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Heraqla, between the dream of Harun Al Rashid and the nightmare of the looters

Al Khabour, Anas LU (2022)
Abstract
The archaeological site of Heraqla in Raqqa represents a particular example of the Abbasid architecture; the Caliph Harun Al Rashid started reconstructing it as a commemorative monument but after his death it was never completed. The Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums DGAM excavated in the site, constructed furnace to produce bricks similar to the ancient material for restorations and, most importantly, built storehouses to deposit the archaeological items revealed during many decades of local, international and joint excavations. These storehouses were inventoried once in 2003 by the author as a preliminary inventory to integrate them in a sophisticated database later. Regretfully, in 2013, some 100, armed looters robbed the... (More)
The archaeological site of Heraqla in Raqqa represents a particular example of the Abbasid architecture; the Caliph Harun Al Rashid started reconstructing it as a commemorative monument but after his death it was never completed. The Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums DGAM excavated in the site, constructed furnace to produce bricks similar to the ancient material for restorations and, most importantly, built storehouses to deposit the archaeological items revealed during many decades of local, international and joint excavations. These storehouses were inventoried once in 2003 by the author as a preliminary inventory to integrate them in a sophisticated database later. Regretfully, in 2013, some 100, armed looters robbed the storehouses. The present paper is the only documentation ever completed on Heraclea’s storehouses and aims to raise awareness about their importance, to encourage researchers to create a database of the looted objects to identify them, facilitate their recovering and restitution if they appear on the black market of antiquities, or at least prevent their circulation freely through sharing the database with INTERPOL and other authorities involved in fighting against illicit trafficking. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Book/Report
publication status
in press
subject
keywords
Heraqla, Raqqa, illicit trafficking, looted antiquities, storehouse
pages
341 pages
publisher
Archaeology@Lund, Lund University publications
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a768f5fb-ddf6-4cfb-95da-e275e75c9cac
date added to LUP
2022-09-07 15:24:36
date last changed
2022-09-15 16:15:41
@techreport{a768f5fb-ddf6-4cfb-95da-e275e75c9cac,
  abstract     = {{The archaeological site of Heraqla in Raqqa represents a particular example of the Abbasid architecture; the Caliph Harun Al Rashid started reconstructing it as a commemorative monument but after his death it was never completed. The Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums DGAM excavated in the site, constructed furnace to produce bricks similar to the ancient material for restorations and, most importantly, built storehouses to deposit the archaeological items revealed during many decades of local, international and joint excavations. These storehouses were inventoried once in 2003 by the author as a preliminary inventory to integrate them in a sophisticated database later. Regretfully, in 2013, some 100, armed looters robbed the storehouses. The present paper is the only documentation ever completed on Heraclea’s storehouses and aims to raise awareness about their importance, to encourage researchers to create a database of the looted objects to identify them, facilitate their recovering and restitution if they appear on the black market of antiquities, or at least prevent their circulation freely through sharing the database with INTERPOL and other authorities involved in fighting against illicit trafficking.}},
  author       = {{Al Khabour, Anas}},
  institution  = {{Archaeology@Lund, Lund University publications}},
  keywords     = {{Heraqla; Raqqa; illicit trafficking; looted antiquities; storehouse}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  title        = {{Heraqla, between the dream of Harun Al Rashid and the nightmare of the looters}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}