In May 2015, when the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria was about to fall to jihadist fighters, a group of men risked their lives to load centuries-old artefacts from the city’s museum onto trucks and drive them to safety.

Before their advance to Palmyra, members of the group that called itself Islamic State had already been filmed for social media smashing statues that dated back to religious life in the Middle East before the Prophet Muhammad.

Khalil Hariri, an archaeology expert who worked at Palmyra’s museum, tells Josephine McDermott about his passion for its history and the personal price he has paid for the daring rescue.

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(Photo: The damaged site of Palmyra in 2016. The graffiti reads ‘We remain’. Credit: Reuters)

Rescuing Palmyra’s treasures from the Islamic State group

Witness History