These 12 before and after pictures of historical monuments in Syria destroyed by ISIS are heartbreaking

Joseph Eid, a photographer for AFP news agency took photos of the Syrian city of Palmyra tow years ago. Now, he has posted before and after pictures, of it, which was previously the home to many of the world’s most treasured historical sites and many artifacts but later destroyed by the Islamist forces in an anti iconoclastic purge.

Syria’s antiquities director, Mamoun Abdulkarim, told the Times Of Israel,

Of course the Temple of Bel will never be the same. According to our experts, we will definitely be able to restore a third of the destroyed cella, or maybe even more if we carry out additional studies with UNESCO’s help…I invite archaeologists and experts everywhere to come work with us because this site is part of the heritage of all humanity.

You can follow Joseph Eid on Twitter.

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