After years of conflict, hundreds of long-lost artefacts have been returned to the Idlib Museum in north-western Syria.
One year after long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad was ousted, the transitional government’s Minister of Culture, Mohammed Yasin al-Saleh, announced the recovery of 1,234 archaeological tablets and 198 artefacts
Al-Saleh said during a press conference that many of the items – originating from the ancient kingdoms of Ebla and Mari – had been secretly stored in private hiding places to protect them from destruction during the years-long war.
He stressed that protecting Syria’s cultural heritage is a “red line” and efforts to track down other missing pieces are ongoing.
Following the political upheaval in Syria, local authorities helped locate the missing collections and facilitate their return.
Some of the recovered pieces date back as far as 3,200 BC, belonging to civilizations that once thrived on Syrian soil.
Many of the pieces belong to ancient civilizations that once flourished on Syrian soil.
“We kept these archaeological artefacts absolutely secret; only my wife and I knew about them,” Zafer Daaboul told dpa.
He said he had been keeping the artefacts at his home since 2016. A museum employee had entrusted the exhibits to him at that time.
Due to the war, he had to move frequently. The pieces stored at his home were not damaged by bombing.
“But they suffered some minor damage from the constant moving,” he said.
“That was also due to the haste of transporting them so that no one would notice,” he added.
The al-Assad regime was overthrown a year ago by a rebel alliance.
Large parts of the country were destroyed in the nearly 14-year war, including historical cultural monuments.
An image shows a display case in the Idlib City Museum featuring some of the 1,234 cuneiform clay tablets (dating to the third millennium BC) and 189 other artifacts that were looted or went missing from the museum during the Syrian war in 2015. Moawia Atrash/dpa
An image shows a display case in the Idlib City Museum featuring some of the 1,234 cuneiform clay tablets (dating to the third millennium BC) and 189 other artifacts that were looted or went missing from the museum during the Syrian war in 2015. Moawia Atrash/dpa