Traditional glassblowing in Syria is a millennia-old artisanal craft, with origins dating back to the Phoenician era more than two thousand years ago.

Damascus, in particular, has historically been a major center for glassblowing, playing a pivotal role in preserving and developing this craft.

Syrian glassblowers work by melting recycled glass at high temperatures and expertly shaping it through blowing, rotating, and hand manipulation to create various functional and decorative objects like hookah bottles, vases, plates, and lamps.

The craft is renowned not only for its technical rigor but also for its artistic expression, with many glass objects featuring intricate painting, engraving, and motifs drawn from Islamic art, calligraphy, and natural imagery.

The Sulaymaniyah Tekke in Damascus, an Ottoman-era artisan complex, historically housed workshops and markets central to the craft’s social and economic life.

Surrounding neighborhoods, like Hanania, continue to nurture this legacy through museums and artisan communities dedicated to sustaining traditional glassmaking techniques and styles.

This craft carries profound cultural significance for Syrians, representing a tangible link between past and present as both an identity marker and an expression of creative heritage.

In recent years, the craft has encountered existential threats resulting from the ongoing conflict in Syria since 2011, alongside political instability and economic hardship.

The number of practitioners and active workshops has fallen sharply due to emigration, destruction, scarcity of raw materials, erratic access to electricity, rising costs, and declining demand among local and tourist markets.

Many artisans have been forced to close their shops or change professions, imperiling the intergenerational transmission of glassblowing knowledge and skills.

Urban redevelopment and restoration also threaten to disrupt historic artisan quarters, raising concern over the craft’s future.

In December 2023, UNESCO formally inscribed Syrian traditional glassblowing on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

This designation acknowledges the craft’s profound historical and cultural value but also highlights the severe threats stemming from conflict, economic pressures, and the loss of skilled artisans.

UNESCO’s safeguarding strategy entails documentation, education, raising awareness, and facilitating cooperation among local, national, and international partners to ensure the craft’s survival.

Protective measures include training programs, restoration of workshops and marketplaces, and integration of glassblowing heritage into cultural promotion initiatives.

In sum, traditional Syrian glassblowing, centered in Damascus, stands as an enduring symbol of cultural resilience and artistic mastery.

The UNESCO listing affirms its urgent safeguarding needs and serves as a catalyst for preservation efforts aimed at ensuring its continued vitality for generations to come.

Traditional glassblowing in Syria is a millennia-old artisanal craft, with origins dating back to the Phoenician era more than two thousand years ago.

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Content: Bella Hadid flashes her toned figure in shorts and a cropped sports top while showing off her creative side as she learns the art of glassblowing

It appears Bella Hadid has found a new hobby that showcases her artistic side.

On Sunday, the catwalk queen took to her Instagram page and posted a step-by-step video of herself making her own glass piece, using classic glassblowing technique in a workshop.

Considering the extreme temperatures it takes to make glass from beginning to end, Bella opted to keep her cloths to a minimum and wore skimpy white shorts with a cropped purple sports top.

Showing her creative side: Bella Hadid, 25, learned the classic art of glassblowing to make her own glass piece and posting a video on her Instagram page on Sunday

Glass is made from the process of heating sand to an extremely high temperature so that it turns into a moldable liquid. When it solidifies, a piece of glass is formed in whatever shape the creator has molded it into.

In the video, viewers will find Bella at the stage where she's working to shape the molten red hot material.

She can be seen sitting down and jabbing a long, sharp wrench-like tool with her scorching hot material, which was attached to a hollow blow pole about three feet long.

She was concerned with safety and wore goggles to protect her eyes.

Shaping: The video shows Bella at the stage where she's working to shape the molten red hot material that is attached to a blow pole

Working it: An instructor can be heard voicing a couple of tips as she spins that object around to the point where a small hole begins to form

Dose of heat: By the end of the first clip, Bella gets up and gives the hot material another dose of intense heat by placing it into a fiery furnace

An instructor can be heard voicing a couple of tips as she spins that object round and round to the point where a small hole begins to form.

By the end of the first clip, Bella gets up and gives the hot material another dose of intense heat by placing it into the fiery furnace.

For the next phase, the instructor assists Bella and slowly spins the blow pole while she sands down the still-molten red piece with two black blocks.

The heat is so intense that you can see steam floating into the air as they continue the sanding-down process.

Honing it: For the next phase, the instructor assists Bella and slowly spins the blow pole while she sands down the still molten red piece with two black blocks

Team work: Bella and the instructor work together to begin molding the molten hot object into shape with those two black blocks

Trippy: Bella gave her 53.7 million Instagram fans and followers a look at how her glass piece is looking at this stage of the process

More intense heat: At one point, the Washington, DC, native can be seen kneeling down using a small propane tank to heat up the object to make a few more changes

At one point, the Washington, DC, native can be seen kneeling down using a small propane tank to heat up the object to make a few more changes.

