Temple of Bel in Palmyra blown up

PALMYRA WATCH: Wiping yet more history off the face of the earth: ISIS blow up 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel in Palmyra in latest outrage at the ancient Syrian city ( TIM MACFARLAN, Daily Mail)

• Cultural atrocity reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
  
• It was feared it would be next to be blown up at Unesco World Heritage Site
  
• Temple of Baal Shamin, also from Roman era, was dynamited last week
  
• It has been claimed Islamic State will take Palmyra down piece by piece

A Palmyra resident, who goes by the name of Nasser al-Thaer, said IS militants set off a huge blast at 1.45 pm on Sunday.

'It is total destruction,' he said of the scene of the explosion. 'The bricks and columns are on the ground.'

'It was an explosion the deaf would hear,' he added.

The resident said only the outer wall surrounding the Temple of Bel remains.

Constructed in 32AD, the temple was dedicated to gods worshipped by the Semites - a group of different cultures in the Ancient Middle East including Assyrians, Phoenicians, Hebrews and Arabs.

It stood on an artificial hill which dates back more than 2,200 years and lavish carvings of the then-known seven planets, zodiac signs and Makkabel the fertility god adorn the monolithic ceiling of its northern chamber.

The remains of a basin, altar and even a dining hall can be made out inside the temple. On the north-west corner is a ramp where sacrificial animals were once led into the building.

This is potentially a little confusing. The term "Baal" is the name of one of the high gods of the Canaanites (Phoenicians), the storm god, but the name itself just means "Lord." "Baal Shamin" is Aramaic for "Baal of the heavens." The name "Bel" is the Akkadian equivalent of Canaanite "Baal" and Bel was the title of Marduk, the chief god of the Babylonians, and also a storm god. So at Palmyra there were two temples to the "Lord," the storm god, in two different ancient Near Eastern religious traditions.

Dr Robert Bewley, Project Director at the School of Archaeology at Oxford, has predicted Palmyra will be razed to the ground 'monument-by-monument' by ISIS to wring every last propaganda opportunity out of the destruction.

He claimed the terror group is determined to destroy Palmyra piece by piece, known as 'the oasis in the desert' was a jewel of the ancient world and is revered because its Greco-Roman ruins are so well preserved.

Dr Bewley told MailOnline this week: 'One fear is that ISIS will do piecemeal damage over the coming weeks to keep the publicity machine running, so it will be a slow but equally destructive approach.'

It doesn't sound good, does it?

Related news item here: Satellite images confirm Palmyra temple razing. UN training and research agency photos show ancient Baalshamin site vanished after Islamic State demolition (AFP).

Background here and links.

UPDATE: Palmyra's Temple of Bel 'still standing.' Palmyra's ancient Temple of Bel is still standing despite an attempt by Islamic State (IS) militants to blow it up, Syria's antiquities chief has said. (BBC).

Maamoun Abdulkarim confirmed there was a large explosion within its perimeter but said the basic structure of the 2,000-year-old site was intact.

But the extent of the damage is unclear with witnesses unable to get close to the temple. [...]

Hmmm ...

Today's Palmyra roundup

PALMYRA WATCH: ISIS Fighters Laid Mines Around Palmyra’s Ancient Ruins Before Retreating, Syrians Say (RICK GLADSTONE and HWAIDA SAAD, NYT).

The Syrian forces that recaptured the storied city of Palmyra from Islamic State occupiers this past weekend have encountered dozens of mines that the expelled militants laid as booby traps around treasured ancient ruins sites, Syria’s state media reported Tuesday.

Accounts of the Palmyra victory published by the official Syrian Arab News Agency also reported that Russia’s military, which has helped the Syrian forces regain momentum against insurgents with a six-month bombing campaign, was sending 100 mine clearance engineers and trainers of bomb-sniffing dogs to help rid Palmyra of the mines planted by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh.

The expulsion of the Islamic State from Palmyra, the ancient “Bride of the Desert” oasis seized by the militant extremist group 10 months ago, is regarded as a turn in the five-year-old war and an enormous propaganda victory for President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and the Russians.

The Palmyra news also has left the United States and other Western and Arab opponents of Mr. Assad in the awkward position of welcoming it while still insisting that the Syrian president’s autocracy and suppression of dissent was the underlying cause of the Syria war.

[...]

