Conflict has caused great damage to Syria’s ruins and monuments. While reconstruction is an enormous project, it would create employment opportunities for deprived Syrians.

The Syrian conflict has caused great damage to Syria’s ruins and monuments of historical interest, including in Palmyra and Aleppo. While it is feasible to reconstruct sites through detailed plans, there are challenges in initiating this process. Some in academic circles believe the destruction and damage is part of the historical narrative, while others in engineering circles advocate for the use of cutting-edge 3D-technologies which may, however, undermine the monuments’ authenticity.

While reconstruction is an enormous project, it would create huge employment opportunities for deprived Syrians. Lack of economic opportunities has been a contributing factor to the Syrian crisis.

Flavia Bellieni Zimmermann interviewed Ross Burns prior to his talk at the AIIA for WA on 21 August 2018.

Ross Burns has worked in the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs for 37 years. He holds a PhD at Macquarie University on ‘The Origins of the Colonnaded Axes of the Cities of the Near East Under Rome’ and is the author of ‘Damascus’ (Routledge, 2004), ‘Monuments of Syria’ (3rd edition, 2009) and ‘Aleppo: A History’ (Routledge 2017). A brief summary of the damage to buildings in Syria can be found on his ‘Monuments of Syria’.

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