'Oh yeah, that's the one right there,' a man's voice from behind the camera can be heard saying as they continue to spin the object while jabbing it with that sharp tool.

As the process continues, Bella sits down, spinning the blow pole back and forth as it rests in a round plate that she holds with her right hand.

'It's a perfect shape,' the instructors says in encouragement.

'Here it is, ladies and gentlemen,' the man continues just as Bella gets up to blow into the pole to expand the molten hot material out to form some sort of glassware or vase.

Example: The catwalk queen drew out the shape of her piece she was trying to attain with chalk

Rounding it out: As the process continues, Bella sits down and spins the blow pole back and forth as it rests in a round plate that she holds with her right hand

Major phase: 'Here it is, ladies and gentlemen,' the man from behind the camera continues as Bella starts blowing into the pole

Expanding: Bella then process of blowing into the pole to expand the molten material out to form some sort of glassware

Old technique: Glassblowing is the practice of shaping a mass of glass that has been softened by heat by blowing air into it through a tube, or in this case a pole

The final clips shows a closeup of Bella spinning the glass while adding a few intricate touches to the piece with a prong-like tool.

Glassblowing is the practice of shaping a mass of glass that has been softened by heat by blowing air into it through a tube

It was was invented by Syrian craftsmen in the area of Sidon, Aleppo, Hama and Palmyra in the 1st century BC, according to Britannica.

The technique has remained essentially the same to the present day.

Ancient art form: Glassblowing was was invented by Syrian craftsmen in the area of Sidon, Aleppo, Hama and Palmyra in the 1st century bc, according to Britannica

Lovin' it: The glassblowing technique has remained basically the same to the present day

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Bella Hadid flashes her toned figure in shorts and a crop top while learning the art of glassblowing

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Damascus, in particular, has historically been a major center for glassblowing, playing a pivotal role in preserving and developing this craft.

