Damascus National Museum Partly Reopened after 7-Year Shutdown

Damascus National Museum reopening to visitors. AFP
Damascus National Museum reopening to visitors. AFP
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Damascus National Museum Partly Reopened after 7-Year Shutdown

Damascus National Museum reopening to visitors. AFP
Damascus National Museum reopening to visitors. AFP

The Damascus National Museum opened its doors, for the first time in almost seven years, after it had closed to protect antiquities from the repercussions of the conflict ravaging Syria since 2011.

Last year, the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums announced retrieving over 78 missing artifacts found in Lebanon, in addition to about 20 Maaloula mosaic plates that will be put on display at the museum.

Maaloula is known as one of three remaining villages where Western Neo-Aramaic is spoken and is home to two important monasteries: the Eastern Catholic Mar Sarkis and Greek Orthodox Mar Thecla.

Only a single wing of the museum was opened, but it displayed archaeological artifacts dating to several historical periods that were hidden during the past years.

The Damascus National Museum, which was founded in early 1920 and moved to its current building in 1936, consists of several sections, including prehistoric monuments, ancient Syrian monuments, classical monuments, Islamic monuments and modern art.

During the years of the war, the Syrian archaeological sites were subjected to vandalism and looting despite The International Council of Museums (ICOM) publishing an “Emergency Red List of Syrian Cultural Objects at Risk” that could turn up on the international art market.

For its part, the Directorate undertook emergency measures, including the transfer of valuable artifacts and rare pieces from Damascus and Aleppo museums to a safe area, and provided security insurance for the remaining pieces at warehouses.

Syria was inhabited by many civilizations from the Canaanites to the Ottomans, and has treasures of Roman, Mamluk and Byzantine ruins, with mosques, churches and Crusader castles.

Since the conflict in 2011, archeological sites have not escaped destruction, vandalism and robbery.

The most prominent of these is the Aleppo Citadel and the ruins of Palmyra, such as the Temple of Bell, the Arc de Triomphe and the Lion of Latt.

The number of stolen and smuggled artifacts was estimated at 25,000, which were listed by ICOM.

According to the information, most of these pieces are registered and known to the Directorate of Antiquities, and can be retrieved. But a challenge rises when dealing with unregistered artifacts stolen for depots. Most unlisted pieces were illegally excavated in untouched archaeological sites throughout Syria.



Pizza Delivery Monitor Alerts to Secret Israel Attack

The Pentagon is seen from the US Army Golden Knights parachute team plane ahead of their performance during the Twilight Tattoo ceremony as part of the Army’s 250th Birthday Festival in Washington, D.C., after taking off from Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia, US, June 11, 2025. (Reuters)
The Pentagon is seen from the US Army Golden Knights parachute team plane ahead of their performance during the Twilight Tattoo ceremony as part of the Army’s 250th Birthday Festival in Washington, D.C., after taking off from Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia, US, June 11, 2025. (Reuters)
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Pizza Delivery Monitor Alerts to Secret Israel Attack

The Pentagon is seen from the US Army Golden Knights parachute team plane ahead of their performance during the Twilight Tattoo ceremony as part of the Army’s 250th Birthday Festival in Washington, D.C., after taking off from Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia, US, June 11, 2025. (Reuters)
The Pentagon is seen from the US Army Golden Knights parachute team plane ahead of their performance during the Twilight Tattoo ceremony as part of the Army’s 250th Birthday Festival in Washington, D.C., after taking off from Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia, US, June 11, 2025. (Reuters)

The timing of Israel's plan to attack Iran was top secret. But Washington pizza delivery trackers guessed something was up before the first bombs fell.

About an hour before Iranian state TV first reported loud explosions in Tehran, pizza orders around the Pentagon went through the roof, according to a viral X account claiming to offer "hot intel" on "late-night activity spikes" at the US military headquarters.

"As of 6:59 pm ET nearly all pizza establishments nearby the Pentagon have experienced a HUGE surge in activity," the account "Pentagon Pizza Report" posted on Thursday.

While far from scientific, the Pentagon pizza theory "is not something the internet just made up," The Takeout, an online site covering restaurants and food trends, noted earlier this year.

Pentagon-adjacent pizza joints also got much busier than usual during Israel's 2024 missile strike on Iran, it said, as there are "a multitude of fast-food restaurants in the Pentagon complex, but no pizza places."

Pizza deliveries to the Pentagon reportedly doubled right before the US invasion of Panama in December 1989 and surged again before Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

President Donald Trump told The Wall Street Journal he was fully aware in advance of the bombing campaign, which Israel says is needed to end Iran's nuclear program. "We know what's going on."

For the rest of Americans, pepperoni pie activity was not the only way to tell something was about to happen.

Washington had already announced it was moving some diplomats and their families out of the Middle East on Wednesday.

And close to an hour before Israel unleashed its firepower on Iran, the US ambassador in Jerusalem, Mike Huckabee, sent out a rather revealing X post: "At our embassy in Jerusalem and closely monitoring the situation. We will remain here all night. 'Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!'"