280 research outputs found
Post Syrian-war material recovery, reuse and transformation in the Old City of Aleppo
No full textPurpose: Eight years of civil war in Syria severely impacted the historic core of Aleppo, with about 30 percent of its buildings completely destroyed and huge amounts of debris generated. This paper proposes recovery strategies for some of the most badly damaged sites in the city through material reuse and transformation, one of the goals of which is to ensure the continuity of the city’s urban cultural heritage. The purpose of this paper is to presents not only risks but also opportunities with respect to the integration of technologies to support recovery and reconstruction. Design/methodology/approach: The paper analyzes the current situation in the Old City of Aleppo by identifying the most seriously damaged sites, namely those that have sustained damage to between 80 and 100 percent of the site. It reviews comparable international post-disaster examples and investigates appropriate options for dealing with the damage caused by the war and the management of debris, with consideration given to minimal intervention, the retention of structural integrity, technology and the integration of historic materials within new components and buildings. The methodology has relied on research through field work, including interviews with stakeholders in Aleppo. Findings: The paper proposes two strategies to guide post-war rebuilding and conservation efforts in the Old City of Aleppo through: the creation of new multi-purpose, public open spaces and the use of debris in the repair of buildings and construction of new components and buildings, including infrastructure for solar panels within the new public spaces. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the development of a post-civil war sustainable material recovery approach for the Old City of Aleppo and for Syria more generally, where a disaster waste management strategy is still in development.Accepted Author ManuscriptHeritage & Technolog
Sketchbook: Aleppo 2
No full textBox 32 Bound sketchbook with 49 pages (counting last page attached to back cover), pages numbered 1 - 44 by original author, with pages 21 - 22 skipped. Pages 46 and 48 numbered by MMA staff. Contents include plans, elevations, sections and details of architectural ornaments and inscriptions on various monuments in and around Aleppo (Syria). Monuments depicted include: Arghun Bimaristan, Bab Antakiyya, Bab al-Hadid, Bab Qinnasrin, Bahramiyya Mosque, Great Mosque of Aleppo (Umayyad Mosque of Aleppo), Halawiyya Mosque, Hajjarin Mosque, Hayyat Mosque, Husayn Shrine, Karimiyya Madrasa, Nur al-Din Hospital (Maristan al-Atiq), Qassabiyya Khan, Qiqan Mosque, Sarawi Mosque, Shadbakhtiyya Madrasa, Qastal al-Shu'aybiyya, Sidi Ghawth Shrine, Zahiriyya Madrasa (Aleppo). This sketchbook is part of a series of at least five labeled "Haleb". "Haleb 2" and "Haleb 5" are housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (eeh1673 and eeh1683). "Haleb 3" is housed in the archives of the Freer and Sackler Galleries (FSA A.6 02.13.34). These sketches probably form the basis of drawings that would later be published in Ernst Herzfeld, Matériaux pour un Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum, Duxième Partie: Syrie du Nord. Inscriptions et Monuments d’Alep, Tome I - Texte (Cairo, 1955); and Matériaux pour un Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum, Duxième Partie: Syrie du Nord. Inscriptions et Monuments d’Alep, Tome II – Planches (Cairo, 1954). References to inscription numbers, plates and figures below refer to this text. Title and identifications based on hand-written notes on sketchbook. Title written on front cover in black ink: "2; Haleb
Development Plan Strategies of Old Aleppo City and Sustainable Development Goals: Between Theory and Practice
No full textThe Old City of Aleppo, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, has been inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1986. In the early 1990s the Aleppo municipality initiated the project for the Rehabilitation of the Old City with the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ) as a partner. As part of the process, a Development Plan was issued as a general framework including ten strategies for upgrading the historical urban fabric in line with the sustainable development. Despite implementation of these strategies, the physical fabric of the Old City has continued to deteriorate, and the demographic transition has continued to increase until the escalation of the Syrian Civil War in 2011. The paper analyses the development plan’s strategies in the Old City of Aleppo, mainly those related to housing aspects. It evaluates the effectiveness of these strategies based on the concept of good urban governance that intersects with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aiming to overcome the administrative gaps to rebuild the Old City more sustainably after the Syrian Civil War.Heritage & Technolog
Post-Syrian War Residential Heritage Transformations in the Old City of Aleppo: Socio-Cultural Sustainability Aspects
