Archaeology weekend to highlight Syria’s heritage under siege

Susan Penacho, a Near Eastern civilizations scholar in Vallejo and recent doctoral graduate of the University of Chicago, serves as project manager of geospatial initiatives for the Cultural Heritage Initiatives, a cooperative project between the U.S. Department of State and the American Schools of Oriental Research in Boston. Beginning in August 2014 as the Syrian Heritage Initiative, the project is entering its second year with $900,000 in State Department funding following a first-year startup grant.

The initiative’s team of approximately 40 archaeological scholars around the world aims to collect, analyze and archive data through news media accounts, social media, satellite imagery and civilian reports of the destruction of ancient castles, temples, tombs and other significant remnants of past societies and in Syria and northern Iraq. The destruction emanates from illegal excavations of artifacts, military construction and explosions, urban conflict, and other activities. The most public of these events has been the systematic ruination of revered sites by the Islamic State, or ISIS.

As part of the 7^th Annual Archaeology Discovery Weekend activities at La Sierra University on Sat., Nov. 14 and Sun., Nov. 15, Penacho will discuss the Cultural Heritage Initiatives’ first-year findings based on satellite imagery and other reporting forms. She is among eight scholars from various parts of the Middle East, North America and the United Kingdom who will deliver lectures during the weekend.

Presentations on Nov. 14 will outline Syria’s immense cultural wealth and contributions to civilization, followed by reports on Nov. 15 of recent and continued destruction of heritage sites.

A Cultural Heritage Initiatives report in September cited among other things the devastation of the Baalshamin Temple, the Temple of Bel, and at least seven tower tombs in the ancient city of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It also outlined the extensive suffering of civilians in the area, many of who were kidnapped and executed by ISIS who took over the region in May.

On Aug. 18, ISIS militants publically executed Khaled al-Asa’ad, renowned former director of Palmyra antiquities referred to affectionately as ‘Mr. Palmyra.’ Archaeology Discovery Weekend is dedicated to his memory.

Through the State Department, Penacho and her team, working from their home communities, access Digital Global satellite imagery daily to track and assess activity at and around ancient sites. They use the ARCHES software management system created by the Getty and World Monuments Fund as a spatial database for the eventual sharing of updated assessments of site damage.

“We see sites with illegal excavations throughout the country, [from] both large scale operations and smaller groups. There is also continuing damage based on modern constructions, especially the building of military embankments on archaeological sites,” she said. “With the increase in aerial bombardment in recent weeks, the destruction will only grow.” The team is also working on preliminary preservation projects for when the region regains stability.

“From afar, there is little that we can do except spread the word about the destruction to cultural heritage taking place both through deliberate destruction and through the sale of antiquities acquired through illegal excavations,” Penacho said.

Additional Archaeology Discovery Weekend lecturers and topics will include:

• Michael Danti, academic director and a principal investigator of the ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives, “The Use of Ground-based Observations to Monitor and Assess the Cultural Heritage Crisis in Syria and Northern Iraq.”

• Tim Harrison, professor, Department of Near and Middle East Civilizations, University of Toronto, Canada, “Digging on the Syrian Frontier: Reflections on the Role of Archaeology in a Conflict Zone.”

• Michael Fortin, director of the Department of Historical Sciences, Universite Laval, Canada, “Tell ‘Archarneh: A Bronze Age Capital in the Middle Orontes Valley, Syria.”

• Graham Philip, professor, Department of Archaeology, University of Durham, U.K., “The Contribution of Syria to the Development of Early Urban Communities.”

• Kent Bramlett, associate professor of archaeology and history of antiquity, La Sierra University, “Insights from Syrian Parallels to Jerusalem’s Temple.”

• Stephen Savage, Arizona State University, “TerraWatchers: Crowd-sourced Monitoring of the Conflicts in Syria and Iraq.”

• Dalia Mokayed, Syrian from Aleppo, heritage conservator, “Old Aleppo: World Heritage Site to Battlefield …and Beyond.”

Archaeology Discovery Weekend activities will also include workshops for teachers led by recently retired director of the statewide CA 3Rs Project Margaret “Peg” Hill. Other events include a Middle Eastern banquet, a kids’ archaeological dig, a Bedouin hospitality tent reception, and hands-on labs for pottery dating, 3D laser scanner activities, pottery puzzles, and more. 

Events will be held at La Sierra University’s Center for Near Eastern Archaeology and at the Zapara School of Business. Lecture and hands-on labs admission is free. Visit this link for a detailed schedule of events, registration and costs: https://lasierra.edu/cnea/discovery-weekend/. For further information call 951-785-2632 or email archaeology@lasierra.edu.

Archaeology Discovery Weekend is supported in part by KVCR/NPR 91.9, Orange County and Riverside societies of the Archaeological Institute of America, American Schools of Oriental Research, Biblical Archaeology Society-Los Angeles, California Museum of Ancient Art, Western Science Center, World Affairs Council of Inland Southern California, the Zapara School of Business, and the H.M.S. Richards Divinity School.

La Sierra University is located at 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside. A campus map is available at https://lasierra.edu/campus-map/.