I was asked to write an essay about a subject of major current international interest.
Here is what I wrote:
During my recent travels to Syria, I was able to explore many of the fine museums in the country. Known for its eclectic collections, the National Museum in Damascus was undergoing renovations during my visit. I was able to see a sampling of artifacts on display. However, due to the museum renovations, many of the more important artifacts were closed off to museum patrons. Therefore, due to my limited encounter with the artifacts at the National Museum, I decided that for the remainder of my trip I would make sure to visit the other smaller museums in Tartous, Palmyra, and Hama. Even though these regional museums didn’t exhibit the same vast array of materials as the National Museum, I was still impressed with the quality of artifacts at these lesser-known museums. For example, the museum in Hama had an impressive display of Roman mosaics. Tartous had several clay pots dredged from the Mediterranean just a few yards from the museum entrance. Being the largest and most popular archaeological site in Syria, Palmyra remains one of the most important sites in the Middle East. The Palmyra museum’s collections of funerary reliefs are well preserved and give impressive three-dimensional visual representation of the dress and customs of the eras represented by the art. In addition to visits to crusader castles and ancient marketplaces, I was struck by the immense collective histories that are represented in the museums and archaeological sites in Syria.
With the recent looting of important archaeological sites in Egypt during the anti-government protests coupled with the current unrest in Syria, I can’t help but wonder if these smaller collections in Syria face the similar fate of looting and vandalism that transpired in Egypt. Many of these small museums lack the security protections to keep out determined thieves. If the political unrest in Syria continues, then there is the possibility for a partial collapse of the government bureaucracy. With a potential de-centralization of the government, these museums will lose the authoritative control behind the security and protection their collections. There would be the potential loss of staff and infrastructure (such as electricity and climate control devices) that would leave these collections open to damage and destruction by human and natural forces.
The Syrian government along with the United Nations and other international museums and organizations must take steps to ensure that the value of these collections is preserved. It would be a horrible loss if the same type of looting and vandalism occurs in Syria that occurred during the political unrest in Egypt. It is fortunate for Egypt that they have such a well-known and well-documented archaeological history. Syria, with its lesser-known and smaller collections, would not be able to replace or retrieve many of their artifacts, if they were to be stolen and sold on the international antiquities black market.
