Archaeologists risked their lives to save thousands of treasures from Islamic State terrorists

Brave archaeologists risked their lives to save thousands of historic treasures from imminent destruction by Islamic State terrorists.A new study reveals how they rescued around 30,000 “priceless” artefacts from the Deir ez-Zor Museum as the city faced imminent capture by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).Deir ez-Zor is the capital of the province of the same name in Syria, and the region contains key oil and gas fields, making it a fiercely contested battleground during Syria’s 15-year civil war.Study author Maamoun Abdulkarim said the significance of the heroic rescue effort in 2014 and 2015 extends beyond the number of artefacts saved.The Professor of Archaeology and History at the University of Sharjah presents the operation as a case study in protecting cultural heritage during wartime in the new study, published in the journal Museum Management and Curatorship.Prof Abdulkarim says it was particularly significant given the damage inflicted on museums and archaeological sites by ISIS, also known as Daesh, across the Middle East.He explained that conducting a rescue mission during active hostilities requires more than logistical planning.Prof Abdulkarim said: “It fundamentally involves decision-making, institutional resilience, trust, and the ability to adapt rapidly to changing circumstances.“There is rarely a perfect moment to act during an armed conflict; often, delaying a decision in search of greater certainty poses a greater danger than acting under uncertainty.”Prof Abdulkarim oversaw the operation as the director-general of Syria’s Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM).He said Deir ez-Zor was severely restricted, with the museum connected to the military airport only through a narrow and highly vulnerable corridor, rendering the mission “exceptionally dangerous”.Present-day Syria forms part of the broader Mesopotamian cultural sphere, where some of the world’s earliest and most influential civilisations flouris...