In the past few days, Daesh (the self-proclaimed Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant) terrorists have advanced and consolidated their gains to take control of the strategically important ancient site and town of Palmyra. The advance now threatens the world heritage site, which is at risk from these criminals who show scant regard for life, history or archaeology in their mindless pursuit of power and territory.
Sadly, as their destruction of other ancient and irreplaceable artefacts in sites across Syria and Iraq have shown, they are purposefully intent on erasing the remnants of past civilisations that have gone before us. And we, as stewards of the past, have failed humanity with our failure to prevent the wanton destruction of a precious heritage. The capture of Palmyra, a former stopping point for caravans on the Silk Road, is the latest blow to efforts to hold back Daesh, following the fall of Ramadi in Iraq. Daesh sparked international outrage this year when it blew up the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud and smashed artefacts in the museum of Mosul, both in Iraq.
With Palmyra, a new awkwardness arises. Any air strike on Daesh, in and around the ancient site, will probably benefit the forces of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad. So far, US-led air strikes in Syria have largely focused on areas far outside government control, to avoid the perception of aiding a leader whose ouster President Barack Obama has called for.
The ancient site is cherished by Syrians on both sides of the original conflict between Al Assad and his opponents, which began with political protests in 2011 and metastasised into a multifront war. Local rebels — early in the conflict, before Daesh appeared on the scene — once called themselves “Grandchildren of Zenobia”, referring to an ancient queen of Palmyra who briefly ruled an empire stretching from Egypt to modern-day Ankara, the Turkish capital. In the recent fighting, some government troops had vowed in social media posts that “Zenobia will never fall”. Sadly, those boasts have now proved to be bravado. The challenge now is to try and retake it, before any lasting damage is done.
