"Various nations and religions peacefully coexisted in ancient Palmyra: Greeks, Arabs, and Arameans, which was emphasized in the architecture. The barbarians destroyed them, but they can't destroy the memory partly thanks to such projects as the 3D model."
This post first appeared on Russia Insider
One of the most saddening aspects of the war in Syria is not only the loss of life, but the tragic destruction of her ancient culture. In this video, the Russian news delves into what Russia is doing preserve Syrian Culture (full transcript below).
Russian experts have begun creating models of Palmyra to prepare for its inevitable reconstruction after total victory over the terrorists is assured. This is a subtle reminder of who will be favored in the massive and lucrative reconstruction projects to be held after the War.
This time, America doesn't get to destroy a country and then rebuild it while charging exorbitant interest rates.
Check out this great video and full transcript at the bottom of the article:
Palmyra is a unique part of Syria, the Greco-Roman ruins remind the world of Syria's diverse, multicultural background. The Syrian People are not ethnically homogeneous but consist of a mosaic of different peoples blended into the land including Arabs, Greeks, Armenians, Kurds, Assyrians, and much more, even a small population of Ukrainian-Russians on the coast, often who married into Syrian families.
Although the site was inhabited by different cultures since the Neolithic period, Palmyra's ruins are a reminder of the ancient Christian culture of Syria as well, via the Roman Empire. With Russian help, Palmyra will rise again.
Syrian Christians to this day are occasionally called "Rum" (Romans) by Muslims, and the destruction of Palmyra by ISIS shows not only their brutality, but their dedication to a racist, anti-Syrian ideology of destroying the multicultural diversity of the beautiful secular republic and reducing it to a Sunni-Arab quagmire. Never mind the fact that the majority of Syria is Sunni and opposed to the terrorist occupation of the country.
Just like when the CIA-funded Mujaheddin destroyed the ancient Buddha statues of Afghanistan, these CIA funded Barbarians thought they destroyed Palmyra, but thanks to Russia's ingenuity and Syria's resolve, Palmyra will yet again rise like a Phoenix.
Video Transcript:
Anchor:
Ancient Palmyra, close and three-dimensional. A large-scale project was completed by a group of specialists in St. Petersburg. Pearl of the Middle East, torn by ISIS vandals and fanatics for several years, is now controlled by the government forces. And now scientists from all over the world again began to develop reconstruction plans for the ancient city. A new 3D model of Palmyra will be extremely helpful, of course. Suleima Zarif met with the developers.
Correspondent:
The scientists didn't sleep this night, they made the finishing touches before the presentation. A hard, almost round-the-clock work at the Institute for the History of Material Culture lasted a year. And here is the result: the world's first detailed 3D model of Palmyra.
Natalia Solovieva, deputy director of the Institute:
"They work with individual things and objects, but such a huge territory represents huge scientific value. Restorers and archaeologists can work with it, it's very helpful for monument protection bodies."
Correspondent:
The 3D model covers a huge territory of 13 square kilometers, it's like 8 Luzhniki complexes. At the same time, you can see the smallest details from two centimeters, zoom in, rotate every stone lying on the ground. And after the invasion of terrorists, Palmyra actually turned into a pile of stones.
Yegor Blokhin, junior researcher:
"The valley of the funerary towers. Unfortunately, all tall buildings there are destroyed. There were two and even three-storied buildings. They were a sort of mausoleums with coffins, with fine frescoes, painted walls, bas-reliefs."
Correspondent:
Russian scientists spent 3 days in Palmyra last fall. They carried out a detailed aerial survey. They took a total of 20,000 photos, which became the basis of the model. It's a virtual tour of Palmyra.
Here is the main Temple of Bel which was blown up and can't be restored. And the Temple of Baalshamin is also destroyed, but disintegrated into large blocks that are possible to assemble. In a special computer program, to begin with.
Now it's dangerous for scientists to work on the territory of Palmyra. Using the model, scientists can start restoration without leaving their offices. And when Syria is completely liberated from the militants, they can come and implement their projects.
Various nations and religions peacefully coexisted in ancient Palmyra: Greeks, Arabs, and Arameans, which was emphasized in architecture. There are numerous temples erected in honor of the gods of all cultures known at that time. The barbarians destroyed them, but they can't destroy the memory partly thanks to such projects as the 3D model.
Suleima Zarif, Evgeny Kostin, Alexander Burushkov and Galina Orlova for Vesti from St. Petersburg.
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