East Syria's Archeological Sites Only in Memory and Books

Deir Azzour- Syria – In 1903 Ernst Herzfield, a German explorer and archeologist, passed by an area forming an angle at the meeting point of the Euphrates and Al-Khabour rivers. He stopped at a small village in east Syria called Al-Baseerah and saw a square-shaped limestone fort with towers.

You will not see what Herzfield had seen if you tried to make a similar journey to the same place these days. You will not find the fort he spoke about in his book “An Archeological Journey on the Euphrates and the Tigris.”Ignorance and Neglect

Ignorance and Neglect
“It is painful to see that random housing by residents and authorities has resulted in the disappearance of archeological sites that have survived several civilizations,” said Waddah looking at a place where an archeological wall has been replaced with a street full of stores on both sides. “What happened to Al-Baseerah sites makes one want to cry.”

The teacher,38,  and resident of Al-Baseerah, which is administratively part of Deir Azzour province, 450 km from Damascus, believes that “peoples ignorance of the importance of their town’s civilizations and neglect by authorities have led to the destruction of its archeological sites. What remains today are only parts covered by houses or government buildings.”

Many share Waddah’s view. Abdul-Sattar, also a resident of Al-Baseerah, stated that “lack of citizens awareness and neglect of this town over the years resulted in the loss of its most important archeological heritage.”

Archeological Sites Only in Memory and Books
If you want to familiarize yourself with the way the town used to be before its sites were destroyed, you can call for the assistance of one of its residents who belongs to the older generation.  “Decades ago, our town had a wall and towers,” said Hashem Al-Muhammad, a town resident in his 60s who still remembers how his village looked like when he was a child. “There was a dome surrounded by arches as if it was the headquarters of some sort of command. It was dark and deep, so no one had the courage to explore where it was leading to.”

This description seems similar to information listed by Herzfield in his book, stating that “Al-Baseerah village, the modern name of Karkisium, is located on the Euphrates to the south of the archeological hill; “remains of the town indicate the existence of old housing grandstands.”

In his book released in Berlin in 1911, in which he describes Al-Baseerah village, Herzfield states: “Some archeological buildings are still standing, especially in the camp measuring 50 to 40 meters with its wall, towers and inner walls built from stones and bricks looking like Byzantine tiles. There is a lot of Islamic pottery in the place, the main entrance to the camp passes through a tower on the eastern end with octangular rooms inside. The diversity in building styles at the site indicates that it was erected in different eras and that it was renovated several times.”

History Speaks
The area was called by different names according to the historical era: Karkazion and Karksium during Aramaic times, meaning horse racetrack, Kastroun in Greek and Circesium in Latin, meaning castle.

Karkisia or Karkisia’a in Arabic (Al-Baseerah presently) is inhabited by more than 20,000 people working mostly in agriculture and receiving stories from their ancestors that their village has been built over an archeological hill that witnessed a succession of civilizations.

Historical resources, including The Syrian Island by researcher Iskandar Daoud, indicate that the origins of Karkisium go back to the Babylonian era. According to what Herzfield  wrote on Al-Baseerah, the wall and towers were built during the rule of Emperor Diglosian (284-305) who built the fort as an advanced post against attacks by Persian armies. Emperor Justian (527-565) ordered the enlargement of the force protecting the post from 6,000 to 10,000 soldiers, as told by Roman historian Procope. During Roman governor Markius, King Herms IV (579-589) invaded the site and occupied Karksium fort. History books, including The Dictionary of Countries by Yaqoot Al-Hamawi, explain that Karkisia was a lively city exporting fruits to other countries and that the struggle between the Persians and the Romans over the area lasted until the advent of Islam in the year 16 Hijra.
Al-Baseerah Fort, the Last Time
In May 1954, the General Directorate of Syrian Antiquities allowed inhabitants of Al-Baseerah to use sand surrounding the castle of their town for building purposes. It made its agreement conditional upon the preservation and maintenance of the castle. But, on 17 November of the same year, Abdullah Al-Ali, a village resident, sent a telegram to the Directorate stating: “We inform you [that] the castle has been destroyed, please save it.” According to the official registries of correspondence between the Directorate and Deir Azzour province, no action was taken to prevent what Abdullah’s telegram had warned against. It was the last time Al-Baseerah Castle was mentioned in the correspondence of concerned parties. What happened did not stop at moving sand surrounding the castle causing it to crack; the stones of its antique outer walls were used to build town houses. This likely continued for several years leading to the loss of the castle.

“Ruins of Al-Baseerah were assaulted by citizens,” said Hussein Al-Za’alan, a town resident. Standing in the town’s center, Hussein points to reddish stones used to build many houses in the village. He explains that “these are antique stones taken from the old wall and towers which used to stand on this hill.”

Many other residents confirm this information; “quantities of antique stones were removed to various parts of town,” elaborated Farooq Al-Musa, another resident. “They were sold for little money to build most of the houses here.”
Antique Lands for 4 Syrian Pounds
Despite legislation of the Antiquities Law in 1963, which stated in article 7 that “it is prohibited to destroy, change, damage or distort movable or fixed antiquities by writing or engraving or changing its shape or dismantling parts of it;” violations of the Karkisia ruins did not stop. In 1964, ten years after Abdullah’s telegram, Al-Baseerah municipality sold parts of its antique lands to citizens for four Syrian pounds per square meter. According to the chronological order of official resolutions on the area at the time, the municipality had considered that land part of its property because the General Directorate of Antiquities had not registered Karkisia Hill as a historical site under its authority. The salary of a government employee at that time was 250 Syrian pounds.

Moreover, residents who had documents proving ownership of village lands considered “historical areas” by the Directorate, filed court cases. Judicial authorities looked into these cases for several years during which citizens requested to have the freedom to handle their lands. Article 6 of the Antiquities Law states that “ownership of the land does not give the owner the right to act freely with fixed and movable antiquities that might exist above or under its surface.” Since the point was to prove that the land was indeed officially “historical,” the Directorate issued Resolution No. 147/A to register the Karkisia Hill as an antique and a historical building.

Issued in 1972, the resolution categorizes the historical hill into three areas:
a)      Areas that are not allowed to be renovated or added to, but that can be rehabilitated with the same building materials.
b)      Lands that have tombs where no burial nor building is allowed
c)      The school areas, where its current shape and situation (as was in 1972) is not to be changed.

But listing Karkisia Hill as a historical site in records of the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums did not give the site the right to have a digging antiquities team for excavating its ruins. And it did not stop violations of the area’s antiquities since most government buildings were erected on the Hill. The resolution was not respected despite the fact that listing a site means that the state and the authorities of antiquities are responsible for its protection and maintenance, according to article 2 of the Antiquities Law.