There's more geopolitical analysis of the retaking of Palmyra in this UPI article by Professor Paul Rogers: Explaining the strategy behind the battle to rescue the ruins of Palmyra.

There is clear evidence that Russia has been directing its most recent airstrikes at opponents of the Assad regime in north west Syria, rather than targeting IS. This is not surprising given that IS has scarcely been involved in the opposition to Assad. One major effect of the Russian campaign has been to strengthen the regime as a prelude to a negotiated settlement. This would have significant Russian involvement which, from Moscow's standpoint, would ensure that post-war Syria would have considerable Russian influence.

Now that Putin has seen that policy reasonably on track, the Russian forces have had time to turn their attention to supporting Assad's advance on Palmyra, an IS outpost since May 2015.

Its loss was a major symbolic blow. Within a short time, IS fighters made a great show of wantonly destroying ancient ruins in the town.

In taking the city back, Putin can now claim to be doing the west's job for it. The Palmyra triumph is further proof of Russia's power and influence – a message that will go down very well with domestic audiences. Russia Today is reporting that experts from the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg have offered their services in the restoration process.

And then there's this: Trapped and surrounded by murderous ISIS fighters, the heroic Russian 'Rambo' who wiped them all out by calling in airstrikes on HIMSELF (Will Stewart, Daily Mail). His name was Alexander Prokhorenko and his action, which brought about his own death along with his enemies, contributed to the retaking of Palmyra. Whatever one thinks of the Russian strategy in Syria, that was a badass way to die. Requiescat in pace.

Some soul-searching: Should I Feel Guilty for Worrying About Palmyra’s Stones, When ISIS Slaughters Humans? (Larry Cohler-Esses, The Forward). As regular readers know, I recognize and sympathize with the author's concerns. But we should worry about both and not waste our energy on feeling guilty. I focus on the stones because PaleoJudaica is a blog about ancient history and that is the area I am most qualified to comment on.

Finally, I can't resist noting this one: A Gateway Could Be Opened When the Temple of Baal Is Erected in Times Square (MICHAEL SNYDER, Charisma News).

In April, part of the Temple of Baal that stood in Palmyra, Syria, will be reconstructed in Times Square in New York City and in Trafalgar Square in London. The specific portion that is being erected in both cases is the 48-foot-tall arch that stood at the entrance to the temple.

The Institute of Digital Archaeology is the organization behind this effort, and the display of these two arches is intended to be the highlight of UNESCO's World Heritage Week late next month. After seeing my initial story, one of my readers observed that an arch is really just a gateway or a portal. In other words, it can serve as both an entrance and an exit. So could it be possible that we will be unknowingly setting up a gate or a portal of some sort in Times Square?

The worship of Baal, also known as Bel, can be traced all the way back to ancient Babylon. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Marduk was "the chief god of the city of Babylon," and ultimately he became known as "Bel" or "Lord":

[Some additional earnest Encylopedia and Wikipedia research is omitted here.]

So now we are setting up a "gateway" or a "portal" for the chief God of ancient Babylon in the heart of our most important city next month.

Does anyone else out there find this more than just a little bit creepy?

[...]

Where to start? First of all, no one actually worships Baal or Bel anymore, which would seem to me rather to pull the teeth of this perceived threat. Second, this worry is a nice example of the fallacy of equivocation with reference to the word "gate." Third, the author has clearly been watching too much Stargate.

Background on the long, sad story of Palmyra is here and links. More on the reconstruction of the arch of the Temple of Bel in Times Square (and Trafalgar Square in London) is here. And for Palmyra's Temple of Bel vs. its Temple of Baal (both destroyed by ISIS), see here.

More on Palmyra

SYRIA CONFLICT: Syria’s war is blasting the past (Adam Blitz, The Times of Israel).

Today it is Palmyra’s turn to face the bullet. It too is caught in conflict albeit with the Assad regime, Hezbollah’s bedfellow, and rebel opposition forces. It remains highly strategic. Quite simply Palmyra is “smack-bang” in the middle of Syria. ...

Palmyra remains an artistic marvel. It was one of the top tourist-destinations prior to the civil war. Its artistic heritage derives from its unique role as a buffer city which it first held in the 2nd Century between Rome in the West and Parthia (Iran) in the East. Palmyra responded to a state of “betwixt and between” and became one of the most prosperous of all caravan cities. As merchants of antiquity crisscrossed the desert, wealth flowed through the sands of Palmyra. Affluence found expression in a distinct yet hybrid art. It borrowed from Greek, Roman, Semitic and Iranian traditions while at the same time it offered its own local contribution.

