Digital Tools and How We Use Them: The Destruction and Reconstruction of Tangible Cultural Heritage in Syria

Published paper: Digital tools and how we use them: The destruction and reconstruction of tangible cultural heritage in Syria

The increasing use of digital technologies necessitates a reevaluation of professional norms in the cultural heritage sector. Digital technologies provide enticing opportunities to increase accessibility, maximize public standing, decrease costs, and preserve heritage in new, more affordable ways. Digital technologies also present precarious ethical challenges, defy existing definitions and professional values, and risk further commodification of cultural heritage. This paper provides an overview of the digital technologies impacting at-risk cultural heritage sites in Syria, and examines how they are used in the destruction, preservation, and reconstruction of those sites. By investigating current communication structures, surveying the use of geospatial imagery and geospatial data, and assessing technologically-assisted reconstruction efforts, we begin to understand how technology is impacting the destruction and reconstruction of tangible cultural heritage sites in Syria.

Bibliography:
"Ancient History, Modern Destruction: Assessing the Current Status of Syria’s World Heritage Sites Using High-Resolution Satellite Imagery." American Association for the Advancement of Science. Last modified 2014. Consulted December 2, 2017. https://www.aaas.org/page/ancient-history-modern-destruction-assessing-current-status-syria-s-world-heritage-sites-using

Amineddoleh, L. (2015). “Cultural Heritage Vandalism and Looting: The Role of Terrorist Organizations, Public Institutions and Private Collectors.” Santander Art and Culture Law Review 2/2015 (1): 27-62.

Barnard, A. (2015). "ISIS Destroys Historic Arches in Palmyra, Syria." The New York Times. Last modified October 5, 2015. Consulted December 17, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/world/middleeast/isis-syria-arch-triumph-palmyra.html?_r=0.

Benjamin, W. (1998). "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." Translated by Harry Zohn.
Last modified 1998. Accessed December 17, 2017. https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm.

Bluffenstein, A. (2017). “A Monumental Loss: Here Are the Most Significant Cultural Heritage Sites That ISIS Has Destroyed to Date.” Artnet News. Last Modified May 30, 2017. Consulted January 1, 2018. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/isis-cultural-heritage-sites-destroyed-950060

Casana, J. (2015). "Satellite Imagery-Based Analysis of Archaeological Looting in Syria." Near Eastern Archaeology 78, no. 3: 142-152.

Casana, J. & Laugier E.J. (2017). “Satellite imagery-based monitoring of archaeological site damage in the Syrian civil war.” PLoS ONE 12(11).

Cerra, D.; Plank, S.; Lysandrou, V.; Tian, J. (2016). “Cultural Heritage Sites in Danger—Towards Automatic Damage Detection from Space.” Remote Sens. 2016, 8, 781. http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/8/9/781

Cloud Services Access. Digital Globe. https://www.digitalglobe.com/connectonline.

Cunliffe, E. (2016). "Should we 3D print a new Palmyra?" The Conversation. Last modified March 31, 2016. Consulted September 16, 2017. https://theconversation.com/Should-we-3d-print-a-new-palmyra-57014.

Danti, M.; Branting, S.; Penacho, S. (2017). "The American Schools of Oriental Research
Cultural Heritage Initiatives: Monitoring Cultural Heritage in Syria and Northern Iraq by Geospatial Imagery." Geosciences 2017, 7, no. 4: 95.

Del Giudice, M. (2014). "Tut's Tomb: A Replica Fit for a King." National Geographic. Last modified May 20, 2014. Consulted September 22, 2017. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/05/ 140520-tutankhamun-egypt-archaeology-cyber-printing-3d/.

"Facsimile of the Tomb of Tutankhamun." Factum Arte. Consulted September 22, 2017. http://www.factumfoundation.org/ind/40/Facsimile-of-the-Tomb-of-Tutankhamun.

