Saving Syria's Cultural Heritage

The news from Syria is unbearable. Over 200,000 Syrians have been killed and the country's population has been largely displaced. Many of Syria's famous heritage sites have been seriously damaged or destroyed. Here, Leventhal features Salam Al Kuntar who fled to the US and asked for help to protect her country's cultural heritage. The Penn Museum's Penn Cultural Heritage Center and the Smithsonian Institution began working together to undertake a series of emergency efforts. Al Kuntar was the Deputy Director of the Department of Excavations and Archaeological Research for Syria's Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums. Her idea was to establish a grass-roots program that would help Syrian museum professionals and archaeologists who were trying to save what they could within the country's war-torn areas.