This artistic endeavour finds its voice in the rich funerary art which can now be seen in the great museums of the world. In the town itself soaring burial towers, colonnades and temples dominate the landscape. The Temple of Bel is the most monumental of all of the temple-complexes in Palmyra. As with Baalbek, the Temple of Bel has retained the name of an earlier Semitic cult. It was associated with the Mesopotamian Baal, chief god of the pantheon. And as with Baabek’s Temple of Jupiter, the Temple of Bel also sits on the site of a much older Semitic temple.

More on Palmyra in the present conflict and on its historical and archaeological significance here and links.

The Temple of Bel seems to have been leveled

PALMYRA WATCH: UN: Satellite images show Temple of Bel in Syria 'destroyed' (AP). As noted yesterday, there were conflicting reports on how badly the Temple of Bel in Palmyra had been damaged. The current satellite-image evidence indicates that the temple building and a related row of columns have been destroyed.

Background here and links.

UPDATE: The Guardian has satellite photos: The destruction of Palmyra's Temple of Bel: before and after – in pictures. Satellite images confirmed the Isis destruction of the most important historical site in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra. Yes, it looks leveled to me. Just an archway is left standing.

The future of Palmyra's Temple of Bel

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: What is the Future of the Temple of Bel in Palmyra? (Maamoun Abdulkarim and Jacques Seigne).

Should we leave it in its current state, as a witness to the tragic events experienced by Palmyra and the Middle East at the beginning of the 21st century? The authors answer an emphatic “no,” and for two reasons. First, we have a duty to secure the upstanding remains of the monument, ensuring that the damage wrought by the explosion does not lead to further collapse. We need to make sure these surviving remnants are safe and secure. Second, we also need to record, gather, and conserve the fragments of the temple that were scattered by the blast. The risk of not doing so is to lose those pieces to robbery, to natural processes of erosion, or to unwitting damage.

Cross-file under Palmyra Watch. For many PaleoJudaica posts on the ancient metropolis of Palmyra, its history and archaeology, the Aramaic dialect once spoken there (Palmyrene), and the city's tragic reversals of fortune, now trending for the better, follow the links collected here. For posts on the Temple of Bel in particular, see here, here, here, and here (sort of).

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Progress at Palmyra

PALMYRA WATCH: Russia archaeologists ‘offer to rebuild Palmyra.’ (Times of Israel Blog). I bet they did. The Russians are certainly milking the positive publicity of the retaking of Palmyra for all it's worth, but I suppose they've earned it. Now I expect them to do a superb job on the restoration.

Meanwhile, progress: Syrian sappers say 1230 mines rendered harmless in Palmyra. According to Lieutenant Qassen Shpib of the Syrian engineer troops engaged in demining efforts, it's only half of the approximate number of explosive devices in the city (Tass).

Also, a little good news: Palmyra's dynamited temple can be restored, de-miners use robots (Reuters).

Satellite pictures taken after the 2,000-year-old temple was dynamited by the jihadi group, and other images broadcast since Syrian government forces retook the city on Sunday, show almost the entire structure collapsed in a heap of rubble.

It was one of several important monuments blown up in the city last year including the temple of Baal Shamin, a victory arch and funerary towers. The city museum, home to treasured artefacts, was ransacked and statues were smashed or defaced.

Despite the extensive damage, Maamoun Abdelkarim [Syria's antiquities chief] said that the Temple of Bel had not been pulverised and its foundations were largely intact.

Consecrated to a Mesopotamian god, the Temple of Bel later served as a Christian church and a mosque. In an inner sanctuary, carvings showed seven planets surrounded by the signs of the zodiac, and a procession of camels and veiled women.

"What was said about it all being turned to dust - it's not dust," Abdelkarim told Reuters in Damascus. "There is still a lot of the structure ... that can be reused and renovated."

Background here and links.

Reckoning up the devastation in Palmyra

PALMYRA WATCH: As Isis is driven out, the extent of damage to Palmyra becomes clear. Two major temples appear to have been completely destroyed, but Palmyra is tragically only the latest victim of religious iconoclasm (David Keys, The Independent).

The iconoclasts of Isis have been driven out of this vast Unesco World Heritage site – and archaeologists are about to assess the damage. Preliminary information suggests that less of the ancient ruined city has been damaged and destroyed by Isis than previously feared.