Fredricks, J. (2017). "Interactive - Map Of The Deconstruction And Reconstruction Of Palmyra." Arts Management Technology Laboratory. Last modified November 3, 2017. Consulted December 17, 2017. http://amt-lab.org/blog/2017/10/The-role-of-digital-in-the-deconstruction-and-reconstruction-of-palmyra.

Gandolfini, G. (2014). "How Museums Are Dealing With New Media Art: Part 1." Arts Management Technology Laboratory. Last modified December 4, 2014. Consulted October 2, 2017. http://amt-lab.org/blog/2014/12/how-museums-are-dealing-with-new-media-art-part-1?rq=conservation.

Gayle, D. (2015). "Palmyra arch that survived Isis to be replicated in London and New York." The Guardian. Last modified December 28, 2015. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/28/palmyra-temple-bel-arch-survived-isis-syria-london-new-york#img-2.

Gregory, J. (2015). "Connecting with the Past through Social Media: The 'Beautiful Buildings and Cool Places Perth has Lost' Facebook Group." International Journal of Heritage Studies 21, no. 1 (2015): 22-45.

Hadingham, E. (2016) "The Technology That Will Resurrect ISIS-Destroyed Antiquities." Public Broadcasting Station. Last modified June 9, 2016. Accessed September 16, 2017. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/ancient/digital-preservation-syria/.

Iyer, J. (2017) "Art At The Heart Of Smart Cities." AMT Lab. Last modified June 2017. Consulted October 2, 2017. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51d98be2e4b05a25fc200cbc/t/595194e71e5b6c4d8b613c95/1498518760300/Art+at+the+Heart+of+Smart+Cities.pdf.

Johnson, T. (2016).. "Let’s Get Virtual: Examination of Best Practices to Provide Public Access to Digital Versions of Three-Dimensional Objects." Information Technology and Libraries 35, no. 2.

Jones, J. (2016) "Palmyra must not be fixed. History would never forgive us." The Guardian. Last modified April 11, 2016. Consulted September 22, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2016/apr/11/palmyra-isis-syria-restored-3d-printers-vandalism

Lasaponara, R. & Masini N. (2011). “Satellite remote sensing in archaeology: past, present and future perspectives”, In Journal of Archaeological Science. 2011, Volume 38, Issue 9, Pages 1995-2002, ISSN 0305-4403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.02.002. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030544031100032X

Lowe, A. (2012). "The authorized facsimile of the Burial Chamber of Tutankhamun." Factum Arte. Last modified 2012. Consulted September 22, 2017. http://www.factum-arte.com/resources/files/ff/publications_PDF/Tutankhamun_Report_2012.pdf.

Lyons, J. (2012) “Documenting violations of international humanitarian law from space: A critical review of geospatial analysis of satellite imagery during armed conflicts in Gaza (2009), Georgia (2008), and Sri Lanka (2009).” International Review of the Red Cross. 2012 94(886), 739-763.

Murphy, S. (2015). "Gallery One at the Cleveland Museum of Art: Connecting Audiences to Art Through Technology." Arts Management Technology Laboratory. Last modified June 2015. Consulted October 2, 2017. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51d98be2e4b05a25fc200cbc/t/55bbbf10e4b0d123207bcacb/1438367504076/Murphy+Final+Paper_Gallery+One.pdf.

Mark, J. (2014). "Ancient Syria." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Last modified June 17, 2014. Consulted December 17, 2017. https://www.ancient.eu/syria/.

Newell, J.; Salmond, A.; Lythberg, B. (2012). "Old objects, new media: Historical collections, digitization and affect." Journal of Material Culture 17, no. 3: 287-306.

“Notable & quotable: United nations institute for training and research; hundreds of cultural heritage sites in war-torn syria have been looted, damaged or even completely destroyed”. Wall Street Journal, 2015, Jan 06.

Orbaşli, A. (2017). “Conservation theory in the twenty-first century: slow evolution or a paradigm shift?” The Journal of Architectural Conservation. Volume 23, Issue 3, 157-170.

