The museum in the Syrian town of Maarat al-Numan is well-known for its ancient Roman and Byzantine mosaics,mosaics are now hidden from view, indefinitely.
They were wrapped and sandbagged by volunteers who are working to preserve Syria's history from the destruction caused by the country's civil war.
"It's in territory controlled by the opposition, but the government regularly barrel-bombs it," he said.
Syrian opposition member Amr Al-Azm, says government forces launched an assault on Maarat al-Numan not long after the mosaics were sandbagged.
Al-Azm as director of Syria's Science and Conservation Laboratories and taught at the University of Damascus. He fell out of favor with the Syrian regime and left the country before the civil war began. But his concern for Syria's past, and its future, did not end when he left the country.
"We started to try to see if there was anything we could do to reduce the damage where possible, and more importantly, document what damage was already done," he said.
From a computer at Shawnee State, Al-Azm coordinates preservation efforts with a network of colleagues and former students who remain in Syria. They are his eyes and ears on the ground, while he documents and compiles reports of the destruction, remotely.
The Maarat al-Numan museum is just one example of thousands in the Middle East that archaeologists are concerned about. While the museum's mosaics may have been saved from permanent destruction, many sites at risk are not easily accessible, including those in places controlled by Islamic State, where militants have already looted or destroyed important historic sites.
Sending a message
"These are carefully crafted atrocities," Al-Azm said, "and they send a very specific message that ISIS is here and it can act with impunity, and the fact that the international community is impotent to stop them."
"The looting that's been taking place all over Syria is happening in areas where the various opposition groups are in control," he said.
Professor McGuire Gibson, who specializes in Mesopotamian archaeology at the University of Chicago's Oriental institute.
He said part of preserving Syria's past is getting the international community to crack down on the trade of looted artifacts.
"Any site that archaeologists have worked on has been subjected to looting, because [thieves] know that there is something there that people will want," he said.
Some pillaged items might never make their way back to Syria. Compound with what's already been destroyed, Professor Al-Azm acknowledges the Syria of the future may look very different.
"I hope that one day my children will be able to go back to Syria, and they're not going to have the opportunity to see what I was able to see and grow up with," he said.
Which is why, despite the challenges of distance and access, Al-Azm and his network race to save what is left of Syria's priceless and irreplaceable treasures.
Vocabulary
mosaic:[建] 马赛克
atrocity:暴行
2012高考二轮复习英语专题训练(江苏专用)专题2 阅读理解36
2012高考二轮英语复习专题(广东专用)23 资讯报道型阅读理解
2012高考二轮英语复习专题(广东专用)34 信息匹配(2)
2012高考二轮复习英语限时训练专题(湖南专用)5 动词时态和语态
2012高考二轮复习英语专题训练(江苏专用)专题2 阅读理解22
2012高考二轮复习英语限时训练专题(湖南专用)23 资讯报道型阅读理解
2012高考英语二轮复习专题训练:专题5 动词与动词短语(1)
2012高考二轮复习英语专题训练(江苏专用)专题2 阅读理解30
2012高考二轮复习英语专题训练(江苏专用)专题2 阅读理解29
2012高考二轮复习英语专题训练(江苏专用)专题2 阅读理解25
2012高考二轮复习英语专题训练(江苏专用)专题2 阅读理解21
2012高考二轮英语复习专题(广东专用)24 广告应用型阅读理解
2012届高考二轮英语语法复习学案(动词词义辨析)
2012高考二轮英语复习专题(广东专用)32 科普知识型阅读理解(2)
2012高考二轮复习英语专题训练(江苏专用)专题2 阅读理解28
2012高考二轮英语复习专题(广东专用)22 故事记叙型阅读理解
2012高考二轮复习英语专题训练(江苏专用)专题2 阅读理解16
2012高考二轮复习英语限时训练专题(湖南专用)3 形容词与副词
2012高考二轮复习英语限时训练专题(湖南专用)4 连词与介词
2012高考二轮复习英语专题训练(江苏专用)专题2 阅读理解35