THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF PALMYRA BEFORE AND AFTER THE WAR IN SYRIA

Abstract

In the article there is example of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, the article examines the problems of loss and preservation of the world historical, cultural, archaeological and architectural heritage in the context of modern local military confl icts. During the periods of Antiquity and the middle Ages, a complex of monuments, unique in composition and size, was formed here, combining ancient Eastern, Roman, Byzantine and Arab elements. During the ongoing acute armed confl ict in Syria, because of the purposeful actions of religious terrorist-extremist organizations, defi ned by the author as an "international historian of cultural terrorism", hesuffered catastrophic damage. An analysis of the scale of this damage, as well as the effectiveness of the efforts of the Syrian authorities, international organizations and the world community, shows that the preservation and restoration of Palmyra's heritage is possible because of painstaking, complex, joint work of all interested parties. Thus, the example of Palmyra showed the military confl icts in the Middle East, along with the actual destruction of entire states, the death of a huge number of people, the economic crisis, millions of refugees, was an attack on the heritage of ancient civilizations, which caused unprecedented loss of world cultural heritage in modern history. Now the world community faces a long and comprehensive joint effort to determine the damage, restore, and prevent further destruction and looting of the cultural heritage of Palmyra and Syria.