Looting in Syria

Two interesting observations from Christopher Jones

Christopher Jones‏ @cwjones89 11 godz.11 godzin temu

W odpowiedzi do @cwjones89

In 2014-2015, people dug a crazy amount of holes in Syrian archaeological sites. But two finds account for 80% of revenue in Abu Sayyaf docs

The recent spate of looting (or Museums and sites) in Syria in fact began in 2012 at the latest (Apamea and the mosaics appearing in Lebanon for example), but there does seem to have been an increase in 2014. If it is true that there was a downswing after 2015, it is interesting to consider why that might have been.

As for the second issue, readers will know that I am more inclined to see the 'Abu Sayyaf documents' as forgeries created by the US government as a cover for their promotion of an  'ISIL-financed-by-antiquities-looting' story for which there was little other evidence.