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Content: (Hakawati) Drama of the beautiful time and nice Ramadan evenings
Damascus-Sana
The image presented to us by the visual space through its channels, which compete strongly for the premiere of its dramas in Ramadan, is only a natural evolution of an art that began more than a hundred years ago, based on the story, using the efforts of one hero, the storyteller, how did the art of storytelling begin?
RAMADAN NIGHTS
A storyteller, storyteller, storyteller or storyteller, by definition, is a person who has been a storyteller in homes, shops and cafes, who used to crowd around people in the past, not only telling the story in constant interaction with his audience, but motivated by enthusiasm to embody the role of the character that he tells about with movement and voice.
Hakawati is a profession that relied on one character, the character of the storyteller, she possessed her own treasure of diversity and difference, and she roams the psychological character in all respects and depends on the extension and prolongation of the story so that it turns into a night series that can cover the days of the month of Ramadan.
Folk cafes are a theater for storytellers
With his voice and image, Hakawati is the alonis of the Ramadan evenings, telling stories of heroism and manhood in front of a group of people in the popular cafes. Mohammed Khair Kilani, who for thirty years embodied the role of Hakawati in the Ramadan evenings of Homs, showed that the popular cafes were the center of Hakawati and his stories were linked to the holy month. She, they follow attentively his movements and his interaction with the storytelling and sometimes embodying the role of her characters.
Al-Hakawati is a character, according to Kilani, was once considered a means of collective entertainment and education for the real and fictional stories of heroism and the promotion of moral values and positive behaviors, pointing to the most famous tales known (Antara, Al-Zir Salem, Al-Himma, and Strange Beni Hilal) and others.
The origin of the folk tale
The East was the source of popular tales, as most studies and researches in the field of the history of the emergence of the folk tale, and the opinions differ between those who consider the Arab East the source of the tale and its origin as the Babylonians, Assyrians and Pharaohs, and between Persia and India is the origin of the tale, and then moved from it to Mesopotamia according to the book of the popular tale between the past and the present by Mustafa Muhammad Ali Mystic.
The popular tale was known in the Arab heritage early on, as the books of Tabari, Isfahani, Masoudi, Ibn Kathir and others gathered many of these tales, which were known in the pre-Islamic era and what followed, mixed with the traditions and news of kings, as well as what was deposited in the collective memory of old news and facts.
It was formed in the beginnings in the public circles did not take care of anyone of the private, except as a kind of nice Asmar, and in the second century AH accounted for the interest of news and poets and writers, especially in the Abbasid era where translated Ibn al-Maqba book (Kalila and Damna) and increased interest in the third and fourth centuries, and mentioned historian Hamza Esfahani that it was in his era of books of the brown hands circulation Of the seventy books, books on the Hadiths of Sinbad and the Snail and the Mouse also appeared during the period when there was a wide discussion about the introduction of the tales of One Thousand and One Nights into the Arab heritage.
It ’ s a job that doesn ’ t die in Damascus.
In 1990, Rasheed al-Hakawati al-Damascene revived the profession of Hakawati at the coffee shop (al-Nawfra) at the request of the owner of the coffee shop Abu Saleh al-Rabat grandfather and the heads of religious rituals, where they decided to serve it after the Maghreb prayer until the Isha ’ an to be served in Ramadan after the Taraweeh prayer.
Hakawati Al-Sham Rashid Al-Hallaq started the art of Hakawati for the intangible cultural heritage since 1990 and continued until 2014 at the Nofra Café and was presenting stories that combine lessons and awareness, where he dealt with the story of the apparent King Bebars, Antra bin Shadad Al-Absi and many others.
On this subject, Shadi Alhallaq, Jr., spoke in a statement to SANA correspondent, saying that the tourist delegations had a permanent stop in the cafe to attend the Hakawati and take commemorative pictures with him, pointing to the works of his father Rashid, which exceeded the Syrian borders, where he participated in the Jerash Festival in Jordan in 1992 and until 1995 on the theater of sound and light. Hump, participated with the UNESCO Committee of the Medleheart Project for the Protection of the Heritage of the Mediterranean Countries in 2010.
Shadi the barber deepened his father ’ s career and began searching for the mythical and historical stories loved by the audience of storytellers from Syrian cafes and collected handwritten books and restored them as the story of One Thousand and One Nights and the sword of the son of Yazan. The French Institute for Middle Eastern Studies printed the story of the apparent king Bebars with the help of his father to explain some words and their meanings.
The son of the barber pointed to the heritage treasure that he found during the search operations, which was written in a coded language, which he discovered that it is a tent of Karkouz and preachers of Syria, where his father explained to him how to present and make them of leather, colors, ways of moving and the names of the pieces and their recipes to present the first presentation of shadow fiction in the presence of a group of shadow fiction.
Shadi Alhallaq practiced this profession with the art of Hakawati until it was classified by UNESCO on the list of urgent conservation in cooperation with the Syrian Secretariat for Development and provided a workshop to teach 22 students to make shadow and animation and teach them the basics of the profession and traditional craft.
Hereditary career:
Shadi went on to turn the Hakawati profession into a continuous work project for him and his children, pointing out that it is his profession that he loves and he continued in it after the death of his father in 2014 and continued the journey of Hakawati Al-Sham with the shadow imagination and currently his children learn this art.
Jawad bin Rashid, the oldest barber, has performed shadow fiction since he was nine years old at Qasr al-Azm Theater in the festival of (grandparents to grandchildren) and now he is 10 years old has more than 40 shadow fiction shows, the youngest of them and helps his father manufacture pieces and make presentations.
Eight-year-old Rashid is also learning the profession of storyteller and shadow fiction, and five-year-old Jad is driven by his passion for shadow fiction, which he drinks from his family, to provide dialogues at home and for the family.
Hakawati is a comprehensive artist:
Hakawati Ammar Jarrah says in a statement to SANA correspondent: The character of Hakawati is a historical figure known from the immaterial heritage inherited from generation to generation, and he has been working in this field since 2000 and every year of the month of Ramadan appears in this character to protect it from extinction, like the shadow imagination (Karkouz and Ewaz), and the world fund to remain in memory.
Al-Jarrah pointed out that he is working on developing it to suit the people ’ s desire through his presence with his audience in traditional restaurants and cafes, choosing local stories that carry humor and interest to the public in addition to the presence of an oriental takht to play music, and the presentation of the Mesharati segment.
Tarek Ali, one of the listeners of the storytellers, said that the choice of the presence of storytellers for the folklore stories and the stories of his heroes revives the beautiful times, where he catches their eyes with the tone of his voice, which rises and falls in harmony with the course of events and the enthusiasm contained in his story.
Lawyer Rana Bakbashi found in the character of Hakawati a return to the revival of the immaterial heritage, and to create an atmosphere of love and harmony, and a little away from the pressures of life in addition to attracting the young generation to listen to the championships of Antra and Abu Zaid al-Hilali and learn the values of chivalry and Arab ethics.
Economic and Heritage Project
Hakawati is not only a profession, but the details of the owner of the profession carry with it a growing economic importance in the Syrian society, starting from the clothes of Hakawati, which includes a dark red cowl on the head and a bra made of hand looms and long Shami pants. The zenar is a roll of Damasco fabric, Damasco brocade, in addition to a shawl on the shoulders of silk and an Arabic jacket called Damer. The silk belly is as black as the trousers are black and the storytellers sit in the public cafes on a chair that represents the work of the hands of the Damascene craftsmen of carved wood and mosaic restaurant with seashells.
These details represent traditional heritage crafts bearing the distinctive Syrian character of Damascene brocade, Aghbani mosaic, engraving and engraving on wood and shells, explained by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Syrian Development Society Ramal Saleh, indicating that this heritage has become a development project for many Syrian families through the project (Orient House for Heritage) launched by the Society with the support of the Syrian Trust for Development, which includes 13 artisans. Zain, whose workshops were destroyed by the terrorist war on Syria, was collected in an old Arab house with an area of about 750 meters, and provided them with production tools and requirements to preserve the cultural and cultural heritage and their production is present in external and local exhibitions.
Saleh pointed out that the Aghbani industry is also one of the most important projects of the Association, which was established at the end of 2017, which brings together women affected by the war in Douma city in Damascus countryside, where it started with four women to include 450 women within four years.
As for the Damascus brocade, Saleh pointed out that it is one of the finest and most luxurious fabrics in the world, as it is woven from natural silk threads extracted from silkworm cocoons, a luxurious fabric woven on the hand loom and added to it golden and silver threads. Damascus is known as the incubator of this industry, which is one of the oldest Syrian industries.
Saleh added that the Damascene brocade reflects the culture, nature and history of the region through the drawings called princesses or Damascene cloth and its threads woven the most beautiful paintings and prints such as the lover and the mahshooq, Salahuddin, Romeo, Juliet, Damascus rose and Damascus jasmine. The brocade is expensive because of the difficulty of extracting natural silk and the presence of silver and gold threads inside.
Saleh said that Damascus included several factories for the production of Damascus brocade, the most famous of which was the Naasan factory for handicrafts near Bab Sharqi. The importance of Naasan Palace with the factory lies in the fact that its founder is one of the mosaic and brocade artists, the young Georges Naasan, who built the factory in 1720 in Bab Sharqi to pour his leadership in the mosaic school itself.
Muhasen Awad - Rasham Mahrez - Tamam Al-Hassan - Alaa Al-Shehabi
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Look, too.
The storytellers...
An authentic Ramadan heritage

