(ST) - Abiba is the ancient name of a town called “Khabab” in Horan. It is located in Daraa province in Syria, about 55 km from Damascus and 60 km from Daraa.

The word “khabab” is an Assyrian Acadia word which means light and bright under this source comes the word Aeb which means lightness and soft green. It is worth mentioning that there is an adjacent village to Khabab called Abe, and the name was derived from it the word Abiba and means “Stunned barley staple” and in the Pharos the word "Abib" means "the month of April," in which the sabbaths ripen and in Syriac we say Abba and means a flower or the yield of the fruit, as well as the word Hababa and Khababa comes from intense love.

DAMASCUS- The Antiquities and Museums Directorate has warned of dangers of the Turkish attacks that targeted archaeological sites in Afrin region in northern Syria.

Director General for Antiquities and Museums, Mahmoud Hammoud, on Monday warned of the dangers of the Turkish aggression on Afrin which is one of the Syrian richest areas in artifacts and monuments, SANA reported.

 “Mount Semaan includes three archaeological reserves listed on UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s list and all are in danger because they are near to Afrin area,” Hammoud said, stressing that “the Turkish regime’s destruction of the Ain Dara Temple was a barbaric act, and a completion of the plan led by this regime to destroy the Syrian cultural heritage.”

PRAGUE, (ST)-Director General of the Czech National Museum Michal Lukeš has announced that 40 million Koruna ($1,8 million) was earmarked for supporting the archeological sector in Syria until 2019.

 The cash is part of a total of 195 million Koruna agreed on by the Czech government last year as a Czech assistance to Syria for humanitarian and development purposes.

In a statement on Saturday, Lukeš said that within the framework of an agreement signed with the General Directorate of Syrian Antiquities and Museums on cooperation in the area of protecting and renovating Syrian antiquities, the Czech museum will send antiquities preservatives to help protect archeological pieces.

DAMASCUS- General Directorate for Antiquities and Museums (DGAM) condemned the destruction of Deir Sunbul site in the province of Idleb by the terrorist organizations.

Deir Sunbul is an archeological site located in Barisha Mount which dates back between the 2nd and the 6th century.

In a statement published on its website on Wednesday, the DGAM said that the terrorists of Ahrar al-Sham and Jabhat al-Nusra have destroyed Deir Sunbul which was preceded by the destruction of many monasteries, churches and archaeological buildings in the forgotten famous cities in the province of Idleb that belong to the Roman and Byzantine eras and some of them are registered on the world heritage list.

Head of Antiquities Directorate in the southern Daraa province has asserted that 80% of archaeological sites  in the province has been systematically damaged and looted during the years of war on Syria.

Speaking to the Syrian Arab News agency (SANA), Dr. Mohammad al-Nasrallah made it clear that archaeological hills in al-Ash'ari, Em Horan, Ashtara, al-Jabeyeh and Shehab areas were damaged.