Story highlights
A replica of Syria's 2,000-year-old Triumphal Arch has been unveiled in London
The scale model was built using 3-D printing techniques
London
CNN
—
A replica of a 2,000-year-old Syrian monument demolished by ISIS militants has been built and unveiled in London’s Trafalgar Square.
The scale model of Palmyra’s Triumphal Arch, which was destroyed in an act captured on an ISIS video, has been reconstructed using 3-D printing technology and photographs of the original. The new structure was built in Italy using Egyptian marble before being shipped to London.
It was constructed by experts from Oxford’s Institute of Digital Archeology (IDA) as an act of solidarity with Syria to raise awareness of the fight to safeguard its ancient treasures.
READ: The race to save Syria’s history from obliteration
Syria’s top antiquities official, Dr. Maamoun Abdulkarim, was in London to watch the arch being installed. He told CNN that “Palmyra is not for the Syrian people, it’s for all the people in the world.”
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Palmyra's ancient Triumphal Arch, destroyed last year during the conflict in Syria, has been resurrected in London's Trafalgar square.
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The scale reproduction of the 2,000 year old monument was created using state-of-the-art 3-D printing and carving technologies.
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The replica is intended as an act of defiance against ISIS.
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The project was carried out by Oxford's Institute for Digital Archaeology (IDA), a joint venture between Harvard University, Oxford University and Dubai's Museum of the Future.
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"Monuments, as embodiments of history, religion, art and science, are significant and complex repositories of cultural narratives," said IDA Director Roger Michel.
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"No one should consider for one second giving terrorists the power to delete such objects from our collective cultural record," continued Michel. "When history is erased in this fashion, it must be promptly and, of course, thoughtfully restored ... No one would have seriously considered leaving London in ruins after the Blitz."
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The newly constructed arch is being unveiled to coincide with World Heritage Week, which runs from April 19-21. The structure will be on display in London for three days before beginning a world tour.
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Other cities set to host the Triumph Arch replica include New York and Dubai.
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"The life of the Syrian people rests on their cultural identity, and Palmyra represents one of the most unique and exceptional cultural heritage sites, not just in Syria but the whole world," said Syria's top antiquities official, Dr. Maamoun Abdulkarim, director-general of Antiquities and Museums.
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"We know that the plans to restore Palmyra to its former glory are grand, but they can be realized if the task is treated as a global mission," added Abdulkarim.
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Made of Egyptian marble and constructed in Italy, the reconstructed arch will preserve the appearance of the original structure in minute detail.
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Weighing nearly 11 tons and standing approximately 20 feet tall, the project presents both a technical and engineering challenge.
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Next month, London's Victoria & Albert museum will open
an exhibition exploring the threats facing global heritage sites and how the production of replicas can aid in their preservation.
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Crews carefully assemble the replica arch.
“Do not leave us alone through this war, it’s enough. We are very tired after five years. As archaeologists working in Syria, we’ve saved 99 museum collections, but we were alone all the time. What we need now is the international community to move to help us, through solidarity, feeling and technical help,” Abdulkarim said.
He’s been working for the last four years to empty Syria’s museums of priceless cultural artifacts and hide them in secret locations safe from ISIS.
READ: Will only echoes of Palmyra be left?
Abdulkarim told CNN it was a “double happiness” to see the arch unveiled after the liberation of Palmyra three weeks ago, something he “never thought would happen” when the model’s construction began.
Weighing nearly 11 tons and standing roughly 20 feet tall, the replica arch is two-thirds of the original’s size.
It was financed and created by the IDA, a joint project between Oxford and Harvard universities and Dubai’s Museum of the Future.
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Before: The ruins of the 2,000-year-old Temple of Baalshamin are seen in Palmyra, Syria, in 2007. The ISIS militant group took over the ancient city last year and razed parts of its
World Heritage Site. Syrian government forces recaptured the ancient city from the terror group in March 2016. Click through to see the landmarks before and after ISIS' occupation.
Valery Sharifulin\TASS via Getty Images
After: A Syrian government soldier walks near what's left of the Temple of Baalshamin on Sunday, March 27. Syrian forces retook the city days before, but damage had already been done by ISIS. UNESCO says it plans to evaluate the extent of
Palmyra's damage soon. Many of the structures -- which date from the first and second centuries and marry Greco-Roman techniques with local traditions and Persian influences -- remain in place, bolstering hopes that ISIS didn't completely raze the world heritage site.
