Satellite Photos Reveal ISIS’ Destruction of Temple of Bel in Palmyra

The extremists destroyed the smaller Temple of Baalshamin in the complex last week.

The Jihadists have carried out a sustained campaign of destruction against heritage sites in areas under their control in Syria and Iraq, and in mid-August beheaded the 82-year-old former antiquities chief in Palmyra.

The extent of damage from a massive explosion near the ancient Temple of Bel in Syria’s Palmyra is unclear, but it appears the structure is still standing despite an attempt by the Islamic State group to blow it up, a Syrian official said Monday. The temple, which is held by Islamic State (ISIS), is 2,000-years-old and considered to be one of the most venerated religious buildings of the first century A.D. “It truly demonstrates ISIS’s ability to act with impunity and the impotence of the worldwide community to stop them”, Al-Azm said, using another acronym for the group.

Maamoun Abdulkarim, the head of the Syrian Department of Antiquities and Museums, had earlier said the Temple of Bel suffered a large explosion, but that he believed most of the site had remained intact.

“The frontal columns and the cella (interior) of the temple do not appear to have been damaged”, he said on Monday. It posted images of the destruction days later.

UNITAR on Friday also presented satellite images confirming the destruction of the Baal Shamin temple, which the UN’s cultural agency UNESCO called a “war crime”.

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research said that satellite analysis confirmed that the main building Temple of Bel has been demolished.

Known as the “Pearl of the Desert”, Palmyra, which means City of Palms, lies 210 kilometres northeast of Damascus.