Recovered Syrian archeological treasures decorate Damascus National Museum halls marking Syrian Culture Days

Thousands of recovered Syrian antiquities and artifacts dating back to different historical eras are currently decorating the halls of Damascus National Museum within an exhibition held there marking the Syrian Culture Days Festivity.

The exhibits are part of the artifacts that were recovered by the Directorate of Antiquities and Museums thanks to the Syrian Arab Army after they were looted by terrorist organizations and antiquities thieves.  These pieces now returned to their original place to remind of Syria’s ancient and rich civilization.

The displayed items include antiquities dating back to different ancient Syrian eras in addition to some Palmyra Museum collections, which are under restoration at the Directorate of Antiquities and Museums. The exhibits also include dozens of paintings for prominent Syrian plastic artists obtained from the collections of the Modern Art Department.

Director of Antiquities and Museums Nazir Awad said in a statement to SANA that “the Syrian archaeological heritage has been subjected to systematic destruction by foreign-backed terrorists during the past years in an attempt to obliterate our cultural identity,” stressing that concerned authorities and the Syrian Arab Army have spared no effort to defend this heritage.

He indicated that the number of recovered artifacts reached 35,000 pieces that were delivered to the Damascus National Museum and to other museums in different Syrian provinces.

According to Awad, the exhibition included many artifacts discovered in important archeological sites such as Ugarit, Mary, Al-Khwira, Tal Baidar and others, noting that there are hundreds of thousands of other artifacts that were smuggled from Syria across borders.

On her part, Layla Al-Sammak, Curator of the Museum of Ancient Syrian Antiquities, said that the exhibition is of great importance because the recovered pieces are very rare and distinguished for their diversity and the different eras to which they belong.

The Curator of the Museum of Classical Artifacts Iyad Ghanem, on his part, said that the Directorate was able to get parts of some important recovered artifacts that were systematically destroyed by Daesh terrorists, with the purpose of restoring them by national expertise.

Ali Al-Habib, Curator of the Museum of Modern Art, noted the importance of the participation of many paintings of late prominent Syrian artists, such as Fatih Al-Mudaris, Adham Ismail, Nazir Naba’a, Louai Kayali and many others, in this exhibition to remind the public of the great artistic value of this museum. He pointed out that some of these paintings are decades old.

Hamda Mustafa