- Title: Syria unveils ancient mosaic returned from Montreal
- Date: 7th October 2019
- Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (OCTOBER 7, 2019) (REUTERS) SYRIAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS AT DAMASCUS NATIONAL MUSEUM UNVEILING ANCIENT MOSAIC RETURNED FROM MONTREAL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS OFFICIAL / MOSAIC OFFICIALS STANDING IN FRONT OF MOSAIC VARIOUS OF MOSAIC (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DEPUTY HEAD OF SYRIAN ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY, NAZIR AWAD, SAYING: "It is a very important piece because of its subject and the artistic work exhibited put in it. It is about some Christian worshippers and going to paradise promised to them afterwards." VARIOUS OF MOSAIC TWO PEOPLE TAKING SELFIE IN FRONT OF MOSAIC MAN TAKING PICTURES OF MOSAIC WITH MOBILE PHONE CAMERA / MOSAIC (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DEPUTY HEAD OF SYRIAN ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY, NAZIR AWAD, SAYING: "Montreal Museum for Fine Arts is paid for the expenses related to shipping and delivery (of the mosaic) to the Damascus National Museum. It happened after the (Montreal museum administration) was very slow and it took them a long time to respond to the message sent by Syrian institutions through the ministry of foreign affairs." MOSAIC / OFFICIALS VARIOUS OF MOSAIC (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HEAD OF SYRIAN ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY, MAHMOUD HAMOUD, SAYING: "(Many can) see the damaged and looted archaeological sites and were illegally excavated, reaching up to hundreds of hectares in some cases. Looted archaeological pieces looted from our country are estimated to be hundreds of thousands, really. It is difficult to bring them back because these pieces are not registered or document, we have lost much of our national heritage which belongs to generations of the Syrian people." VARIOUS OF PIECES EXHIBITED AT MUSEUM'S FRONT YARD GIRLS TAKING SELFIE GIRLS WALKING
- Embargoed: 21st October 2019 16:31
- Keywords: Syria antiquities Mosaic Art Culture in Syria War in Syria Islamic State
- Location: DAMASCUS, SYRIA
- City: DAMASCUS, SYRIA
- Country: Syria
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA001B03K7YT
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Syria unveiled on Monday (October 7) a mosaic dating back to the fifth century AD at the Damascus National Museum, years after it was exhibited in Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
The mosaic, discovered in an area between the cities of Idlib and Hama, is believed to be part of the floor of an ancient church.
It was part of 34 artefacts smuggled from Syria to Canada in the 1990s as Canadian authorities contacted Syrian counterparts in 1997 to return them.
The mosaic was planned to be returned to Syria in 2011 but the process was halted as the civil war broke out in the country.
The piece, divided into two parts, was transported to Syria through Lebanon.
Syria stood at the heart of the ancient Middle East, a crucible for some of the world's earliest civilizations and was at times incorporated into Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Hittite, Persian, Greek and Roman empires.
After its descent into a messy, multi-sided civil war in 2011, when the country was fragmented into numerous enclaves, the warring parties began to plunder that inheritance, looting museums and excavating ancient sites.
The Islamic State, which from its days as the al Qaeda branch in Iraq had long experience of selling stolen antiquities for profit, seized Palmyra and its extensive Roman-era ruins, a UNESCO world heritage site, in 2015.
(Production: Kinda Makieh, Firas Makdesi) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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