The Temple of Bel at Palmyra destroyed
Days after destroying the temple of Baalshamin, the Islamic State group detonated explosives at the Temple of Bel, a structure dating from 32 CE and among the most significant religious buildings of the first century. UNITAR/UNOSAT satellite imagery analysis confirmed that the main building had been almost completely destroyed. Tower tombs and the monumental arch followed. Palmyra had been on the List of World Heritage in Danger since 2013; the listing changed nothing on the ground.
Historical — it happened, and the record is settled.
Subjects
- Site of Palmyra · site · Syrian Arab Republic
- List of World Heritage in Danger · instrument · Global · not located
Evidence
Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent.
UN satellite analysis confirms destruction of Palmyra's Temple of Bel
Satellite imagery analysed by UNOSAT confirmed that the main building of the Temple of Bel at Palmyra, dating from 32 CE, was almost completely destroyed by explosives placed by the Islamic State group in late August 2015, following the earlier destruction of the temple of Baalshamin.
UNITAR/UNOSAT, reported via France 24 and NPR · 2015-09-01 · Partly verified
https://www.france24.com/en/20150901-islamic-state-group-destroys-historic-palmyra-temple-bel — reporting UNOSAT satellite imagery analysis; corroborated at https://www.npr.org/2015/09/01/436673679/u-n-confirms-isis-destroyed-temple-of-bel-in-palmyra-syria
Recorded on Site of Palmyra
- Angkor inscribed on the World Heritage List and the danger list on the same day
- Angkor removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger
- Galápagos Islands placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger
- Arabian Oryx Sanctuary deleted — the first site ever removed from the World Heritage List
- Dresden Elbe Valley deleted — the second removal, by a vote of 14 to 5
- Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger
- Fourteen of Timbuktu's sixteen inscribed mausoleums destroyed
- The Temple of Bel at Palmyra destroyed
- Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City deleted — the third and most recent removal
- The Committee declines, again, to place Venice on the danger list
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.
- The Committee declines, again, to place Venice on the danger list · 2023-09
- Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City deleted — the third and most recent removal · 2021-07-21
- Fourteen of Timbuktu's sixteen inscribed mausoleums destroyed · 2012-06-30/2012-07-11
- Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger · 2012
- Dresden Elbe Valley deleted — the second removal, by a vote of 14 to 5 · 2009-06
- Galápagos Islands placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger · 2007
- Arabian Oryx Sanctuary deleted — the first site ever removed from the World Heritage List · 2007
- Angkor removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger · 2004-06