Syrian glassblowers work by melting recycled glass at high temperatures and expertly shaping it through blowing, rotating, and hand manipulation to create various functional and decorative objects like hookah bottles, vases, plates, and lamps.

Title:

Content: Art of glassblowing returns again in Aleppo countryside liberated from terrorism

The town of Urem Al-Kubra in Aleppo province in northern Syria has historically been famous for its skilled glassblowing craftsmen. The war considerably affected this traditional craft inherited from our ancestors, but after the liberation of the city from terrorism, some artisans have brought it back to life. The artisan, Yassin Arab learned the glassblowing craft from his father when he was a child, and after the town was liberated from terrorism, he returned to his small facility, where he worked to restore it and start working again. Arab does not hide his enormous passion for the craft of glassblowing and his belief in the need to preserve this ancient Syrian heritage. Regarding the working mechanism, the artisan explained to SANA that he uses recycled glass, melts it again in the oven at high temperature, and then chooses a specific shape for its manufacture, whether hookah bottles, vases, plates, small jugs, fish houses for decoration, decorated cups and antiques of different sizes. After that, t he piece is blown, rotated and processed by the artisan until it takes its final shape using white and brown colors, and once the manufacturing of the product is finished, it is decorated and colored to give it the required aesthetics. For his part, Hussein Najjar noted that he learned the craft of blowing glass manually since he was young and has been working in this field for 40 years. He added that he is able to make any shape or glass container, using his imagination, and considered that the art of glassblowing is one of the types of plastic arts. Traditional glassblowing is a profession that dates back more than two thousand years (since the time of the Phoenicians) and was included in December 2023 by UNESCO on the list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity that needs urgent preservation. Source: Syrian Arab News Agency

The craft is renowned not only for its technical rigor but also for its artistic expression, with many glass objects featuring intricate painting, engraving, and motifs drawn from Islamic art, calligraphy, and natural imagery.

Title:

Content: When Sam and Alicia Watt, owners of Platte Hemp Company, decided that they wanted to start a glass blowing company - one that would not only create works of art, but that would also teach others the art of glass blowing - they knew just the guy to call.