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Before: The Arch of Triumph in 2006.
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After: The Arch of Triumph on March 27.
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Before: The Temple of Bel in 2008.
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After: The Temple of Bel on March 27.
SANA via AP
Destroyed statues are seen inside the damaged Palmyra Museum on March 27.
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Many statues in the museum had their faces chipped off -- in keeping with strict Sharia interpretations of the depiction of human forms.
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Before ISIS invaded, authorities took what they could from the museum. But larger items and those fixed to walls had to be left behind.
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Destroyed statues inside the Palmyra Museum.
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The Syrian directorate-general of antiquities and monuments was positive that the condition of artifacts meant that they could be restored and their "historic value" returned, according to a translation of an article on the
department's website.
SANA via AP
ISIS took over Palmyra in May.
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By June, ISIS began destroying historical sites.
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Damage inside the Palmyra Museum.
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Palmyra was a caravan oasis when Romans overtook it in the mid-first century. In the centuries that followed, the area "stood at the crossroads of several civilizations" with its art and architecture mixing Greek, Roman and Persian influences, according to UNESCO.
IDA Director Roger Michel said the reconstruction of violently destroyed treasures serves a crucially important social value.
“Monuments, as embodiments of history, religion, art and science, are significant and complex repositories of cultural narratives,” he explained. “No one should consider for one second giving terrorists the power to delete such objects from our collective cultural record.”
READ: Incredible architecture that never was
The homage was unveiled by London Mayor Boris Johnson Tuesday and will remain in Trafalgar Square for three days before traveling to Dubai and New York for public display.
“Daesh (ISIS) and other terrorist organizations seek to destroy democracy and obliterate history through the appalling acts of terrorism and murder they commit around the world,” Johnson said. “Antiquities like this belong to all mankind and it is imperative that we all strive to safeguard our common heritage.”
Abdulkarim said that after its tour, the arch will be placed in the square of Palmyra’s modern city where his colleague, Kalid al-Asa’ad, was beheaded by ISIS last August after he refused to reveal the location of hidden artifacts.
“It’s a message and gift to the Syrian people,” said Abdulkarim. “We can never have the same image we had before IS, but we need to do the best work we can to show the maximum through restoration.”
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Once the largest mosques in the world, built in the 9th century on the Tigris River north of Baghdad. The mosque is famous for the Malwiya Tower, a 52-meter minaret with spiraling ramps for worshipers to climb.
The site was bombed in 2005, in an insurgent attack on a NATO position, destroying the top of the minaret and surrounding walls.
Video: ISIS targets historical artifacts
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An "oasis in the Syrian desert"
according to UNESCO, this Aramaic city has stood since the second millennium BC and featured some of the most advanced architecture of the period. The site subsequently evolved through Greco-Roman and Persian periods, providing unique historic insight into those cultures. ISIS now controls the ancient city and has
destroyed shrines, temples and monuments.
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The most spectacular legacy of Buddhism in the war-torn country, among the tallest standing Buddhas in the world -- the larger at 53 meters, the other 35 -- had survived over 1,500 years since being carved out of sandstone. The Taliban considered the monuments idolatrous and
destroyed them with dynamite.
Alex Potter
Yemen's capital city of Sanaa has seen several
suicide bombings for which ISIS claimed responsibility, and air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition -- although it is unclear who is responsible to the latest damage. These have affected both the old fortified city -- inscribed on UNESCO's
World Heritage List since 1986 -- and the archaeological site of the pre-Islamic walled city of Baraqish, causing "severe damage,"
according to UNESCO itself.
Fulvio Spada, CC BY-SA 2.0
Continually inhabited for 2,500 years, and became the capital of the Romans' Arabian empire. The centerpiece is a magnificent Roman theater dating back to the second century that survived intact until the current conflict. Archaeologists have revealed the site is now severely
damaged from mortar shelling.
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A world heritage site originally built in 715 by the Umayyad dynasty, ranking it among the oldest mosques in the world. The epic structure evolved through successive eras, gaining its famous minaret in the late 11th century. This was reduced to rubble in the Syrian civil war in 2013, along with serious damage to the walls and courtyard, which historians have described as the worst ever damage to Syrian heritage.