However, two major temples – those of Bel and Baal Shamin – appear to have been completely destroyed. Certainly aerial photographs of the former suggest that the main temple building has been totally erased. However, it’s not yet clear where the rubble has been taken to – so potentially, it may be that some elements can be recovered. Also destroyed are a series of ancient tombs.

The monumental stone blocks of the great Roman triumphal arch, toppled by Isis, appear to be intact – and it may well be possible for conservators to eventually re-erect it. The ancient city’s spectacular Roman theatre has not been destroyed – probably because Isis used it for public executions. Various other structures – including several ruined temples also appear not to have been targeted by the organisation.

Other evaulations sound less optimistic:

UN expert says Palmyra likely beyond repair after IS carnage. During its 10-month occupation, Islamic State destroyed the 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel and shrine of Baal Shamin (AFP).

Syrian experts shocked by damage inside Palmyra’s museum. Ancient site found devastated, but not completely destroyed, after government forces drive out Islamic State (ALBERT AJI, AP).

And here is a background article on the historical importance of Palmyra:

Why Palmyra, Recently Liberated, Is a Historical Treasure. Fabulously wealthy and distinctly multicultural, this desert crossroads also had a rebellious streak (Kristin Romey, National Geographic).

And finally, the Jerusalem Post has an evaluation of the larger political context of the recapture of Palmyra by Assad's forces:

Jerusalem Post Editorial: Palmyra recaptured. There are reasons for cautious optimism.

With the victory at Palmyra, Syrian forces under Assad’s rule have succeeded not only in pushing back various “moderate” Sunni opposition forces, but also ISIS troops. The eminent [read "imminent" - JRD] collapse of the Syrian government has been prevented – for the time being – and now Assad in on the offensive, thanks to Russian support.

Still, neither the Palmyra victory nor the gains made by Assad as a result of Russian intervention should be exaggerated.

Background here and many links.

That Palmyra portal reconstruction again

DIABOLICAL PORTAL WATCH: Arch from Temple of Ba'al to Stand in NYC (Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz, Breaking Israel News).

Despite initially cancelling plans to erect a reproduction of the Victory Arch that stood for 1,800 years in front of the Temple of Ba’al in Palmyra, the Institute for Digital Archaeology (IDA) has announced they will recreate the arch destroyed by the Islamic State (ISIS) in New York City’s city Hall Park on September 19th.

[...]

We've been through this before. The Arch of Triumph was not the entrance to the Temple of Bel. The Temple had its own portal, and presumably (not my area of expertise) that is what one would use to invoke Baal should one be inclined for some reason to do so. But the Temple of Bel also has been used as a church and a mosque in the interim, which I suppose would dilute any Baal-summoning powers considerably.

This current Breaking Israel News article seems to be aware of much of the above, but still tries to find something "disturbing" in the situation. But a connection between the Parthians and the lost tribes of Israel isn't persuasive. In any case, another copy of the Arch of Triumph has already been displayed in London and I have found no indication that anything bad came through.

Cross-file under Palmyra Watch. The many past posts pertaining to Palmyra are here and follow the links.

Restoration of Palmyra's Arch of Triumph begins

PALMYRA WATCH: Restoration work for ancient Arch de Triumph in Palmyra begins (SANA).

Palmyra, SANA- In the archaeological city of Palmyra located about 250 kilometers northeast of Damascus, the first phase of the project to restore the ancient Arch de Triumph, which was destroyed by Daesh (ISIS) terrorist organization in 2015, has started on Friday

[...]

[Deputy Director of Antiquities and Museums Hammam] Saad revealed other archaeological restoration projects in Palmyra will be started after completing the Arch restoration project, including the restoration of the Temple of Baal Shamin, the Tetrapylon, the façade of Palmyra amphitheater and the famous Temple of Bel, all of which were attacked by terrorists.

This is very good news.

Six years ago I noted some hope of restoring Palmyra's monuments. Meanwhile, reconstructions of the Arch of Triumph have been created in London, New York, and Florence.

