A group of scholars, historians and activists have been working to protect and preserve the rich cultural heritage of wartorn Syria.
The members of the initiative, a joint effort by people on the ground and an organisation called The Day After – Heritage Protection Initiative (HPI) have been carrying out the dangerous work in places such as the Maarat Mosaic Museum, in Idlib province’s Maarat al Numan.
They use sandbags in an effort to shield Roman and Byzantine era mosaics, some of which are 600 years old, from bombs and shrapnel.
“We were worried that the museum would get targeted, so we managed to raise some money in early 2015 and we were able to sandbag the museum,” Amr Al Azm, the founder and board member of The Day After project – HPI, told Al Jazeera.
