ISIS beheads 82-year old Palmyra antiquities director
The Islamic State,which seized the ancient Syrian town of Palmyra in May Tuesday beheaded its director of antiquities Khaled Assad, 82. They left his body hanging on an ancient column in the city square. This was reported Wednesday by Syrian state antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim. The elderly scholar had served in his position for 50 years and published several learned works on Palmyra in international archaeological journals. Before the city’s capture by Isis, Syrian officials removed hundreds of ancient statues to safe locations. While ISIS has not damaged the famed monumental Roman-era ruins, they did blow up two ancient shrines claiming they were pagan and sacrilegious.