For many posts on the ancient metropolis of Palmyra, its history and archaeology, the Aramaic dialect once spoken there (Palmyrene), and the city's tragic reversals of fortune, now trending for the better, start here and follow the links.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Today's Palmyra news

PALMYRA WATCH: A Jewel in Syria Where ‘Ruins Have Been Ruined’ by ISIS. A Times photographer traveled to Palmyra, Syria, to see what remained of its archaeological treasures after almost a year of Islamic State control (BRYAN DENTON, NYT). A photo essay by the photographer. What appears to be the scene described in the first paragraph also appears in a photo farther down. You are warned!

PALMYRA, Syria — As my Hezbollah escort and I entered the modern city around Palmyra, we were greeted by the mangled body of an Islamic State fighter left to rot in the sun. He looked as if dogs might have gotten to him after Syrian government forces, backed by loyal militiamen, routed him and his comrades from the ancient city after almost a year of Islamic State control.

In that time, the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, destroyed some of the remains of a civilization that 2,000 years ago was a mix of Roman, Persian and local cultures.

Where Palmyra’s impressive Temple of Bel once stood, only a single stone archway was left to frame a rectangle of blue sky above the arid desert about 160 miles northeast of Damascus, the capital.

I traveled to Palmyra on Saturday with members of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militia allied with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, to see what remained of the archaeological treasures of Palmyra .

[...]

And there's this: Never mind ruins, what about Palmyra’s people? (albabwa). Both are important.

And this: Palmyra Can Be Restored Within Year With Funding – Chechnya Leader The ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, recently liberated from terrorists by the government forces, could be restored in a year if enough funding is provided, the acting leader of Russia's Chechen Republic told Sputnik in an interview. I hope he's right.

Palmyra's Arch of Triumph redivivus

OPEN THAT PORTAL: Why the Arch of Triumph of Palmyra is being recreated in London - 1,800 years after it was built (Nigel Richardson, The Telegraph).

We watch mesmerised as the robotic arm beavers away, the drill bit on the end painstakingly incising the precise lineaments of a 1,800-year-old monument that was blown up last October.

The monument in question is the Arch of Triumph of Palmyra, destroyed by Isil forces as they spread across Syria in the summer of 2015.

For the past two months, in a mountain workshop right next to where Michelangelo quarried a block of finest-quality white marble for his David, a new arch has been rising, and the week after next, in a culminating flight of fancy, it will touch down in Trafalgar Square.

Meanwhile, Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz in Breaking Israel News breathlessly reports Temple of Ba’al Replica Arrives in London Just in Time for Ancient Pagan Festival. It seems that the reconstructed arch will be on display in London at a time coinciding with the beginning of an occult festival (one I've never heard of) whose end culminates with May Day/Walpurgistnacht/Beltane. In my view, that's a pretty tenuous connection. I don't doubt that any day of the year could be traced back to some such occult connection with a little effort. This is what I call the Illuminatus fallacy: anything can be connected to anything else if you keep the parameters flexible and allow a few steps in between. Sometimes 19 April is just 19 April.

In any case, Mr. Berkowitz, as well as Michael Snyder of Charisma News (see here), will presumably be somewhat relieved to hear (as above) that it is the Arch of Triumph that is being reconstructed, not the entrance of the Temple of Bel. That should make for a less "eerie coincidence" and a less threatening portal.

Cross-file under Palmyra Watch. More on the reconstructed Arch is here and links. Additional background on the long, sad story of Palmyra, one that I hope is now moving to happier times, is here and here and links.

Today's Palmyra update

PALMYRA WATCH: Syria’s Palmyra scarred forever by IS jihadists. Many temples, columns and other treasures have been destroyed by group, with even partial recovery expected to take years (Sammy Ketz, AFP). The antiquities director Maamoun Abdulkarim says that the Temple of Bel can only be partially restored and that even that could take five years.

Also, the team that is reprinting the Arch of Triumph from Palmyra plans to go to the ruins themselves to aid the reconstruction: Palmyra Triumphal Arch Comes to Life in 3-D-printed Display (Aida Akl, Voice of America).

The Triumphal Arch of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra – destroyed by Islamic State (IS) militants last October – is being resurrected, thanks to digital technology and 3-D printing. The replicated structure is going on display around the world on April 19 in a fitting tribute to the city’s recent liberation from IS control.

Reconstructing the 2000-year-old Triumphal Arch to mark UNESCO’s World Heritage Day 2016, is the UK-based Institute for Digital Archeology (IDA), a joint venture between Harvard University, Oxford University, and Dubai’s Museum of the Future. The arch will be displayed in London, New York and Dubai.

