هذا التقرير متاح أيضًا بـ العربية
Syria’s archaeological sites did not escape vandalism throughout the years of war, with most subjected to systematic destruction and damage, whether as a result of combat operations or random looting digs for antiquities, which continue to this day.
Among archaeologists, the Jazira region is described as “a paradise of Syrian antiquities,” containing more than 1,500 archaeological sites, most of them unregistered and never systematically excavated. More broadly, Syrian Jazira is one of the richest areas in Syria and the world in terms of antiquities, having been home to numerous cultures and civilizations since the dawn of history. What happened to antiquities across the rest of the country in terms of destruction and vandalism also happened there.
Tells left open to looting
With the fall of the Assad regime in late 2024 and the emergence of the new era, the phenomenon of antiquities digging spread across the country in a frenzied way. Individuals, groups, and organized gangs exploited the fragility of the security situation in the new Syria, and their activities are still ongoing in areas of Jazira recently freed from the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Archaeological sites and tells in Hasakah, Raqqa, and Deir ez-Zor are witnessing open digging carried out chaotically, with no oversight or accountability. In many cases, local residents themselves have taken on the task of protecting those antiquities voluntarily.
The latest documented incident took place in the town of Jazrat al-Bu Hamid, west of Deir ez-Zor, where on May 17 a group of people used a bulldozer to level parts of Tell al-Humayda in the town. According to archaeologist Ibrahim al-Maadan, a native of the area, the site, known locally as “Tell al-Fakhar,” dates back to the Late Uruk period, or roughly 3000 BC. As the gang attempted to bulldoze the tell in search of antiquities, local residents confronted them and stopped them, then called internal security forces, who arrested them.
According to Ibrahim, this site was not the only one subjected to bulldozing, as digging operations also targeted other sites in the surrounding area by other groups searching for antiquities.
An armed group wearing public security uniforms began bulldozing the archaeological site of Tell al-Humayda in the Jazrat al-Bu Hamid area west of Deir ez-Zor, using heavy machinery
Eyewitnesses said the group’s members, who arrived in two vehicles and a bulldozer from the al-Shamiya area, covered their license plates with mud and began extensive bulldozing inside the tell pic.twitter.com/IGTjvrZY3k
— maya (@meme_syr3) May 18, 2026
Many thieves, one victim
This obsession with searching for antiquities today is nothing new. Rather, it is a continuation of a long history of chaotic excavations that helped destroy and steal Syria’s historical heritage, stretching back to the era of the Assad family, which dominated all of the country’s resources above and below ground, as antiquities theft was run through the commanders of the security branches.
It began openly under Rifaat al-Assad, brother of dictator Hafez al-Assad. With the outbreak of the Syrian revolution, it took on broader forms at the hands of numerous actors, foremost among them commanders of regime militias, especially the Fourth Division led by Maher al-Assad, brother of the ousted president. It managed the antiquities trade in parallel with the drug trade, and the Fourth Division built an independent economy for itself through those activities.
As regime forces’ control collapsed and they lost control over vast swaths of the country in early 2012, other actors entered the antiquities trade. Archaeological sites were among the first places to be looted, alongside other state service institutions, whether by gangs specializing in this field or by the armed factions and organizations that dominated the area at the time. Some local residents seeking quick wealth also contributed to those digging operations.
Without exaggeration, the period of control by ISIS and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was among the darkest for antiquities in the country’s east and north. ISIS formally adopted excavation operations and established what was known as the “Diwan al-Rikaz,” specializing in antiquities finds. It granted anyone wishing to dig a license to search on the condition that whatever they found be handed over to the Diwan in exchange for payment.
At the same time, it carried out extensive excavations at known sites and launched operations using machinery and specialized teams that led to the bulldozing of many sites and the destruction of parts of them, as happened with several tells in Hasakah and archaeological sites in Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor.
After the fall of ISIS and the arrival of Iranian militias in Deir Ezzor, the latter followed the group’s lead in exploiting archaeological sites, whether militarily by turning them into headquarters and barracks, or by excavating them in search of antiquities. This happened at the sites of Dura-Europos and the Kingdom of Mari in the Deir Ezzor countryside, where the Hezbollah militia carried out excavations that destroyed parts of both sites with bulldozers. The Shiite Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas militia also used the historic Rahba Castle in the city of Mayadin, east of Deir Ezzor, as an ammunition depot in 2019.
