The current cultural situation of the tangible and intangible Syrian cultural heritage 

Antiquities in Syria are evidence of the historical eras that passed through the ages on this land. They constitute the identity of the people and represent a link between the past and the present of the Syrian people.

Homs is considered as one of the diverse heritage-rich Syrian governorates, both tangible and intangible heritage, due to its large area in the center of Syria.

Head of the Syrian Scientific and Historical association in Homs, Dr. Fayrouz Youssef, said: The antiquities are the national, cultural and human wealth in Syria, which is considered an important cultural center on the map of the ancient world, and the home of the first city, Ariha, and the first alphabet in Ras Shamra. In the last decade, the antiquities have been subjected to looting and destruction as a result of the war on Syria.

According to Youssef, the Syrian and international antiquities laws aim to protect and preserve them from vandalism and theft. Several Syrian laws have been issued in this regard, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization “UNESCO” has launched several projects to protect the Syrian heritage, and to help uncover what has been stolen and destroyed and to prosecute and bring antiquities traffickers to justice.

During a cultural heritage symposium in Homs, researcher Rasha Barhoum, from the Living Heritage Program at the Syrian Trust for Development, shed light on the intangible heritage of Homs Governorate, reviewing its diversity and richness in every region, neighborhood and village.

Barhoum indicated that the intangible heritage in Homs was affected by the economic situation of marketing, the import of raw materials, the demographic changes of societies, the technological development, the reluctance of children to practice the profession of their fathers, and the disappearance of some elements of cultural heritage.

The researcher stresses the necessity of involving local communities in the preparation and implementation of the proposed safeguarding plans for the Syrian intangible heritage, transferring heritage knowledge through formal and informal methods, ensuring the economic benefit of heritage according to specific criteria, working on its sustainability, promoting heritage, and raising communities’ awareness of the importance of their practices.

During the heritage symposium, the historical researcher, Dr. Ali Saqr Ahmed, reviewed Palmyra’s  inscriptions as an immortal example of the civilized and cultural richness of the city of Palmyra, including the “honorable votive” which is a unique phenomenon found only in Palmyra, the texts written on the stands of statues and columns that immortalized the name of each person who offered services to his city, the grave inscriptions, banquet cards, tax inscription which exists in the Hermitage Museum and considered as one of the oldest economic tax laws on earth, in addition to many small pieces that indicate a civilized cultural society.

Director of the Land of the Levant Foundation, which is organizing a series of heritage seminars, Basil Al-Dunya underlined the importance of the participatory work within a systematic plan on the subject of the Syrian cultural identity, and of going to the governorates that were affected by the war and whose cultural tangible and intangible heritage was damaged. He pointed out that the Land of the Levant Foundation started from the city of Homs and will move on to the rest of the governorates, within a specific program that aims to shed light on the current cultural situation of each city.

Inas Abdulkareem