IDA teams will be first on the ground in the liberated Palmyra and hope to be part of its reconstruction. “As soon as our teams are given access to the Palmyra site, our first step will be to consult with local stakeholders to learn of their priorities,” Roger Michel, IDA’s founder and Executive Director, said in an email.

The team will then build a large-scale 3-D printing grid near the site of the reconstruction.

“This will dramatically reduce cost and allow local stakeholders to participate in the building process,” he said. “After rough-printing the reconstruction, the next step is to provide surface finishes that match the appearance and texture of the original objects or architecture.”

[...]

There's a video too, of an impressive Skynet-like device rebuilding a monument.

And lest we forget that this is not just about antiquities and ruins: Palmyra mass grave: Tortured women & children among dozens of ISIS victims unearthed by Syrian army (RT.com/SANA).

And finally, some more general information about the rescue of antiquities in Syria during the war: With jihadis at the door, Syrians rush to rescue history. Undercover archaeologists and curators have been smuggling artifacts out of Islamic State territory in the hope of preserving them from looting and destruction (MAEVA BAMBUCK, AP).

Background on Palmyra is here and follow the links.

Report: Palmyra can be restored

PALMYRA WATCH: Despite Islamic State plundering, ancient Palmyra can be restored (Riham Alkousaa and Rasha Faek, The Washington Times).

AMMAN, Jordan — Images of Islamic State militants dynamiting irreplaceable Roman ruins in Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra sparked anguish and outrage among scholars and archaeologists around the world.

But optimism is cautiously rising about the ability to restore the damaged sites despite the destruction of several World Heritage monuments in the complex, say some of the first outside specialists to reach Palmyra after Islamic State forces were wrested from the city.

“We still don’t know about the underground damage and the looting because of the mines planted by the Islamic State, but we can say that 80 percent of the archaeological architecture is undamaged,” Maamoun Abdulkarim, head of Syria’s Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums, said in an interview.

[...]

Despite the devastation, specialists say it could have been much worse.

“The photos of the archaeological site shows that we’ve been lucky,” said Amr al-Azm, an opposition-affiliated archaeologist and professor at Shawnee State University in Ohio. Mr. al-Azm also founded the The Day After Heritage Protection Initiative, a Syrian nongovernmental organization.

He pointed to the landmark Arch of Triumph — which was restored once before in the 1930s — as one monument that can be rebuilt using many of the original stones.

Mr. Abdulkarim, head of the state antiquities office, said he also believes damage to the castle and even the wrecked Temple of Bel can be restored without resorting to extensive rebuilding using modern materials that might destroy the character of the ancient ruins.

“We need to assess the status of the stones, how much could be restored and how much could be rebuilt,” he said. “We are not going to build a new temple. We will restore it.”

[...]

But the danger of an ISIS counterattack remains real.

Background on Palmyra is here with many, many links.

Reprinting Palmyra's arch

PALMYRA WATCH: Ancient arch of Palmyra which was destroyed by Isis will be recreated in Trafalgar Square and Times Square using the world's largest 3D printer (James Dunn, Daily Mail).

• Arch is the only remaining part of Temple of Bel, razed by Isis in August
  
• Institute of Digital Archaeology will recreate arch in London and New York
  
• Made in Shanghai, finished in Italy then built like Lego in Trafalgar Square
  
• On show for a week but Mayor Boris Johnson could consider keeping it
  
• See full news coverage on ISIS at www.dailymail.co.uk/isis

The 2,000-year-old arch of an ancient site destroyed by Isis is to be recreated in Trafalgar Square and Times Square as a 'call to action' over the militants' destruction of antiquities.

The famous arch is all that remains of the Temple of Bel in Syria, which was reduced to rubble by Isis militants in August, who murdered its curator and packed the site with explosives. But the 15-metre arch, which many fear will soon be destroyed, is to be recreated in London and New York, using the world's largest 3D printer.

[...]

Cross-file under "Techology Watch." Background on the whole sad story of Palmyra is here with many links.

Palmyra: has the destruction begun?

PALMYRA WATCH: Syria: Isis Palmyra demolition has begun with ancient God Lion statue destroyed (Nour al-Rafee, International Business Times).

However, it seems the strategy has now changed. On Wednesday (27 May), a Syrian radio station broadcast a declaration from an alleged IS commander in Palmyra claiming the group will "destroy statues" representing idols but preserve the historical monuments and the ruins.

