Killing Of Syrian Antiquities Scholar Khaled Asaad Condemned By UNESCO

The Fall of Palmyra, which was reported on by The Christian Post in May, was seen as particularly devastating to experts of antiquities because of its well preserved Roman ruins.

Asaad retired in 2003 after serving for decades as the Director General of Palmyra Directorate of Antiquities and Museums.

“Syria had hundreds of ancient sites and museums before the civil war began, but much heritage has been damaged by various parties”.

The Islamic State is continuing its rampage through the Middle East, killing anyone who gets in their way and destroying ancient sites in an effort to cleanse anything they consider anti-Islamic.

ISIS views artifacts as idolatrous but has also been selling looted antiquities in order to fund its activities.

In addition to perpetrating mass murder, the Islamic State has carried out sweeping anti-idolatry campaigns, laying waste to vast amounts of precious artifacts in the areas of Syria and Iraq under its control.

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Asaad had been held prisoner by ISIS for the past month, according to various reports, including detailed stories in The Guardian and The New York Times. “He believed in destiny”. He wrote more than 20 books on Palmyra and the Silk Road.

Al Asaad knew that the city that has been ruined would be helpful in heating a shattered country.

Syrian state antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim told Reuters that the family of the beheaded scholar, Khaled Asaad, confirmed Tuesday that he had been publicly executed earlier in the day.

This story has been corrected to show that the slain scholar’s name is al-Asaad per AP style, not Asaad, and to show that the opposition activist’s last name is al-Homsi, not al-Khamsi.

It goes on to say that the antiquities expert had represented Syria in global conferences branded as “kuffar” (a derogatory term used to refer to non-Muslims), and that he’d had various connections and communications with Alawite and government figures. “No one’s been there for consistently so long and covered so many aspects of Palmyra’s cultural heritage”.