Polk, W. (2013). "Understanding Syria: From Pre-Civil War to Post-Assad." The Atlantic. Last modified December 10, 2013. Consulted December 17, 2017. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/12/understanding-syria-from-pre-civil-war-to-post-assad/281989/

"Satellite Imagery Helping to Monitor Cultural Heritage Sites under Threat." United Nations Institute for Training and Research. Last modified June 30, 2016. Consulted December 2, 2017. http://www.unitar.org/satellite-imagery-helping-monitor-cultural-heritage-sites-under-threat.

Sedlacik, M. (2015). “Social Media and Heritage Preservation.” Present Pasts, 6(1), Art. 4. http://doi.org/10.5334/pp.60

Shaheen, K. (2015). "Isis blows up Arch of Triumph in 2,000-year-old city of Palmyra." The Guardian. Last modified October 5, 2015. Consulted December 17, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/05/isis-blows-up-another-monument-in-2000-year-old-city-of-palmyra.

Smith, C. (2015). “Social Media and the Destruction of World Heritage as Global Propaganda.” Internacional Conference on Best Practices in World and Heritage. Last modified May 2, 2015. https://www.academia.edu/21833437/Social_media_and_the_destruction_of_World_Heritage_sites_as_global_propaganda

Stone, E. (2014). “High Resolution Imagery and the Recovery of Surface Architectural Patterns.” Advances in Archaeological Practice 2.3, 180-194.

Strong, F. (2016). "Imitation game: how copies can solve our cultural heritage crises." The Conversation. Last modified November 4, 2016. Consulted September 16, 2017. https://theconversation.com/imitation-game-how-copies-can-solve-our-cultural-heritage-crises-69346.

Su, A. (2017). "How One Syrian Fought to the Death for a Free Internet." Wired. Last modified September 27, 2017. Consulted December 17, 2017. https://www.wired.com/story/how-one-syrian-fought-to-the-death-for-a-free-internet/.

Sun, S. (2016). "Art UK: Rethinking Online Collections And Engagement." Arts Management Technology Laboratory. Last modified April 21, 2016. Consulted October 2, 2017. http://amt-lab.org/blog/2016/3/art-uk-rethink-online-collection-and-audience-engagement.

"Syrian Arab Republic." UNESCO. Consulted December 17, 2017. http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/sy/.

"Syria’s Six World Heritage sites placed on List of World Heritage in Danger." UNESCO. Last modified June 20, 2013. Consulted December 17, 2017. http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/1038/.

Tapete, F., & Donoghue D. (2016). “Looting marks’ in space-borne SAR imagery: Measuring rates of archaeological looting in Apamea (Syria) with TerraSAR-X Staring Spotlight.” Remote Sensing of Environment, Volume 178, 2016, Pages 42-58.

"Triumphal Arch." The Institute for Digital Archeology. Consulted September 22, 2017. http://digitalarchaeology.org.uk/building-the-arch/.

Ur, J. (2013). “Spying on the Past: Declassified Intelligence Satellite Photographs and Near Eastern Landscapes.” Near Eastern Archaeology 76, 28-36.

Van Niekerk, B. & Maharaj, M (2013). "Social Media and Information Conflict." International Journal of Communication. Volume 7: 1162-1184.

Voon, C. (2016). "What’s the Value of Recreating the Palmyra Arch with Digital Technology?" Hyperallergic. Last modified April 19, 2016. Consulted September 22, 2017. https://hyperallergic.com/292006/whats-the-value-of-recreating-the-palmyra-arch-with-digital-technology/.

"We Demand Bassel Khartabil’s Date Of Death And Remains From Bashar Al Assad President Of The Syrian Arab Republic." #FreeBassel. Last modified August 10, 2017. Accessed December 17, 2017. http://freebassel.org/.

Zalewski, D. (2016). "The Factory of Fakes." The New Yorker. Last modified November 28, 2016. Consulted September 22, 2017. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/11/28/the-factory-of-fakes.