In fact the process of obliterating the horde of ancient statues has already begun. It commenced almost as soon as the militants seized control of their quarry.

Two days after IS seized control of Palmyra, one citizen witnessed militants crushing statues in the city's museum. He says: "I heard a loud noise, so I went up to the roof to see what is going on. I saw Daash [Isis] crushing the "god lion" statue with construction machines. There were many other crushed statues but I could not recognise the rest of them because they were totally ruined."

The god lion, or to give it its full title, the Lion of Al-Lat, dated from the first century AD.

It stood at the entrance to the ancient Bel's Temple, and was built in homage to the goddess Al-Lat, a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess who was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca, and is mentioned in the Quran.

Related:
UN resolution on protecting Iraqi antiquities excludes Syria. Despite its artifacts facing similar threat from Islamic State, diplomats wary of rushing to defense of Assad regime (Cara Anna, AP). That's a difficult choice: oppose ISIS by supporting Assad's regime? And things like this don't make the decision easier: ISIS posts photos of appalling conditions in Syria's Palmyra Prison. The terror group releases photos of the infamous prison, site of the 1980 massacre by Rifaat Assad; ISIS executes 20 locals in the Roman amphitheater at Palmyra (Ynet News).

More on the history and antiquities of Palmyra:

When Palmyra rivaled the Roman Empire (Mike Duncan, Reuters);

Stones that speak. Syria’s famous ruined Roman city has meant many things to many people (The Economist).

So today Syrians worry about the threat of Palmyra being demolished, but less than outsiders might expect. That is not only because they are more concerned with the humanitarian toll that has left over 200,000 of their countrymen dead. “The Syrian memory of Tadmur is black,” says Omar al-Abdullah, a Syrian journalist who now lives in Turkey. He recites, as every Syrian can, the tale of the Tadmur prison massacre. ...

A How-To Guide To Buying Artifacts Looted by the Islamic State (David Francis, Foreign Policy). Don't do this; it's evil. Plus, as the article warns clearly, it is illegal. And also you would have to cozy up to the Turkish Mafia.

Background on Palmyra is here with many links.

Vows, Palmyra, Queen Helena, and the Talmud

THIS WEEK'S DAF YOMI COLUMN BY ADAM KIRSCH IN TABLET: When Making a Vow, Consider Where You Stand. Because a corpse is always a source of ritual impurity, and because on a geological timescale corpses are everywhere under our feet, aren’t all religious Jews impure?

The ancient Roman city of Palmyra made headlines this summer, for the first time in 1,500 years, for a tragic reason. Motivated by religious zeal against paganism, ISIS destroyed some of the best-preserved structures from the ancient world, including the Temple of Bel—the Mesopotamian god known in the Hebrew Bible as Baal. (Indeed, some of the Hebrew prophets might have applauded the destruction, given their hatred of Baal-worship.) But Palmyra was not only a pagan city; it was also home to a substantial Jewish community, as this week’s Daf Yomi reading testified.

[...]

Yes, further to this post, Palmyra (Tadmor) is mentioned in the Talmud and elsewhere in the rabbinic literature. A reader has sent in additional references, but I've been busy and I will get to them as soon as I can. Background on Palmyra and its recent devastation by ISIS is here and many links. Cross-file under Palmyra Watch.

Also:

In Nazir 19b, this question is raised in connection with another woman, Queen Helena of Adiabene, also in modern Syria. Helene once vowed, “If my son will return from war safely, I will be a nazirite for seven years.” He did, and as we have seen earlier in the Tractate, such conditional vows are effective; so she obeyed the nazirite prohibitions for seven years. But even though Helena avoided corpses for all that time, she was living in ritual impurity anyway, since her whole country was tamei. When she subsequently visited the Land of Israel, then, Beit Hillel ruled that she had to perform her naziriteship all over again, since only now was she truly pure. As a result, she had to be a nazirite for seven more years, for a total of 14. Nazirites outside the Land of Israel are, in a sense, only pretending, or doing a trial run for the real thing.

More on Queen Helena of Adiabene and rabbinic legends about her is here. My caution concerning rabbinic stories about her applies to the one above too. And follow the links for some related historical and archaeological issues.

Earlier Daf Yomi columns are noted here and links.

A Hellenistic-era temple of Baal in Syria

ARCHAEOLOGY: Baal Shamin temple… Beauty, creativity in architectural, engineering decorations (SANA).

