Islamic State has destroyed three tower tombs in Palmyra that date back to the first and second centuries, Syria’s antiquities director has said, in what appears to be the latest act in a systematic effort to obliterate the ruins of the ancient city.
On Friday, Maamoun Abdulkarim said the tombs in Palmyra, which was among the best preserved sites from antiquity, were blown up 10 days ago. The Jamblique, Elhbel and Kithot tombs were built in AD83, AD103 and AD44 respectively.
He said the details of the destruction were confirmed by the testimony of residents and satellite imagery of the sites obtained by Boston University.
The news emerged days after Isis blew up two historic temples in Palmyra. The terror group first destroyed the Temple of Baal Shamin and then the Temple of Bel, one of the most notable religious structures in the Middle East to survive from the ancient world.
The group has also beheaded the keeper of Palmyra’s antiquities, Khaled al-Assad, and tied his body to a pole in the city.
Isis considers ancient cultural artefacts, particularly those that venerate gods, a form of idolatry according to its puritanical interpretation of Islam.
The group has rampaged across Iraq and Syria, inflicting grave damage on the countries’ ancient monuments, destroying artefacts from the Assyrian and Akkadian empires and obliterating Christian and Shia shrines.
Isis took control of Palmyra in May, driving out forces loyal to the regime of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, after a week-long siege. Experts feared that Palmyra’s fate would mirror that of other historical sites seized by the militants.
Earlier this week, Abdulkarim told the Guardian in an interview that he expected Isis to continue its systematic destruction of Palmyra with impunity in the absence of action by the international community.
He said: “We have lost all hope, we have lost all hope that the international community will resist and we lost hope of any international movement to save the city. These are savages and [they] will attack other structures. This is a cultural war and everyone should unite, whether they support the government or the opposition. This is the beginning of the complete loss of Palmyra.”