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He goes by RTV Glass, but his friends (and students) call him 'Reg the Veg.' He's been a glass blowing artist, and teacher, for many years. And when Sam and Alicia called him to ask if he'd be interested in being their artist-for-hire for the newly created PH Glass Studios, he didn't hesitate.

"We own Platte Hemp Company, and over the course of the last couple years, we've been around the U.S. going to different trade shows, and we've met a lot of glass artists," Alicia Watt said. "And we've taken a big interest into how it works. And there's nothing in Wyoming that offers anything of this medium."

Alicia stated that she and Sam took a class in Colorado Springs and almost immediately agreed that they should bring something like it to Wyoming.

"We need this in Casper," Alicia remembered saying. "We need this outlet for this medium so people can learn how to do it. It's just a medium and a skill that you really need a lot of setup for, with ventilation, the torches, equipment, kiln, etc. And it's really hard to do by yourself. So we just wanted to bring this to Casper and have it available for people to learn, to just build the art community here."

Reg the Veg has been working with glass for many years and, he said, it's one of his favorite mediums to work in. He said he fell in love with it, for a variety of reasons.

"I think it has partly to do with the fact that glass is impermanent," he stated. "It's a breakable medium. It's always sad when glass breaks but, when it doesn't break, it's even cooler. The thing that drew me to glass mostly is that there's always a treasure left after you're done. When you come back the next day, open the kiln after it's cooled down, there's always something awesome. It's like Christmas every day."

And now, Reg and Sam and Alicia want to share Christmas with Casper.

"I've always enjoyed teaching other people, whether it was glass or anything else," Reg stated. "But it just made sense, after doing glass for so long, that this is something that people are interested in. And I definitely think there's a huge community of untapped possibility here in Wyoming. I feel like the underground art scene here is just huge. People don't even know."

But Sam and Alicia know, which is why they started the company and brought Reg the Veg aboard.

"So, how it's set up is Reg is the Lwocal Glassblower," Sam stated. "We've partnered with him and he does all the work, so to speak. He does all the classroom training. He's the instructor and we've got the building, which we're calling PH Glass Studios. And we buy all the equipment for students. So it's kind of a win-win for everybody."

The biggest winners, however, will be the students.

Once you get the hang of it, glass blowing isn't hard, per say. But it does require concentration and repetition. It also requires a good teacher. Like Reg.

"So, you get your raw materials," Reg started. "Glass comes in rods and tubes of varying sizes. And then you have a torch that sits on your bench or the tabletop working surface. And you stand behind your torch and manipulate it in the flame."

Reg said that was a pretty basic description, but it was an apt one. Glass blowing, like painting or drawing or sculpting, is an art. And, like every other form of art, once you get the basics down, you're free to explore and create pieces that speak to you.

Artists can make a myriad of different items, from Christmas ornaments to pendants, marbles, statues, and so much more. This brand new world is open to anyone who wants to learn, and this art form is all at the tips of their fingers.

"The sky's the limit on what you can do," Sam stated. "It all falls back to you. The industry is challenging to the artist and there's always more you can learn. That's why Alicia and I like Reg; he's constantly saying that he's always wanting to learn and to grow in his knowledge, and that's pretty important to me."

It's important to Reg, too. He enjoys the challenge of new projects and he's constantly evolving as an artist and as a teacher.

"This weekend, we've got the Booze and Bacon Festival," Reg stated. "So they decided I should make some bacon for the festival, so I made some glass bacon last night."

PH Glass Studios has begun offering individual and group classes and it's an experience that has to be seen (and felt) to be believed.

"The first class features me going through a bunch of safety and shop rules so people understand how to work the glass shop itself," Reg stated. "But once that's over, I try to get them the torch for the remainder of the time, so they can feel the glass and try to develop that sense of what's going on. Because as much as I can tell them, there's some things about glass that I can't convey. You just have to get in there and experience it and see what happens."

Reg said that safety is his number-one priority but, following that, he said he wants to give students a basic understanding of how glass works."

With these classes, there's no set times and dates. And that's by design. Reg said that he wants students, and even other artists, to come in when the mood strikes, or when they have some time to kill.

"The way scheduling works is, I kind of want to leave it open," he said. "So if somebody has free time on a Tuesday evening from 3-7, they can schedule a class at their convenience, as long as we're open. I've been doing solo classes at the moment so I can give people the most attention, but I will have an apprentice here soon, so I can be teaching multiple people at a time."

Sam also stated that the company is currently in the midst of talking with some pretty big-name glass blowing artists about coming to Casper and putting on a show/workshop from time to time.

