ISIS beheads Dr Khaled al-As’ad, one of the Syria’s top antiquities expert. He had been spent his life on the painstaking task of preserving antiquities, saving the relics of our ancestors for generations yet to come. He was working in Palmyra, a Syrian city full of ancient monuments and temples — a city that was, in the second millennium B.C., a caravan stop for people making their way across the desert. Militants who now control the city consider the relics sacrilegious, so they beheaded him and hung his body on a pole.
Al-As’ad, a university professor and the former general manager for antiquities and museums in Palmyra, was decapitated as militants watched. He refused to pledge allegiance to ISIS. He also refused to reveal the location of archaeological treasures and two chests of gold the terrorists thought were in the city under ISIS interrogation.
ISIS posted a photo of his body on social media sites. It was tied to a pole, with the head between the legs. ISIS has destroyed archaeological sites, claiming that it considers religious shrines idolatrous.
Palmyra
- Palmyra was an ancient Semitic city in Syria.
- Palmyra was incorporated into the Seleucid Empire and then the Roman Empire in the first century, which brought prosperity.
- On 21 May 2015, Palmyra came under the control of the Salafi jihadist extremist militant group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Test Your Knowledge
Who is the current leader of ISIS?
