Drone survey launched to map war damage at Syria’s Palmyra ruins

Syrian antiquities officials have begun conducting drone photography over the war-scarred Palmyra archaeological site and surrounding residential areas as part of a project aimed at documenting damage and guiding future restoration efforts.

The work is being carried out by the Palmyra Antiquities Department, part of Syria’s General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums, which announced the initiative in a statement posted on its official channels.

According to the announcement, the drone survey will document the current condition of both the archaeological site and the nearby modern city, which suffered extensive destruction during years of conflict.

“The project aims to document the current situation and survey damage in the residential area to create a digital database that identifies damage and restoration priorities,” the statement said.

The documentation effort will also link records of the ancient ruins with damage assessments in the surrounding city, reflecting the intertwined nature of the historic site and the modern community built alongside it.

Palmyra, located in central Syria, is recognized as a World Heritage property by UNESCO and was one of the country’s most important archaeological sites before the civil war.

The ruins include monumental colonnades, temples, and funerary structures dating from the Roman era, when the oasis city served as a key trading hub between the Mediterranean world and the East.

But the ancient city suffered severe damage during Syria’s civil war after militants from the Islamic State captured the site in 2015. During their occupation, militants destroyed several major monuments, including parts of the Temple of Bel and the Arch of Triumph.

The group also damaged museum collections and executed the site’s longtime chief archaeologist, Khaled al-Asaad, an event that drew international condemnation.

Syrian forces under the regime of Bashar al-Assad, backed by the military support of Russia, later retook the city, though fighting continued around the area for years. While several preliminary damage assessments have been conducted since the site was recaptured, large-scale reconstruction has remained limited.

After a rapid rebel offensive swept across much of Syria and entered Damascus in December 2024, Assad fled the country. The offensive was led by a coalition centered on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, whose leader Ahmed al-Sharaa emerged as the de facto leader in the transitional authorities that formed afterward.

Palmyra sits in territory now administered by the new authorities. The new drone survey appears to represent an effort to develop a more systematic record of damage across both the archaeological zone and the adjacent urban area.

Officials said a later phase of the project will focus on defining the spatial boundaries of the archaeological site in order to improve its protection and management.

Clearly delineating those boundaries can be an important step in heritage conservation planning, particularly in places where modern settlement overlaps with historic ruins.

The initiative is part of a broader cultural heritage protection project launched in January through cooperation between Syrian authorities and several international organizations.

Partners in the project include the Spanish nonprofit Heritage for Peace, the U.S.-based Qablan Foundation and the Voice of Palmyrans Initiative, according to the announcement.

Heritage for Peace has previously worked on documentation and preservation efforts related to Syrian heritage sites damaged during the conflict.

Meanwhile, Syria’s antiquities authority also announced it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Mar Ephrem Syriac Patriarchal Authority for Development, a Syriac church-affiliated development body, to rehabilitate parts of Palmyra and support the return of international restoration missions.

The memorandum focuses on restoration of damaged areas near the entrance to the Arab Citadel and improvements to the surroundings of Afqa Spring, a historic water source that once fed the oasis on which the ancient city developed.

The agreement also includes establishing logistical infrastructure for conservation missions, including preparing a guesthouse within the Temple of Bel complex.

The announcements reflect a gradual reopening of international cooperation on Syrian heritage sites after Western governments eased many economic sanctions on the country in 2025.

But in December, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture denied reports that it plans to restore the historic Saraya building in the Syrian coastal city of Jableh, contradicting a previous announcement by Syria’s Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums.

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