"We're very fortunate that they have reached out to us, and we're just on Cloud 9 that this is all coming together," Sam offered. "It's been a dream of Alicia's and, as I like to say, 'happy wife, happy life.'

Likewise, Happy artists, happy...something that rhymes with artists. The point is, this is just the latest artform to present itself in Casper and it's one that will catch on very quickly. It's a very unique experience and it's one that will appeal to people of all ages.

"The idea was to have the opportunity for people to actually learn this stuff," Alicia said. "I've wanted to learn this for 20 years and it was never even seen in the state I was in. It's just huge for artists to be able to get together. I know there's a lot of women artists that are loking forward to glass blowing. It's just empowering. And it's kind of scary, but this is a safe way to learn that, to control it, and to do this amazing art. It's really just an opportunity for everyone. I'm excited for people to have it, young to old; to just develop a skill, because it's not something that's common and it's really beneficial and exciting."

Sam said that glass blowing is beneficial to veterans, as well, which is why they chose Veterans Day to host their grand opening.

"I'm a veteran," Sam revealed. "And we've had one student already that is a retired veteran. And to see those guys come out and explore that side, to help them maintain their life - it's pretty impactful. Anything and everything about the military, you've got my heart."

Sam said that the art of glass blowing, for him, is extremely soothing and meditative. As Wyoming's first, and so far only, glass blowing studio, PH Glass Studios offers veterans a chance to get outside of their heads a little bit; to focus on working with their hands and creating something that they can keep for the rest of their lives.

PH Glass Studios is holding their grand opening on Friday, November 11 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Skull Tree Brewing and the Bourgeois Pig will be on-hand offering up beverages, and there will be door prizes and live demos, as well as pendants and art work for sale.

This is the newest art form to hit Casper and it's going to kick some glass.

"I like to see how glass is manipulated," Reg the Veg stated. "And I always see something new. All the time, I'm like 'How did they do that?' Even though I have 10 years of experience blowing glass, I still get blown away all the time."

Pun Intended.

Check out PH Glass Studios' Open House on Friday, November 11 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. For more information on the studio, you can visit their website or check out their Facebook page.

Photos from the studio, and examples of the work that it put out, can be seen below:

Mind-Blown: Wyoming's First Glass Blowing Studio Opens in Casper

PH Glass Studios, Wyoming's first glass blowing studio, is hosting an open house on Friday and will begin offering classes to those who want to dabble in the art in the art of glass blowing.

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The Sulaymaniyah Tekke in Damascus, an Ottoman-era artisan complex, historically housed workshops and markets central to the craft’s social and economic life.

Title:

