afrinpost
The Directorate of Antiquities of Afrin published a report on the violations and encroachments that occurred on the archaeological hill of ‘Ain Dara’. “The bulldozing operations on the hill with heavy machinery and the destruction of archaeological layers, all these violations are documented in photographs.”
The Directorate of Antiquities of Afrin stated that, after the Turkish occupation of the Kurdish region of Afrin, it obtained a set of photos dating back to 7/11/2019, illustrating the bulldozing of Tel Ain Dara with heavy machinery. One of these photographs shows one of the limestone carvings visible during the vandalism excavation process, while a heavy machinery is working near it to destroy the archaeological layers on the hill in the unexcavated parts of the hill. The other pictures, one of them a sculpture of a huge limestone human head, and three other pictures of basalt carvings, one of which is similar to the great basalt lion discovered in 1956.
The process of destroying and bulldozing the hill was confirmed and substantiated through satellite images dating back to 25/2/2019, 21/5/2019, 14/7/2019 and 28/9/2019. Huge excavations appear on the surface of the high hill and the low city in three separate places. The area excavated on the surface of the low hill is estimated at about (1200 m2), while the area that was excavated and bulldozed at the foot of the high hill (Acropolis) is estimated at (5000 m2).
It was also noted during the study of these satellite images that the basaltic lion sculpture disappeared from its original place at the southwestern edge of the hill, which appears clearly in the satellite images after the occupation and before the sabotage excavations were carried out at the site.
It is worth noting that the Turkish authorities warned the owners of agricultural lands in the vicinity of the hill not to carry smartphones while practicing agricultural work, for fear of documenting the sabotage on the archaeological hill.
