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Syria:
Land of Civilizations
With the advent
of the third millennium, Syrian antiquities and unearthed finds
will be shown to the world in a roving exhibition. The
exhibition will be held under the title "Syria: Land of
Civilizations."
The chairman of the Syrian antiquities and museums department,
Dr. Ali Abu Assaf, said in statements to the local media that
the exhibition will be opened at the beginning of November in
Switzerland and will later on move to Canada and the United
States, respectively.
He added that the exhibition contains some 551 antiquities
representing the most remarkable archaeological finds discovered
in Syria in the past and the present.
The exhibition sheds light on the different aspects of the human
civilizations that have flourished in Syria since prehistory and
the role of these civilizations in contributing to human
advancement.
Dr. Abu Assaf commented that one of the main objectives of the
exhibition is to acquaint foreigners with the history and
deeply-rooted civilizations in Syria.
"Syria is probably the finest example you can see of many
cultures on the same land succeeding one after another,"
said Francois Tremblay of Canada’s
Musee de la Civilization de Quebec, which has been
the driving force in working with Syria to organize the tour.
"You really have an overview of different cultures, from
the very early stages of civilization up to the present,"
Tremblay told Reuters in the artifact-cluttered basement of Damascus
Museum while photographing the final selection of treasures
for the exhibition catalog. "Syria was an easy
choice."
The collection is spectacular. Although chosen to illustrate
themes in civilization rather than purely for their artistic
merit, individual pieces are likely to stagger Western audiences
unprepared for Syria’s cultural heritage.
A figure with a gold lion’s head and wings of solid lapis
lazuli was excavated at Mari on the Euphrates River nearly 5,000
years after it had arrived as a gift from Ur in Mesopotamia. The
refinement of Roman times is demonstrated by a silver helmet and
a solid gold mask, both excavated near the city of Homs.
Syria is at the center of the Fertile Crescent, the arc of
well-watered land reaching from Mesopotamia in present-day Iraq
to Egypt where agriculture began 10,000 years ago.
That pivotal position, often falling under the sway of empires
at either end of the Fertile Crescent, has left Syria with an
unparalleled archaeological record.
Early city states like Mari rose and fell, the Assyrian,
Egyptian and Hittite empires battled for control, Greek, Roman
and Byzantine civilizations dotted the land with cities. The
Arab invasion of the seventh century produced masterpieces of
Islamic religious and military architecture.
Syria was the ideal focus for an exhibition centered on themes
in human development: the organization of society, economy and
spiritual life. It covers Syrian contributions—such as the
first alphabet—until the Crusades, a suitable end because that
invasion re-acquainted Europe with its own cultural roots in the
Middle East.
"At the dawn of the new millennium we are trying to reflect
on the rules of civilization and the best way is to look at the
very early stage and ask ourselves ‘What heritage will we
leave to our descendants for the next millennium?"’ said
Tremblay.
The exhibition will open in Basel, Switzerland, and then move to
Quebec from May 30, 2000, to Jan. 7, 2001. It then moves to
Edmonton and on to the United States in June 2001: San Jose
until September, New York’s American Museum of Natural History
from October to January and Denver until May 5, 2002.
There have been other Syrian exhibitions abroad, though not
organized along such thematic lines. And none has included all
the items seen this time—and none is likely to in the future.
"Many of the artifacts that have been loaned by Syrian
authorities have never been out of Syria," said Tremblay.
"And many of them will be on tour for the last time because
they are now planning to renew many of their own galleries and
these major artifacts will after this stay in Syria."
Excerpts from this article were taken from an article by
Jack Redden of Reuters News Service and Nando Media in February
1999 and from Arabicnews.com on September 28, 1999. |
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