99% of Syrian museums’ collections in safe areas- DGAM

The Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums has transported collections of artifacts from most of the museums in Syria to protect them from terrorist organizations’ looting and vandalism, the Director of Museums’ Affairs at the DGAM, Dr. Ahmad Deib confirms.

 Deib clarified that 99% of the museums’ collections are in safe areas, while the museums of Raqqa and Deir Ateyeh have been destroyed and looted by terrorist organizations.

 “There are 41 museums in Syria, some of them are first-class while the others are second-class,” Dr. Deib said in an interview with the official news agency (SANA) on Wednesday, adding that the Syrian museums, especially the museums in Damascus and Aleppo, had witnessed a big turnout by visitors before the beginning of the crisis in the country in 2011.

The agency indicated that establishing museums in Syria started in 1920 when a hall in the al-Adeleyeh School in Damascus was used as a first place for the National Museum.

In 1936, the National Museum of Damascus was opened.

SANA report was published on the occasion of the International Museums Day (IMD) launched in 1977 by the ICOM [International Council of Museums] and is celebrated worldwide every year on May 18  to raise awareness about the role of museums in the development of societies.

BasmaQaddour