Khaled al-Asaad

Khaled al-Asaad (Arabic: خالد الأسعد‎, Arabic pronunciation: [ɐlʔæsʕæd], January 1932 – 18 August 2015) was a Syrian archaeologist and the head of antiquities at the ancient city of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He held this position for over 40 years.[6] Al-Asaad was publicly beheaded by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on 18 August 2015, at the age of eighty three.[6]

Khaled al-Asaad
Khaled al-Asaad in 2002
Born
Khaled Mohamad al-Asaad

1 January 1932[1]
Palmyra, French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon[2]
(now Syria)
Died18 August 2015 (aged 83)
Palmyra, Syria
Cause of deathMurder by beheading
Alma materUniversity of Damascus
OccupationArchaeologist
Known forHead of antiquities in Palmyra
Honours

Early life, education and family

Al-Asaad was born in Palmyra in 1932, and lived there most of his life.[7] He held a diploma in history and was educated at the University of Damascus.[8] Al-Asaad was the father of eleven children: six sons and five daughters, one of whom was named Zenobia after the well-known Palmyrene queen.[8]

Career

Archaeologist

During his career, he engaged in the excavations and restoration of Palmyra. He had become the principal custodian of the Palmyra site for 40 years since 1963.[9] His own expeditions focused on the late third-century ramparts of Palmyra.[10] He worked with American, Polish, German, French and Swiss archaeological missions. His achievement is the elevation of Palmyra to a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[8] He was also fluent in Aramaic and regularly translated texts until 2011.[6]

From 1974 onward, Al-Asaad organised exhibitions of Palmyran antiques.[11]

When he retired in 2003, his son Walid took over his work at Palmyra. They both were reportedly detained by ISIS in August 2015; the fate of his son is not yet known.[12]

Politics

It is believed that he joined the Syrian Ba'ath Party around 1954.[8] However, it is not clear whether he was an active supporter of the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.[12] According to The Economist, some have said he was a "staunch supporter" of Assad.[13]

Death
Memorial for Khaled al-Asaad in Italy

In May 2015, Tadmur (the modern city of Palmyra) and the adjacent ancient city of Palmyra came under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Al-Asaad helped evacuate the city museum prior to ISIS's takeover,[8] but he himself was captured by ISIS during that time. He was then tortured in an attempt to get him to reveal the location of the ancient artefacts that he had helped to hide.[14][15] He was murdered in Tadmur on 18 August 2015 at the age of 83.[16]

The New York Times reported:

After detaining him for weeks, the jihadists dragged him on Tuesday to a public square where a masked swordsman cut off his head in front of a crowd, Mr. Asaad's relatives said. His blood-soaked body was then suspended with red twine by its wrists from a traffic light, his head resting on the ground between his feet, his glasses still on, according to a photo distributed on social media by Islamic State supporters.[17]

A placard hanging from the waist of his dead body listed al-Asaad's alleged crimes: being an "apostate", representing Syria at "infidel conferences", serving as "the director of idolatry" in Palmyra, visiting "Heretic Iran" and communicating with a brother in the Syrian security services.[17]

His body was reportedly displayed in the new section of Palmyra (Tadmur) and then in the ancient section, whose treasures ISIS had already demolished.[15][17][18][19][20]

In addition to al-Asaad, Qassem Abdullah Yehya, the Deputy Director of the DGAM Laboratories, also protected the Palmyra site. He also was killed by ISIL while on duty on 12 August 2015. He was 37 years old.[21]

Reactions
  • The Chief of Syrian Antiquities, Maamoun Abdulkarim, condemned al-Asaad's death, calling him "a scholar who gave such memorable services to the place Palmyra and to history". He called al-Asaad's ISIL killers a "bad omen on Palmyra".[20]
  • Dario Franceschini, the Italian Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, announced that the flags of all Italian museums would be flown at half-mast in honor of al-Asaad.[22][23]
  • UNESCO and its general director Irina Bokova condemned al-Asaad's murder, saying "They killed him because he would not betray his deep commitment to Palmyra. Here is where he dedicated his life."[24]
  • The Aligarh Historians Society said: "Civilized people, irrespective of country or religion, must unite in their support for all political and military measures designed to achieve this end, especially those being made by the governments of Syria and Iraq."[25]
  • Persian-American poet Kaveh Akbar published the poem "Palmyra" in response to al-Asaad's death. The poem's dedication reads "after Khaled al-Asaad."[26]

Honours and medals

Syrian honors
  • Order of Civil Merit (2015) - Awarded posthumously[27]

