Sites in Syria (all there are) as endangered: the old cities of Aleppo, Bosra, and Damascus; the Ancient Villages of Northern Syria (see my post on them here); the Crac des Chevaliers and Qal‘at Salah al-Din Crusader Castles, and the site of Palmyra. A news story here. So, in honor of these endangered sites, a nostalgia photo of the Citadel of Aleppo in the days of camel caravans:
Today the caravanserai is replaced by car parking, but there has been much damage in the old city generally, and many now expect a major government offensive in Aleppo. The human losses of the Syrian war are irreplaceable of course, but the heritage losses are also of great concern.

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