No full textThe rehabilitation and sustainable transformation of residential heritage of the Old City of Aleppo (Syria) is one of the most pressing issues to regain the livability of this city. This research paper aims to gain insight into the residents’ conditions and needs by studying/mapping/analyzing the status of the residential heritage and the interventions on it during the aftermath of the city’s devastation. It also intends to provide a better understanding of the residents’ attitude towards living in the Old City, their expectation for its reconstruction and transformation, and the difficulties they encountered in the process. In fact, in order to start a collective reconstruction and transformation process, it is important to understand the readiness of the inhabitants and their financial capabilities to engage in this process. A combination of research methods was used to explore the above-mentioned issues and their relation to the socio-cultural sustainability. These methods included: gathering data in the field (specifically, Al-Jalloum, Al-Farafra and Al-Aqaba, three neighborhoods in the Old City of Aleppo, were used as case studies), and setting up a questionnaire (Winter 2020) and conducting interviews (Summer 2021) with 39 returnees and their families. AutoCAD and Excel programs were used for data visualization. This research has highlighted the main problems and factors that have affected the interventions on courtyard houses in the Old City of Aleppo since 2012—the outbreak of the Syrian War in Aleppo City. Lack of funds and craftmanship, high costs and long bureaucratic procedures related to the enforcement of the regulations have been identified as the main causes that discouraged the residents to carry out repairs in a proper wayHeritage & Technolog
Historic development of policies and regulations concerning residential heritage in the Old City of Aleppo
No full textPurpose: Housing interventions carried out in accordance with current regulations in the Old City of Aleppo, both before and after the Syrian war, are minor in comparison to those carried out without a license and illegally. This suggests current policies are inadequate and needs upgrading. Design/methodology/approach: This article critically reviews current Syrian policies and their implementation on residential heritage in the Old City of Aleppo with the aim to identify gaps and propose directions for modifications. Next to a review of the text of official policies and implementation documents, the archive of the Directorate of the Old City has been consulted and license applications, presented in the period 2018–2022, have been examined. Moreover, interviews with decision-makers from academics and practice were conducted. Findings: Major limitations of these policies and relative application procedures have been identified: these involve: legal/administrative, economic and social aspects. Originality/value: The specific needs have been highlighted and some proposals for improvement made.Heritage & Architectur
The Lost Treasure of the Polychrome Wooden (‘ajami) Interior of Ghazalyeh House, Aleppo, Syria
No full textAbstractThis paper documents and describes original motifs from the ‘ajami panels in the red qa’a of the Ghazalyeh house in Aleppo, Syria and identifies the styles of their motifs. All floral motifs are listed in a typology table with their corresponding codes. The Ghazalyeh House built in 1691 was refurbished in 2007 and transformed into a historical museum. From 2009-2011, they restored its ’ajami panels. However, during the war in old Aleppo city in 2013 these ‘ajami panels were stolen. Information from this paper can be used to better understand and ultimately restore the Ghazalyeh house's original ‘ajami panels
MOSAIC OF THE TAL BAJER CHURCH NEAR ALEPPO
No full textSyria is very rich in mosaics, especially the northern and central areas. In
his doctoral research the author tries to highlight the recent archaeological discoveries
around Aleppo, including the mosaic of Tal Bajer, near Qansrin, discovered in 2011
by a national archaeological mission from the Directorate of Antiquities and Museum
of Aleppo.
The mosaics are dating back to the end of the 5th century - the beginning of the 6th
century AD (Byzantine era). The excavations resulted to discover a basilica type
church completely paved with mosaics. The dimensions were 25 x 15 m. It consists of
the apse, two porticoes and the main nave. Remains of six foundations for the bases of
the columns, and Bema were also found. The mosaics were executed with small and
different colored stone tesserae. There are symmetrical geometric motifs, in addition
to a Greek scriptural scene within a geometric frame. It is noticed the complete
absence of animal scenes and the scarcity of plant shapes
Mapping the health and environmental situation in informal zones in Aleppo, Syria: Report from the Aleppo household survey
