UNESCO Reports Palmyra Retains Large Part of Its Integrity and Authenticity

UNESCO announced it “will work with its partners to adopt emergency safeguarding measures” for the ancient city of Palmyra included in its World Heritage List.

In their preliminary report, after having visited the city last Monday and Tuesday, experts noted “considerable damage” to the city museum.

“They found that most of those statues and sarcophagi that were too large to be removed for safekeeping were defaced, smashed, their heads severed, their fragments left lying on the ground,” UNESCO said.

“Work to match and document the fragments of destroyed statues has already begun,” the organization noted.

The experts also documented the damage to the triumphal arch and the Temple of Baal Shamin.

“Palmyra is a pillar of Syrian identity and a source of dignity for all Syrians. UNESCO is determined to ensure the safeguarding of this and other sites with all partners as part of broader humanitarian and peace building operations,” said the director general of the organization, Irina Bokova.

The mission will present its final report on the state of the city during the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee, to be held in Istanbul in July.