Content: Sulaymaniyah in Damascus.
Do you want to throw out your guards?
While the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent saw in his dream that he was in a grove in the center of the capital Damascus, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) appeared to him and instructed him to build a mosque in that land. The Ottoman Sultan awoke from his sleep pleased with what he saw and heard. He immediately ordered to cut off a side of that grove and build a large kiosk in the middle of it. He was in a dream and pointed out.
This is the story conveyed by a number of writers and historians, the latest of which was Sheikh Najmuddin al-Ghazi in his book "The Walking Planets in the Eyes of the Tenth Hundred", about the decision of the legal sultan to build the Tekke Sulaymaniyah (west of Damascus) in the 16th century, one of the most prominent Ottoman tekaya and the most modern style and the most beautiful architecture, according to specialists.
Historically, the Tkiyet Sulaymaniyah was a place to perform religious duties and a resting place for pilgrims and a refuge for the maqtada and poor people of Damascus, Muslims and others, and remained so until the French colonizer entered the country in 1920; where General Guru and his forces took from the Tkiyet as a residence.
With the departure of colonialism and the advent of 1948, the Shari ’ ah school in Tkiyet returned to hold educational seminars and memorization of the Quran, and since the mid-seventies of the last century began to embrace dozens of shops of ancient Damascene handicrafts, and expanded this part to be known later as the market of handicrafts.
Recently, this complex cultural and religious identity of the heritage teacher has become threatened, after the Ministry of Tourism (in the government of the Syrian regime) notified professionals to vacate their shops before the end of the year under the pretext of restoration.
From Al-Ablaq Palace to Al-Tkiyet Sulaymaniyah
The site of Tkiyet Sulaymaniyah, west of Damascus, was known for the construction of a number of royal residences, the last of which was the palace of the owner of the Mamluk Sultan Baqiris (1228-1277 AD), which was named after the colors of the stones of its construction black and yellow brought from Aleppo and Daraa.
However, large parts of the palace were burned during the conquest of Damascus by the Mongol commander Tamerlane in 803 A.D. (1402 A.D.), and it was not until the Ottoman Sultan Selim I entered Damascus in 923 A.D. (1517 A.D.) that the Ablaq palace was restored and rehabilitated.
By 959 A.D. (1502 A.D.), Sultan Selim the Magnificent commissioned the famous Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan to develop a modern architectural plan for a hospice on the site of the Al-Ablaq Palace. In 960 A.D. (1553 A.D.), a large number of workers began building the hospice under the supervision of the Damascene engineer Shahabuddin ibn Al-Attar.
Then rest on the banks of the Barada River "a luxurious architectural group that captivates the hearts of the hearts with its regular domes like knots around a large main dome, surrounded by two minarets, and interspersed with gardens and trees whose beauty blends with the beauty of architecture makes this spot in Damascus one of the most beautiful and beautiful spots", the Tkiyet Sulaymaniyah, as described by Abdul Qader Rihawi in his book "Architecture in Arabic".
Ottoman architecture and Damascene motifs
The building of the Sulaymaniyah Tekke consists of two similar architectural blocks, one large and includes the mosque and the other small and includes the school, and linked between these two blocks was a market dedicated to the caravans of pilgrims, and the Ottoman engineering effects on the planning and construction, while the Damascene artistic touch overshadows the designs of doors and windows and decorations that decorate the walls and rooms of the place.
The two architectural blocks are surrounded by relatively low walls, while the middle of them are two rectangular pools fed by water vertical fountains used for ablution, and the mosque with its narrow minarets tops the southern block, while the school mosque with its smooth dome tops the eastern block, and on the sides of the blocks spread buildings are shops and narrow rooms covered with low domes interspersed with low The chimneys are shaped like minarets and are led by shady arcades with ornate arches.
The Sulaymaniyah Tikkiye market extends from its easternmost to its westernmost, and is lined with dozens of shops that were previously commercial shops, and have since the 1970s turned into handicrafts shops.
In addition to its traditional role as a place for the betters, the poor and the needy, the Sulaymaniyah Tekke was designed to be a stop for pilgrims on the pilgrimage route to Mecca, where the place was equipped with spacious kitchens, bakeries, rest rooms, several prayer rooms, a sea for ablution and other necessary services for pilgrims.
When it became a teachers ’ house in 1923, it stopped hosting guests and sheltering arrivals for the first time since its establishment four centuries ago, but soon regained its identity as a hospitable place when it hosted a number of Palestinian families displaced to Damascus following the 1948 Nakba.
While the Sulaymaniyah school was famous for receiving students of Sharia sciences from all parts of the world, before turning, with the opening of the Syrian University in Damascus in 1934, into a place to teach dentistry, and then into an archaeological landmark that includes a war museum with the continuation of religious activities in the chapels and mosque to this day.
From an incubator to a bounty hunter.
In mid-October, the Ministry of Tourism in the government of the regime warned the Karar sheikhs of craftsmen in the handicrafts market to evacuate their shops before the new year 2023 for the purpose of restoration.
Despite the appeals of the craftsmen to the concerned authorities through the local newspapers and media, and the intervention of the Damascus Chamber of Tourism to promise the craftsmen their return after the completion of the restoration operations, Nidal Mashfej, Assistant Minister of Tourism, stressed that there is no legal provision obliging the ministry to renew the contracts of craftsmen after the end of each year. Shopkeepers have the right to claim any malfunction, damage, injustice or the like, the official told the official Tishreen newspaper.
A member of the Damascus Chamber of Tourism, Arafat Oza Bashi, points out that all the shopkeepers in the Sulaymaniyah Tkiyet hope to return to their shops after the completion of the restoration, to continue their work and preserve the intangible heritage threatened with extinction.
Haj Abu Mohammed, 57 years old, owner of a shop in Tkiyet, told Al Jazeera Net, "Years ago they evacuated the glass market of Tkiyet under the pretext of restoring it, and it is still a wreck and it is not clear if it will return to a glass market, and I do not exclude that our shop has a similar fate."
"As if they were not satisfied with the stagnation of the market in the last 10 years and the absence of tourists and visitors from our shops, which the simple citizen can not buy goods from them because of their high cost, and all the losses we suffered to continue to revive these crafts during the war."
The Sulaymaniyah Tikkiye has been undergoing restoration since 2019, and the first phase aimed to restore part of the Tikkiye and what is known as the glass market, while the second phase is dedicated to the handicrafts market and some parts of the interior of the Tikkiye “to preserve the archaeological site from landings and structural cracks, ” according to Nidal Mashfaj.
Source: The Island

Surrounding neighborhoods, like Hanania, continue to nurture this legacy through museums and artisan communities dedicated to sustaining traditional glassmaking techniques and styles.

