Monuments at War—the Syrian Conflict and the Changing Pattern of Destruction as Reflected in Aleppo and Palmyra

Part of the Conflict and Cultural Heritage Conference. Theme 1: What is happening? The significance of sites at risk, and the current situation. With Dr Ross Burns. Why have monuments that have survived millennia of conflict, earthquakes and the pressures of changing patterns of settlement, suddenly become not just incidental targets but pawns in a new type of conflict? The dimensions of the problem are looked at from the perspective of two centres with some overall conclusions on what has been lost in Syria as a whole. While the risks can only be resolved by an overall settlement of the conflict, what can those outside who care about the country and its past do in the meantime? Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

Om Podcasten

The Conflict and Cultural Heritage Conference aims to raise public awareness and develop understanding of the issues surrounding the protecting of cultural heritage at risk from armed conflict. Focussing on the Middle East, the area currently undergoing the greatest destruction and where the heritage is most at risk, we aim to demonstrate the importance of the heritage, why its destruction matters, and what can be done. Topics to be explored will include the material heritage of the region from international and local perspectives, and the living heritage of communities with rich and longstanding traditions, before exploring why such destruction is happening, and the beliefs that underlie extremist practices. Focus will then move to an overview of what is being done already, and what more the international community can do. This free conference is intended to provide information from a variety of cultures, perspectives, and organisations, including academics, archaeologists, the military, and the media, raising awareness of the multi-cultural nature of Middle Eastern heritage, and its global relevance in the past and today.