al-BARA

1．Ancient Villages in Northern Syria Photogrammetry Project Akira Tsuneki and Makoto Takizawa

The conflict that began in 2011 caused extensive damage not only to the Syrian population and their property, but also to the cultural heritage of Syria, which is extremely important in human history. Sponsorship from the Agency for Cultural Affairs of the Japanese Government was obtained in 2014 and various activities were undertaken to protect Syrian cultural heritage facing destruction. In 2014, an expert meeting in Beirut with Syrian, Lebanese, and UNESCO experts who deal with cultural heritage protection in Syria was held in order to determine what Japanese experts could do to facilitate the safeguarding of Syrian cultural heritage. These meetings and other activities indicated clearly that it was important, above all to cooperate with people undertaking the protection of cultural heritage in Syria. Both material and intangible support and encouragement are required and specifically it is more important to provide necessary equipment and techniques to safeguard cultural heritage. In addition, it is also very necessary to disseminate information to Syrian people and others throughout the world on the importance of Syrian archaeology and history.

The University of Tsukuba received support from the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2016, and three basic strategies were implemented towards safeguarding Syrian cultural heritage: 1) Instruction of young Syrians on the importance of Syrian cultural heritage, 2) Documentation of endangered Syrian cultural heritage, and 3) Preparing manuals for people safeguarding cultural heritage in the field and museums. Al-Bara is one of the major sites among the World Heritage, "Ancient Villages of Northern Syria" proscribed by UNESCO in 2011. It was the largest settlement of the Roman-Byzantine ancient villages located on Jabal Zawiye, and west of modern al-Bara town. al-Bara is located in the lowlands between the valleys in the Zawiye Mountains and fertile lands with olive tree fields and vineyards surround the site itself. The size of the settlement is as large as a city, measuring ca 2 km x 1 km, and it acted as a center for the Zawiye mountains region during the Roman and Byzantine periods. The settlement seems to have survived after the Arab/Islamic conquest, and a medieval Mosque was excavated in the center of the site.

At least, five early churches were discovered (Figs. 3 and 4). The largest and well-preserved church is so-called al-Hoşn (horse) Church, which is located on the northern outskirts of the settlement. It is a typical Basilica style church dating to the 5 th century. According to colleagues who visited recently, the church was completely destroyed by local people who used the stones for building (Figs. 5 and 6). E (Eglise) 2 is also a large church located to the south of al-Hoşn Church, and dates to the 5 th century. Based on colleaguesʼ information and Google Earth, it has also disappeared recently. The middle sized Churches 3 and 5 in the middle of the al-Bara village were heavily damaged and their foundations barely remain. The two churches are believed to belong to the 6 th century (Tchalenko 1953). The smallest sized Church 4 (Petite église), which is located just north of Church 4, is the most well preserved church in al-Bara. It is said that the church dates to the 6 th century. Therefore, it was decided to document the Church 4 using 3D images. 2．Preliminary Survey in al-Bara Ancient City and Making 3D Images of the Church 4

Sari Jammo

Abstract

The Ancient Villages of Northern Syria are a large cluster of archaeological sites in northwestern Syria. The cultural landscape in this region is marked by an abundance of significant archaeological ruins that date to the Byzantine periods. These sites were inscribed on UNESCOʼs World Heritage List in 2011. The cultural heritage site is comprised of eight assemblages (Jabel al Aʼla, Jabel Barisha, Jabel Saiman, Jabel Wastani, Jabel Zawiye), and these include forty individual village sites 1 .

Since 2011, most of the archaeology sites, standing ruins, and museums in the region have suffered from an excessive level of vandalism and destruction, mainly due to military action and looting. Furthermore, some of the sites seem to have be intentionally and systematically destroyed to the extent that they may eventually disappear.

Recently, the most common pressing phenomena is dismantling of the archaeological ruins, recycling the stones into carved or hewn blocks and their sale to local people for use in new houses ( Fig. 1-3 Most, if not all the archaeological sites in this region have been subjected to this kind of vandalism. The ruins become quarries and the main stone sources for modern building, and people freely access and extract the stones they need.

Preliminary survey

Due to the extent of vandalism in the cultural and archaeological sites of al-Bara ancient city a documentation project in this region was undertaken. The goal of this project is not only estimating the damage and reviewing the preservation status of the ruins on the ground in this region, but also selecting a site for 3D modeling. likely an apse (Fig. 6, 7). The survey and photos suggest that the stones from the building were recycled and re-located.

The recycled stones were used to construct a stone base (terrace) where later a new modern building was built (Fig. 8). The remnants of the standing walls, and the remains of broken and unshaped stones were pushed aside to define the field boundary ( Fig. 9).

Within this massive chaos and systemic

destruction, a small beautiful church building stands intact. Thus, this building has been selected for 3D modeling. The reason for its selection is to enable the documentation of its details because of the systematic destruction of the surroundings very close to the building and there is concern that the building will be damaged ( Fig. 10-12).

Building description

The Church 4 building has a T-shape. Its axis is aligned east-west (apse-entrance), and the structure is not very tall. Even though the building size is small, it has several access doors in the east and west.

Before entering the church main building or "sanctuary" there is an attached aisle which extended north south. The entrance wall of the aisle has three doors, on the right, left and in the center. Only the right door is still intact, whereas the central and left doors were already collapsed. There are window-openings above the lintel of the right door. Likely the other collapsed doors have the same design. The aisle also has two doors in the north and south side.

The western wall of the church sanctuary likely has the same design as the western wall of the aisle. Three doors (on the right, center and left), and a window opening above the lintel of each door existed. The church sanctuary is divided into three aisles (right, central, left) by a row of five stone columns. On the right side, the columns which

Photogrammetric process

Being a small relatively low building allowed photos to be taken freely from all sides and directions. The tools were simple, a camera, handmade pole and drone. Most of the work was undertaken using the ground photos. The camera pole was enough to reach the higher elevation and to take photos from above.