No full textObjectives: Despite large communities living in informal zones around major cities in Syria, there is currently no information on the health and environmental situations in these areas. From May to August 2004, the Syrian Center for Tobacco Studies (SCTS) conducted the first household survey aiming to provide a baseline map of main health problems and exposures affecting these communities in Aleppo, the second largest city in Syria (2,500,000 inhabitants). Methods: Information on 1,021 participants randomly selected using stratified cluster sampling were available (46percent males, mean age 34±11.7, age range 18-65 years, response rate 86percent), including self-reported health-disability, exposures, and saliva cotinine measurement. Results: Some positive findings include better than expected access to electricity, piped water, city sewage, and the use of propane for cooking. Particular areas of concern include high fertility rates, overcrowded housing conditions, and gender inequality in education and work. Household features likely to reflect negatively on residents' health include the use of diesel chimneys for heating and lack of smoking restrictions. Overall, residents of informal zones suffer from substantial physical and mental health problems and are exposed to high levels of indoor air pollution. All seem to affect women and the elderly disproportionately, while men are more affected by smoking, occupational respiratory exposures, and injuries. Both infectious and non-infectious respiratory outcomes were very common among study participants. Chronic and degenerative disease, including CVD and joint problems, were a source of substantial morbidity among the studied communities. Conclusions: This study highlights major health and environmental specificities of marginalized populations living in Aleppo, where women seem to bear a disproportionate burden of poor health and disability. Smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke seem among the major exposures facing these populations. © 2005 Springer-Verlag.Al-Subaie AS, 1998, ANN SAUDI MED, V18, P308; *AM CANC SOC, 2003, 12 WORLD C TOB HLTH; ASHFORD RW, 1993, T R SOC TROP MED HYG, V91, P657; BRENNAN EM, 1999, ENV CHANGE SECURITY, V5, P4; CHIBLI M, 1999, INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS; DiFranza JR, 2004, PEDIATRICS, V113, P1007; EZZATI M, 2002, ANNU REV ENERG ENV, V27, P33; FEYERABEND C, 1990, J PHARM PHARMACOL, V42, P450; Howson CP, 1998, LANCET, V351, P586, DOI 10.1016-S0140-6736(97)11452-0; *J HOPK BLOOMB SCH, 2002, M URB CHALL POP INF; Jarvis MJ, 2003, NICOTINE TOB RES, V5, P349, DOI 10.1080-1462220031000094213; JARVIS MJ, 1987, AM J PUBLIC HEALTH, V77, P1435, DOI 10.2105-AJPH.77.11.1435; Lighty JS, 2000, J AIR WASTE MANAGE, V50, P1565; Maziak W, 2002, INT J TUBERC LUNG D, V6, P183; Maziak W, 2005, PUBLIC HEALTH, V119, P578, DOI 10.1016-j.puhe.2004.07.012; Maziak W, 2005, RESP RES, V6, DOI 10.1186-1465-9921-6-13; Maziak W, 2002, SOC SCI MED, V54, P1419, DOI 10.1016-S0277-9536(01)00123-X; Maziak W, 2004, TOB CONTROL, V13, P327, DOI 10.1136-tc.2004.008169; McMichael AJ, 2000, B WORLD HEALTH ORGAN, V78, P1117; Population Reference Bureau, 2003, 2003 WORLD POP DAT S; Rastam S, 2004, BMC PUBLIC HEALTH, V4, DOI 10.1186-1471-2458-4-32; Smith KR, 2000, THORAX, V55, P518, DOI 10.1136-thorax.55.6.518; Stoll C, 1999, ANN GENET-PARIS, V42, P133; *UNDP, 2000, UN WORLD POP PROSP P; UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), 2002, AR HUM DEV REP; Von Schirnding Y., 2002, HLTH SUSTAINABLE DEV; WHO, 1995, WORLD HLTH REP 1995; WHO, 1999, WHOSDEOEH9910; *WHO, 2000, WORLD HLTH SURV; Zhang JF, 2002, ENVIRON HEALTH PERSP, V110, P96124202
Too many horns in the Temple of the God Hadad of Aleppo at the time of the Ebla archives!
No full textAmong the deliveries registered in the annual accounts of metals of the Ebla principal archive there are quantities of
silver and gold used for the circular decoration of the horns of bulls or oxen offered to some deities, especially to the god adad of the city of Aleppo. It was considered by some scholars that the horns had been part of the regular offerings to the god Hadad of Aleppo and served as decoration of the temple. The author proposes that the gift to the god consisted in the animals with decorated horns not in their horns. An example from the Odissey confirms this interpretation
‘Good’ Battles and ‘Bad’ Battles : A Comparative Analysis of Western Media Coverage of the Battles of Mosul and Aleppo
No full textThe author examines the coverage of two simultaneously occurring battles, Mosul and Aleppo, in the Western media. Although both battles are intended to be key moments in defeating terrorist organisations, there is a stark contrast in the Western media`s framing of these events. In order to analyse the vast gaps in the coverage of these battles, the lens of news management, which is a means to influence public perception and opinion, is employed to view these two distinct events in Iraq and Syria. The author concludes that news management is applied to the information flows in these events in order to shape public opinion and perception of the battles Mosul and Aleppo—one ‘good’ and the other ‘bad.
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