The Attitudes of Palestinian Religious Scholars and Institutions toward the Looting of Palestines Archaeological Heritage
Date
2013-01-31
Authors
Al-Houdalieh, Salah H. A.
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Abstract
Over the past several decades, Palestine’s archaeological heritage has faced serious challenges
caused by the looting of antiquities. This ongoing phenomenon has resulted in the partial or total
destruction of thousands of archaeological sites and features, and the extraction of hundreds of
thousands of heritage objects. Despite the tremendous efforts made toward the protection of
these archaeological resources, the Palestinians must redouble their endeavors and begin to create
new, appropriate and practical measures in order to safeguard their homeland’s heritage.
This paper focuses on the attitudes of Palestinian religious institutions and religious scholars
toward the looting of archaeological material by Palestinians from heritage sites located within the
Palestinian National Territories. It consists of two parts: (a) a fieldwork project carried out by the
author over a significant period to examine the religious attitudes of Muslim and Christian religious
institutions and their scholars toward this issue, and (b) presentation of the results in a workshop
organized by the Institute of Archaeology of Al-Quds University, under the same title as this paper,
held on November 21st, 2011 on the Abu Dies campus. The principle aim of this study is to inquire
into the official attitudes expressed by the Palestinian religious institutions and scholars regarding
this problem and then to make this information available to the public.
Description
Keywords
archaeology , looting , palestine , heritage
Citation
l-Houdalieh, S.H.A., (2013). The Attitudes of Palestinian Religious Scholars and Institutions toward the Looting of Palestine's Archaeological Heritage. Present Pasts. 4(1), pp.22–30. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/pp.54