Petition: Protection for Syria's Cultural Heritage

The British Association for Near Eastern Archaeology (BANEA) has launched a petition seeking protection for Syria's cultural heritage.

We hope you can sign it, support it and promote it through any contacts or avenues available to you.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Save_Syrias_Cultural_Heritage_1/?fPWGUcb&pv=1

The pdf of 'Damage to the Soul: Syria’s Cultural Heritage in Conflict' can be downloaded here: http://ow.ly/bNSk1

TEXT of the petition:
Save Syria’s Cultural Heritage The worsening situation in Syria places thousands of archaeological sites in immediate danger of current and future looting. A full discussion of the sites affected can be found here: Cunliffe, Emma. 2012, Damage to the Soul: Syria’s Cultural Heritage in Conflict. 16 May 2012. Global Heritage Fund. The British Associate of Near Eastern Archaeology (BANEA) and other interested parties call on the British Government, UNESCO and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) to protest to all parties to the conflict and petition for:
1. The removal of armed encampments, troops and weaponry from archaeological sites,
2. protection of archaeological sites and museums from looting,
3. recovery of stolen artefacts and the prosecution of the thieves and those who benefit from the thefts.

Updates and information can be found at www.banea.org

Jan Picton
Secretary, Friends of the Petrie Museum. www.petrie.ucl.ac.uk
Teaching Fellow, Institute of Archaeology, UCL. j.picton@ucl.ac.uk
Deputy Director, Gurob Harem Palace Project, www.gurob.org.uk

Flight 20120522: Now online

We have been busy cataloguing the second of our two flights in Jordan last month, and you can now access the photographs on our Flickr archive.

David Kennedy, Mat Dalton and Don Boyer flew five hours in a Eurocopter to capture some 1700 images of archaeological features and the landscape. Here is a selection.

Qattafi Kite 34. Note how the guiding walls narrow along the natural curves of the landscape, and the head is hidden behind a ridge.
APAAME_20120522_MND-0005. Photographer: Mat Dalton.

Looted Cairns. The heads of Safawi Pendants 64 and 65 have both been hollowed out by illicit excavation.
APAAME_20120522_DLK-0312. Photographer: David Kennedy.

Safawi Wheel 88 intercepting the tail of Safawi Kite 7. APAAME_20120522_DDB-0242. Photograph: Don Boyer.

Qasr Aseikhim. APAAME_20120522_DLK-0653. Photograph: David Kennedy

Azraq Kite 46, overlayed by modern agriculture. APAAME_20120522_DDB-0667. Photographer: Don Boyer

Safawi Pendant 67 with a well built and in tact head. APAAME_20120522_DLK-0308. Photographer: David Kennedy.

Flight 20120520: Now online

Our first flight for 2012 is now uploaded to our flickr archive. You can browse the images here.

This flight focused on the stone built structures known as Kites located in the basalt desert of Jordan, but also captured other structures known as Wheels and Pendants. In particular, we were interested in the landscape and other structures surrounding the Kites, and how these features interact.

Here are some highlights. Please click on the images to enlarge (you will be sent to the image on our flickr site).