Looters allegedly used specialized machinery to remove mosaics and the decorative upper ends of the columns. In May INTERPOL launched a search for artifacts taken from the site.
(Related: "Syria Mass Graves Suggest Ancient Urban Conflict.")
After Destruction, Looting
The looting at Apamea could be a harbinger of things to come.
"Looting," predicts archaeologist Emma Cunliffe, a Ph.D. candidate at the U.K.'s Durham University, "will pose a bigger problem later on." In a report released in May, Cunliffe noted that, despite preventive measures taken by Syrian authorities, museums in Homs, Hama (map), and Ar Raqqah (map) had been pillaged, and more are at risk.
(Also see "Tombs Found in Syria Hold Riches, Signs of Ritual Sacrifice.")
The decrease in security for archaeological sites has given looters easy access. "Thousands of items are stolen this way, never to be returned."
Even now artifacts from pillaged museums and archaeological sites in Syria are flowing across its borders. In April Arab television reported that a vehicle stopped by customs officials at the border between Syria and Lebanon was discovered to contain more than a thousand artifacts, including coins, sculptures, mosaics, and antique jewelry.
(See a demographic map of Syria.)
This ravaging of Syria's heritage will leave a bitter legacy.
The history that once may have promoted cohesion, pride, and a booming tourist industry has now become a symbol of a nation in ruins. But why do these places matter in the wake of such human tragedy? For Cunliffe, the two are inseparable: "You shouldn't only look at the people, or only at the archaeology. The people made these places. It all comes back to the people."
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/08/120817-syria-lebanon-world-archaeology-conflict-damage-treasures/