In light of the recent destruction of antiquities by ISIS at the Syrian World Heritage Site of Palmyra, the Aeon team’s thoughts are with the Syrian conservation community. This past Friday, it was confirmed that three tower tombs were the latest to be destroyed. According to a report by the Guardian, the Jamblique, Elhbel and Kithot tombs were respectively constructed in AD83, AD103 and AD44. ISIS also destroyed the Temple of Baal Shamin and the Temple of Bel in separate instances at the end of last month. All of these structures were among the oldest to survive from the ancient Middle East, and their destruction is a terrible loss for world cultural heritage. For more information on the latest incident, see here. For information on the significance of the Palmyra World Heritage Site, see UNESCO’s summary here.