WIKI COMMONS
These 20-meter wide water wheels were first documented in the 5th century, representing an ingenious early irrigation system. Seventeen of the wooden norias (a machine for lifting water into an aqueduct) survived to present day and became Hama's primary tourist attraction, noted for their groaning sounds as they turned. Heritage experts
documented several wheels being burned by fighters in 2014.
Courtesy Guillaume Piolle/CC-BY-3.0
The fortress spans at least four millennia, from the days of Alexander the Great, through Roman, Mongol, and Ottoman rule. The site has barely changed since the 16th century and is one of Syria's most popular World Heritage sites. The citadel has been used as an army base in recent fighting and several of its historic buildings
have been destroyed.
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The covered markets in the Old City are a famous trade center for the region's finest produce, with dedicated sub-souks for fabrics, food, or accessories. The tunnels became the scene of fierce fighting and many of the oldest are
now damaged beyond recognition, which Unesco has
described as a tragedy.
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This French-built suspension bridge was a popular pedestrian crossing and vantage point for its views of the Euphrates River. It became a key supply line in a battle for the city, and
collapsed under shelling. Deir Ez-zor's Siyasiyeh Bridge was also destroyed.
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The
ancient Assyrian city around Nineveh Province, Iraq was home to countless treasures of the empire, including statues, monuments and jewels. Following the 2003 invasion the site
has been devastated by looting, with many of the stolen pieces finding homes in museums abroad.
Courtesy Joris Rietbroek
The Crusader castle from the 11th century survived centuries of battles and natural disasters, becoming a World Heritage site in 2006 along with the adjacent castle of Qal'at Salah El-Din. The walls were severely damaged by
regime airstrikes and artillery in 2013, and rebels took positions within it.
Irqai Cultural center
The purported resting place of biblical prophet Jonah, along with a tooth believed to be from the whale that consumed him. The site dated to the 8th century BC, and was of great importance to Christian and Muslim faiths. It was
entirely blown up by ISIS militants in 2014 as part of their campaign against perceived apostasy.
WIKI COMMONS
Among Syria's most famous Ottoman-style mosques, which also shows
Mamluk influence through its light and dark contrasts. The vast site became a hub of the battle for Homs, itself a front-line of the conflict. The sacred mausoleum has
been completely destroyed, and much of the interiors burned.
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A key city for the Greeks and Romans, established in 630 BC. Famed as the basis for enduring myths and legends, such as that of the huntress heroine of the same name and bride of Apollo. The ruins were some of the best preserved from that period, but in the wake of Libya's revolution,
vast tracts have been bulldozed including its unique necropolis complex.
Courtesy B.O'Kane / Alamy
Home to one of the world's most impressive collections, with over 100,000 pieces that cover the entirety of Islamic history. The Cairo site was first built in 1881, the museum recently underwent an eight-year multi-million dollar renovation. Shortly after re-opening, a car bomb targeting a nearby police building
caused catastrophic damage and forced the museum to close again.
Wiki commons
This 121-year-old wooden building, humble but elegant, was home to the nation's first governor general Muhammed Ali Jinnah for the last phase of his life. The residency
was attacked with rocket fire by a separatist group in 2013, and almost completely demolished. A new structure is being built on the site.
Courtesy Charles Cushman Collection, Indiana University Archives
A 15-year civil war of incredible brutality, successive battles with Israel, and sweeping urban development has robbed the 'Paris of the Middle East' of much of its visual lustre. Once known for its landscape of swaggering Ottoman, French and Art Deco architecture, officials say just 400 of 1200 protected historic buildings remain.
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Before-and-after photographs of the destruction. The US and ISIS trade blame for
its loss.
Next month, London’s Victoria & Albert museum will open an exhibition exploring the threats facing global heritage sites and how the production of replicas can aid in their preservation. Entitled ‘A World of Fragile Parts’, it is the museum’s first collaboration with the Venice Biennale.
The V&A’s director Martin Roth told CNN there is a delicate balance between harnessing digital technologies and remaining faithful to original techniques.
“Replicas are a phenomenon of our age and are rapidly transforming attitudes towards authenticity; the possibilities that 3D technologies are opening up are truly fascinating,” he said.
“However, the abilities we have also pose challenging questions. Which has a greater authenticity; an arch recreated in precise and perfect detail by a robotic arm, or an arch reconstructed using the same artisanal techniques as the original? I am certain that this debate will shape the museums of our future.”