Khaled al-Asaad

Khaled al-Asaad
Khaled al-Asaad in 2002
Born	1932/1934 Tadmur, Syria
Died	18 August 2015 Tadmur, Syria
Cause of death	Beheaded by ISIS
Alma mater	University of Damascus
Occupation	Archaeologist
Known for	Head of antiquities in Palmyra

Khaled Mohamad al-Asaad (Arabic pronunciation: [ɐlʔæsʕæd] Arabic: خالد الأسعد‎ (1932/1934^[1][2] – 18 August 2015), also Khaled Asaad, was a Syrian archaeologist and the head of antiquities for the ancient city of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He held this position for over 40 years.^[3] Al-Asaad was publicly beheaded by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). He was 81 years old.^[3]

Early life, education and family

Al-Asaad was born in Palmyra, Syria in 1934, and lived there most of his life.^[1] He held a diploma in history and was educated at the University of Damascus.^[4] Al-Asaad was the father of eleven children; six sons and five daughters, one of whom was named Zenobia after the well-known Palmyrene queen.^[4]

Career

Archeologist

During his career, he engaged in the excavations and restoration of Palmyra. He had become the principal custodian of the Palmyra site for 40 years since 1963.^[5] His own expeditions focused on the late third century ramparts of Palmyra.^[6] He worked with American, Polish, German, French and Swiss archaeological missions. His achievement is the elevation of Palmyra to a UNESCO World Heritage Site.^[4] He was also fluent in Aramaic and regularly translated texts until 2011.^[3]

From 1974 onward, Al-Assad organised exhibitions of palmyran antiques.^[7]

In 2001, he announced the discovery of 700 7th-century silver coins bearing images of Kings Khosru I and Khosru II, part of the Sassanid dynasty that ruled Persia before the Muslim conquest. In 2003, he was part of a Syrian-Polish team that uncovered a 3rd-century mosaic which portrayed a struggle between a human and a winged animal. He described it as "one of the most precious discoveries ever made in Palmyra".^[1][4]

He was a sought-after speaker at conferences, presenting his vigorous and extensive research. Leading academics and researchers spoke warmly of his affection for Palmyra and his mastery of its history.^[1] When he retired in 2003, his son Walid took on the mantle of his work at the site of Palmyra. They both were reportedly detained by ISIS in August 2015; the fate of his son is not yet known.^[2]

Politics

It is believed that he joined the Syrian Ba'ath Party around 1954.^[4] However, it is not clear whether he was an active supporter of the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.^[2] According to The Economist, some have said he was a "staunch supporter" of Assad.^[8]

Death

In May 2015, Tadmur (the modern city of Palmyra) and the adjacent ancient city of Palmyra came under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Al-Asaad helped evacuate the city museum prior to ISIS's takeover.^[4] Al-Asaad was among those captured during this time, and ISIS attempted to get al-Asaad to reveal the location of the ancient artifacts that he had helped to hide.^[9] He was murdered in Tadmur on 18 August 2015. The New York Times reported:

After detaining him for weeks, the jihadists dragged him on Tuesday to a public square where a masked swordsman cut off his head in front of a crowd, Mr. Asaad's relatives said. His blood-soaked body was then suspended with red twine by its wrists from a traffic light, his head resting on the ground between his feet, his glasses still on, according to a photo distributed on social media by Islamic State supporters.^[10]

A placard hanging from the waist of his dead body listed al-Asaad's alleged crimes: being an "apostate", representing Syria at "infidel conferences", serving as "the director of idolatry" in Palmyra, visiting "Heretic Iran" and communicating with a brother in the Syrian security services.^[10] His body was reportedly displayed in the new section of Palmyra (Tadmur) and then in the ancient section, whose treasures ISIS had already demolished.^{[9][10][11][12][13]}

In addition to al-Asaad, Qassem Abdullah Yehya, the Deputy Director of the DGAM Laboratories, also protected the Palmyra site. He also was killed by ISIL while on duty on 12 August 2015. He was 37 years old.^[14]

Reactions

• The Chief of Syrian Antiquities, Maamoun Abdulkarim, condemned al-Asaad's death, calling him "a scholar who gave such memorable services to the place Palmyra and to history". He called al-Asaad's ISIL killers a "bad omen on Palmyra".^[13]
• Yasser Tabbaa, a specialist on Islamic art and architecture in Syria and Iraq, said of al-Asaad: "He was a very important authority on possibly the most important archaeological site in Syria."^[10]
• Dario Franceschini, the Italian Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism announced that the flags of all Italian museums would be flown at half-mast in honor of al-Asaad.^[15][16]
• UNESCO and its general director Irina Bokova condemned al-Asaad's murder, saying "They killed him because he would not betray his deep commitment to Palmyra. Here is where he dedicated his life."^[17]
• The Aligarh Historians Society issued a statement expressing hope that the killers would one day be brought to justice. The Society said that "Civilized people, irrespective of country or religion, must unite in their support for all political and military measures designed to achieve this end, especially those being made by the governments of Syria and Iraq."^[18]

Honours and medals

Syrian honors

• Order of Civil Merit (2015)^[19]

Foreign honors

• Poland – Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (1998)^[20]
• Italy – On 17 October 2015, the Italian president inaugurated the rehabilitated Arsenali della Repubblica in Pisa which was renamed after Al-Asaad.^[21]

Selected publications

• Asaad, Khaled (1980). Nouvelles découvertes archéologiques en Syrie [New archaeological discoveries in Syria] (in French). Damascus: Direction général des antiquités et des musées. OCLC 602249622. ; 2nd edition 1990.
• Asaad, Khaled; Bounni, Adnan (1984). Palmyra. Geschichte, Denkmäler, Museum (in German). Damascus: Direction général des antiquités et des musées. 
• Gawlikowski, Michael; Asaad, Khaled (1995). Palmyra and the Aramaeans. ARAM periodical 7. Oxford: The ARAM Society for Syro-Mesopotamian Studies. OCLC 68075497. 
• Asaad, Khaled (1995). "Restoration Work at Palmyra". ARAM Periodical 7 (1): 9–17. doi:10.2143/ARAM.7.1.2002213. OCLC 4632456923. (subscription required (help)). 
• Asaad, Khaled; Yon, Jean-Baptiste (2001), Inscriptions de Palmyre. Promenades épigraphiques dans la ville antique de Palmyre (= Guides archéologiques de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie du Proche-Orient Bd. 3). Institut Français d'Archéologie du Proche-Orient, Beirut 2001; ISBN 2-912738-12-1.
• Asaad, Khaled; Schmidt-Colinet, Andreas (eds) (2013), Palmyras Reichtum durch weltweiten Handel. Archäologische Untersuchungen im Bereich der hellenistischen Stadt. 2 vols. Holzhausen, Vienna 2013; ISBN 978-3-902868-63-3, ISBN 978-3-902868-64-0.

See also

• Destruction of cultural heritage by ISIL
• Syrian Archaeological Heritage Under Threat
• Syro-Palestinian archaeology

References