"This fall, the Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences will carry out excavations [in Palmyra] together with the Syrians. The Russian-Syrian expedition will establish all the details of the structure of the arch, and then proposals will be made for possible restoration... This decision will be made together with UNESCO, Syria," the Hermitage director said at the VK Fest festival organized by the Vkontakte social network.
Piotrovsky recalled that specialists from the Hermitage and the Institute of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences had created a 3D model of Palmyra based on the results of three seasons of field research.
"After that, the Syrians have asked... to restore something, they have chosen the arch [for restoration]. For now, powerful research has been carried out — all stones have been dismantled in the 3D model. We are now holding a series of international conferences informing the international community about what has been done," Piotrovsky added.
According to the Hermitage chief, such reports are needed to ensure maximum transparency of the process and bring plans to the scheduled results.
Palmyra is one of the richest cities of late antiquity in the oasis of the Syrian Desert. It is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
During the Syrian civil war, militants from the Islamic State* captured the city twice. The terrorists have killed one of the leading researchers of Palmyra — 81-year-old Khaled al-Asaad — and plundered the national museum, stealing many antiquities for sale on the black market. In addition, militant fighters destroyed a number of historic monuments, including the temples of Bel and Baalshamin, the central part of the amphitheater and the Arch of Triumph.