Paolo Matthiae, an archaeologist from Rome’s La Sapienza University revealed that some members of an Italian archaeological mission are set to return to the site of an ancient city, at Tell Mardikh, south of Aleppo, for the first time since 2010.
In an apparent ignorance of the 1,000 of civilians killed and made homeless in the surrounding areas during a brutal Russian and Assad assault on the area in 2019 Matthiae said, “The good news is that the archaeological site was never bombed.” Despite documentation of several strikes by Russian Air Force which damaged the site.
Discovery and preservation of historic sites and pursuit of the antiquities of the dead should never take precedence over the preservation of welfare and dignity of the living.