Foreign honors

Selected publications
  • Asaad, Khaled (1980). Nouvelles découvertes archéologiques en Syrie [New archaeological discoveries in Syria] (in French). Damascus: Direction général des antiquités et des musées. OCLC 602249622.; 2nd edition 1990.
  • Asaad, Khaled; Bounni, Adnan (1984). Palmyra. Geschichte, Denkmäler, Museum (in German). Damascus: Direction général des antiquités et des musées.
  • Gawlikowski, Michael; Asaad, Khaled (1995). Palmyra and the Aramaeans. ARAM periodical. 7. Oxford: The ARAM Society for Syro-Mesopotamian Studies. OCLC 68075497.
  • Asaad, Khaled (1995). "Restoration Work at Palmyra". ARAM Periodical. 7 (1): 9–17. doi:10.2143/ARAM.7.1.2002213. OCLC 4632456923.
  • Asaad, Khaled; Yon, Jean-Baptiste (2001), Inscriptions de Palmyre. Promenades épigraphiques dans la ville antique de Palmyre (= Guides archéologiques de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie du Proche-Orient Bd. 3). Institut Français d'Archéologie du Proche-Orient, Beirut 2001; ISBN 2-912738-12-1.
  • Asaad, Khaled; Schmidt-Colinet, Andreas (eds) (2013), Palmyras Reichtum durch weltweiten Handel. Archäologische Untersuchungen im Bereich der hellenistischen Stadt. 2 vols. Holzhausen, Vienna 2013; ISBN 978-3-902868-63-3, ISBN 978-3-902868-64-0.
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See also

References
  1. Hubbard, Ben (19 August 2015). "Syrian Expert Who Shielded Palmyra Antiquities Meets a Grisly Death at ISIS' Hands". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  2. "Profile: Khaled al-Asaad". BBC News. 19 August 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  3. "President Al-Assad Grants Archeologist Khaled al-Asaa'd Syrian Order of Merit of Excellent Degree". syriatimes.sy. 3 September 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  4. The martyr of Palmyra Khaled Al Asaad (PDF). International Council on Monuments and Sites. 2016. p. 13.
  5. "داعش يذبح أهم شخصية للآن ويعلقه على عمود بالطريق - منوعات". Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  6. "Syrian archaeologist 'killed in Palmyra' by IS militants". BBC News. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  7. "Khaled al-Asaad: Authority on the antiquities of the Syrian city of Palmyra who was devoted to studying and protecting its treasures". The Independent. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  8. Davies, Caroline (19 August 2015). "Khaled al-Asaad profile: the Howard Carter of Palmyra". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  9. Paraszczuk, Joanna (24 August 2015). "ISIS Killed Khalid al-Assad for Refusing to Betray Palmyra". The Atlantic. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  10. "Khaled al-Asaad obituary". Telegraph. 2 September 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  11. Pierre Leriche. "Khaled al-Asaad, the martyr of Palmyra". The Conversation. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  12. "Profile: Khaled al-Asaad, Syria's 'Mr Palmyra'". BBC. 19 August 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  13. "Islamic State and antiquities: Nothing is sacred". The Economist. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  14. "Isis beheads Palmyra scholar and hangs him from ruins he spent his life restoring". The Independent. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  15. Aji, Albert; Mroue, Bassem (19 August 2015). "Islamic State beheads Syrian antiquities scholar in ancient town of Palmyra". US News & World Report. Associated Press. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  16. Domingo, Plácido (December 2016). "End the International Destruction of Cultural Heritage". Vigilo. Din l-Art Ħelwa: National Trust of Malta (48): 30–31. ISSN 1026-132X.
  17. Hubbard, Ben (19 August 2015). "Shielding Syrian Antiquities, to a Grisly Death at ISIS' Hands". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  18. Islamic State militants behead archaeologist in Palmyra – Syrian official, Reuters, 18 August 2015.
  19. IS tötet früheren Chef-Archäologen von Palmyra, tagesschau.de, 19 August 2015.(in German)
  20. "Beheaded Syrian scholar refused to lead Isis to hidden Palmyra antiquities". The Guardian. 19 August 2015.
  21. "Article: Two more 'EverySyrian' heroes murdered while protecting our shared cultural heritage". OpEdNews. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  22. "Italy's museums honour archaeologist murdered by Isil". theartnewspaper.com. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  23. "Franceschini: "Bandiere a mezz'asta nei musei italiani in memoria di Khaled Asaad"". Il Secolo XIX. 20 August 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  24. "UNESCO condemns ISIS beheading of Palmyra archeologist". Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  25. "All civilised people must condemn murder of al-Asaad by IS: Aligarh Historians Society". The Times of India. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  26. Segal, Corinne (21 December 2015). "Poet remembers the man who fought -- and died -- to save Palmyra". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  27. "Legislative decree on granting archeologist Khaled al-Asaad Syrian Order of Merit of excellent degree". Syrian Arab News Agency. sana.sy. 19 August 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  28. "داعش يذبح أهم شخصية للآن ويعلقه على عمود بالطريق – منوعات" (in Arabic). akhbrksa.com. 19 August 2015. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  29. "Mattarella all'inaugurazione degli Arsenali "Pisa importante per il Paese"" (in Italian). Pisatoday. 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
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