Sweida, SANA_ Baal Shamin Temple, which is located in the archaeological site of the eastern countryside of Sweida, is distinguished by the beauty of its geometric and architectural decorations that are carved as plant shapes, especially vine in addition to the figures carved within the Acanthus leaves that decorate the Corinthian crowns of the columns.

[...]

Sweida (As-Suwayda/Suada) was founded as an ancient Nabatean city. Other PaleoJudaica posts on the archaeology of the Sweida region are here and here.

This Temple of Baal Shamin is not to be confused with the one at Palmyra (a.k.a. the Temple of Bel), which was destroyed by ISIS in 2015. More on it here, here, here and links.

Cross-file under Nabatean Watch (Nabataean Watch).

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Palmyra photos and al-Asaad obituary

PALMYRA WATCH: The female solo backpacker who braved civil war to capture breathtaking images of Syria's magnificent Palmyra temples, now being systematically destroyed by ISIS ( BECKY PEMBERTON, Daily Mail)

• Traveller Teo Jioshvili, 29, was determined to photograph Syria's magnificent ancient city of Palmyra
  
• She captured sites such as Temple of Bel and Baal Shamin, which have been destroyed by ISIS
  
• The traveller hopes her photographs will serve as a record of the heritage in Syria that's being wiped out

Despite the outbreak of civil war, traveller Teo Jioshvili was determined to photograph Syria's magnificent ancient city of Palmyra - a Unesco site now being systemically destroyed by Isis.

The 29-year-old, from Georgia, visited the site in 2010 and 2011 as fighting broke out, despite the warnings. Most people, after seeing these images, will be glad that she was so brave.

[...]

Yes.

And from the Telegraph: Khaled al-Asaad, curator - obituary. Scholar and director of antiquities at Palmyra in Syria

Background here with many links.

A third reconstruction of Palmyra's Arch of Triumph

DIABOLICAL PORTAL WATCH: Rabbi Warns Pagan Arch Is End-of-Days Gateway, But Who Will Walk In? (Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz, Breaking Israel News). This inevitable story arises from the replica of Palmyra's ancient Arch of Triumph which was recently erected in Florence, Italy. The rabbi of the headline connects it with the recent G7 meeting and the coming of either the messiah or (I think) the evil New World Order. This is the third time the arch has been reconstructed and put on display since its destruction by ISIS in 2015.

As I and others have pointed out before, the Arch of Triumph was not the entrance to the temple of Bel/Baal. The whole, um, edifice of inferences about its import collapses when we realize this. I have discussed the issue in more detail here and links. I can't see that that this archway represents an omen, either good or bad.

Cross-file under Palmyra Watch. The many past posts pertaining to Palmyra are here and follow the links.

Latest on Palmyra

SCOOP.CO.NZ: Palmyrenes: Risking their lives to preserve Heritage. An account by Franklin Lamb, a Western observer who reports that he visited the Syrian site. The site has been under serious threat during the civil war. Excerpts:

Some of the most destructive and anguishing damages this observer was briefed on at Palmyra are to the Temple consecrated in CE 32 to the Semetic [sic] god, Bel. He was worshipped at Palmyra with the lunar god Agilibol and the sun god Yarhibol and this triad formed the center of religious life in Palmyra and the widespread Palmyrrene culture.

Details follow.

I cannot vouch for any of this information, but I hope the following is accurate:

The Director of Palmyra’s very impressive Museum, Dr. Khalil al Hariri, showed this observer more than one hundred priceless artifacts that had been stolen by rebels and recovered over the past two years from hiding places. This was mainly accomplished with the help of the local Syrian Nationalist population who refer to themselves as Palmyrenes. Sometimes risking sniper fire or revenge attacks, local citizens continue to collect and report to authorities the stolen treasures. These and many other antiquities are now secured due to their efforts. As a result partly of citizens vigilance and the far-sightedness of the Syrian government, and the lessons learned from Iraq and the Baghdad Museum, all of Syria’s 32 Museums, as well as 80% of all antiquities housed inside the local Palmyra Museum were buried secretly early in the conflict and as of today, none of the storage vaults have been discovered or damaged, with locals keeping secret what they know. Heavy metal doors have also been installed at the entrances of Syria’s Museums with security augmented by government forces and volunteer local ‘neighborhood watch’ committees comprised of ordinary citizens.

There's lots more on Palmyra here and links.