Palmyra, Syria

Blown-up 2015

In memory of Khaled al – Asaad, an 82-year-old archaeologist who was beheaded by ISIL at Palmyra in August 2015 for refusing to reveal where objects had been removed to for safekeeping.  Maggie P.

The temple of Bel or Baal was dedicated to the Mesopotamian god Bel in AD 32. It was the best-preserved temple in Palmyra, remarkable for its synthesis of Roman and Near Eastern Architecture. The interior contained a carving of the seven planets and of a procession of camels and veiled women. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant detonated explosives in the temple in 2015.