The role of the Syrian Antiquities Law for the protection of cultural heritage until the outbreak of the civil war in Syria in 2011

Abstract

How cultural heritage in Syria was treated before the establishment of the Syrian Antiquities Law 1963 and how it was considered after? This paper attempts to answer this question starting with the Ottoman Empire period and going through the French mandate in Syria until the establishment of the Antiquities Law in 1963 with all its amendments 1999 ending by the deliberate destruction of heritage after the beginning of the civil war in March 2011. I aim to reflect my own previous experience as director of the National Museum of Raqqa 2003-2008 and Head of its Department of Antiquities and Museums. With parallel to the antiquities law, existed series of commissions and competent authorities that could, within the scope of lake of economic and human resources, protect the heritage in a satisfactory way. Cultural heritage has been considered as part of the nation’s identity and have passed different stages of conservation in sometimes or depredation in others, depending on the political scene. But in general, local laws and regulations in Syria served in attempt to control all activities related to heritage; exportation, excavation, research, preservation, display and diffusion.