Dreams of riches atop the ruins of history
Overall, it is clear that most excavation operations in the Jazira are haphazard, and today they are concentrated more heavily in Hasakah, followed by Raqqa and, to a lesser extent, Deir Ezzor. Those involved in digging come from all segments of society, including children, and the primary driver is poverty and the scarcity of job opportunities. Desperation and the desire for quick wealth push these people toward excavation, which often turns into dangerous work.
In March of this year, three teenage boys were killed in the village of “Qana” in the southern Hasakah countryside after an archaeological mound collapsed on them while they were digging in search of antiquities in the area. They had been excavating a mound known as “Tell al-Marza,” located near the village, before large amounts of earth caved in on them, burying them under the debris and killing them.
What is noticeable today is that the vast majority of excavation operations in Hasakah are concentrated in the southern countryside of the province, where the withdrawal of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from the area created a major security vacuum that remains evident even now despite the Syrian government’s control of the area. This security fragility, combined with the severe poverty suffered by most residents there, is driving them to dig for antiquities in the archaeological mounds scattered across the region.
Jalal, a resident of al-Shaddadi, told NoonPost: “The beginning of the random excavations came with the collapse of the Assad regime’s control over the area after 2013, when unknown groups arriving from outside al-Shaddadi began searching for antiquities, followed by some local residents digging individually in the archaeological mounds. With the arrival of the Islamic State (ISIS), the group also launched several excavation operations, and the same was true of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as some of its commanders brought excavators and excavation crews to some of the surrounding mounds while the militia controlled the area. I remember among those sites Tell Ajaja and Tell Taban.”
Jalal added: “With the fall of the regime, digging and excavation returned on a very large scale, and most of it now takes place at night. Last winter, it was insane, as if a fever had spread among the people. Here we often hear that a number of people have found antiquities at several sites, including Tell Ajaja. To this day, the Syrian authorities have taken no action regarding this situation. Patrols rarely come to the area after receiving reports, but they only disperse the diggers, who return again after the patrol leaves.
At the same time, I cannot blame anyone. Poverty here in Hasakah is severe, there is no work for residents, theft is widespread, and government support is minimal, if not nonexistent. So the masses of the desperate have no option but to dig underground. This work has literally become like a worm eating away at a sizable segment of the population.”
What remains of history awaits rescue
In Raqqa province, the situation is not much different from Hasakah when it comes to the condition of archaeological sites. The state of affairs there is equally dire, as many well-known sites suffer from encroachment and neglect, while some archaeological tells are being dug up and excavated. Jaabar Castle, Qasr al-Banat, the ancient wall of Raqqa, Hiraqla, Tell Tutul, Tell Zeidan and others have all been subjected to vandalism and encroachment.
In April of this year, footage circulated by activists showed a fire being set at the site of Qasr al-Banat in Raqqa, one of the province’s most famous Abbasid landmarks. Some residents also speak of bricks taken from Raqqa’s ancient wall being used in construction, without any deterrent.
In Deir Ezzor, meanwhile, no government body has to this day reached any archaeological site in the province to inspect it. The remains of the Kingdom of Mari, Dura-Europos, al-Rahba, Halabiya, Zalabiya, Dur-Katlimmu and Buqrus remain entirely off the radar. Visits have been limited to a handful of Western travelers and tourists who went to some of them for exploration.
This raises countless questions about the fate of these monuments, which have suffered extensive destruction over the past 15 years and which, if they received any government attention, could help drive the region’s revival as important tourist landmarks. Yet antiquities in the three provinces generally remain effectively outside the government’s concern, and the directorates of antiquities and museums still receive virtually no meaningful support, much like many other institutions in the three provinces.
Perhaps the worst part of all this is that the blue space — Facebook, for example — has turned into a digital marketplace for Syrian antiquities with no oversight, where antiquities thieves share what they have found and artifacts are sold, all without any government monitoring. There is also a noticeable spread in the sale of metal detectors in the provinces’ markets, as in Damascus and Aleppo, which antiquities hunters use in excavations. Some are even rented out by the hour, as happens openly in parts of Deir Ezzor and Raqqa.
Overall, Syrian government efforts in the Jazira remain scant. It is worth noting that the Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums in Damascus displayed in May a number of Syrian antiquities and artifacts that it said had been recovered after being stolen in recent years. Even so, protecting the archaeological sites that remain in the country is still far below what is required and remains outside the government’s priorities.
What has happened to Syrian antiquities over the past years, and what is happening to them today, requires urgent action to help recover what has been stolen and preserve what remains of the landmarks in a country that was, without exaggeration, one of the most prominent places in human history. It also certainly requires greater development in the Jazira and raising awareness among residents about the importance of these archaeological sites.