Title:

Content: Or Elias...
Embraced the traditional crafts in its small museum Baharat Hanania Damascene
Damascus-Sana
You cannot pass through the Damascene neighborhood of Hanania in Bab Sharqi without being stopped by the time at the gallery of Mrs. Sophia Al-Ashqar “Um Elias ”. The smell of the place leads you voluntarily to stand at the heritage of nearly a hundred years old, looking at the cloth, moving your eyes to the copper and mosaic, and drowning in the place to come the laugh of Umm Elias and take you back to its small museum.
As her sons and residents of Haret Hananiya describe it as a “fortress ”, it is a fortress that stands as the steadfastness of Syrian women through time. Umm Elias does not only tell visitors to her heritage museum about the concept and value of the work, but she sees it embodied in her spirit and in every piece she weaved with her management of the gallery for nearly 70 years, including during the war on Syria. The development of the Syrian kaftan.
The love of the homeland and the authenticity of Umm Elias overshadowed her work many times, and she acted as a guide to the foreign tourist about the history of Syria and the age of each piece she acquired, reminding them that Damascus is the oldest inhabited city in history, and stressing that she did not tire and did not tire of that task, especially when visiting tourist delegations to Haret Hanania and their acquisition of the heritage craft in the gallery.
Mrs. Al-Ashqar talked about how she developed the Damascene kaftan from a traditional folk costume to a modern one that has been mixed for centuries until the present day. Umm Elias, 83, manipulated velvet, silk, agbani and brocade fabrics with her fingers as if she were manipulating her grandchildren, to come up with a piece of kaftan that mimics the fashion of our times and the new taste.
The icon of Haret Hanania moves around the gallery, continuing to talk, and with her warm voice narrates her beginning with the needle and thread since she was ten years old, and like any girl, the first dress she knitted was for her little doll, and developed her passion for cloth and sewing, considering that her father and grandfather have been professionals for a long time. Qar received the third prize in the mosaic industry at the Damascus Exhibition in 1936.
Umm Elias did not spare us time, and despite her fatigue, which seemed clear on the features of her face, love and determination had a stronger presence appeared in the explanation and give the most accurate information. She talked about the visit of senior guests to the gallery of artists, intellectuals and prominent personalities. However, she did not think to move to another area outside Bab Sharqi. Glass, as well as icons, begins to live from 45 years to almost 100 years.
Umm Elias goes back to an ancient time whose effects were evident on a copper table occupied by Damascene hands, through the technique of downloading silver on copper, and is more than eighty years old, in addition to the types of wood such as mosaic, which is famous for her father 's craftsman Haneen Ashqar. With her hands she opens a wooden piece of art created by her father, a mosaic table that includes several levels of toys. Sometimes chess, sometimes Elias's mother turns it into a dice game.
It then moves on to Damascene ornaments, icons and small brides made of cloth to stained glass, which gives the place the spirit of life and confirms that each piece and masterpiece has a cultural significance rooted in the culture of Syria.
So that Umm Elias remains one of the many Syrian women who went through the war, and their heads are nostalgic like the ears of wheat, but they did not break them, and they remain tender and shameless, raising their muses to them whenever their names are mentioned.
Najwa Aida Mariam Hajir
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Look, too.
Umm Elias Museum of Traditional Crafts in the Damascus neighborhood of Hanania

This craft carries profound cultural significance for Syrians, representing a tangible link between past and present as both an identity marker and an expression of creative heritage.

Title:

Content: A year of hard work to document and preserve the Syrian tangible and intangible heritage locally and internationally
Damascus-Sana
The Syrian heritage, both tangible and intangible, forms an important pillar within the World Heritage system, and is a key factor in strengthening the cultural identity of the Syrian people, building the present and protecting the future.
During 2022, the Ministry of Culture and its concerned institutions, in particular the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums and the Directorate of Intangible Cultural Heritage, focused on organizing a series of events and seminars and signing a series of agreements related to the importance and mechanisms of preserving this heritage in its various components.
Among the most important Syrian activities and works related to tangible and intangible heritage during 2022 are:
During the year, Syria held several discussions on the loan of Syrian artifacts damaged during the terrorist war on Syria for restoration and display in the Sultanate of Oman, and signed a joint statement on cooperation to preserve cultural heritage with the People ’ s Republic of China.
Syria participated in the International Forum of the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in the Russian city of Kazan, and the Scientific Conference on Archaeology in the Hungarian capital, and participated in a virtual lecture within the international conference on the protection of the Syrian cultural heritage after the war.
– The archaeological missions returned to excavations in 2022, including the joint Syrian-Italian archaeological mission, which began its work for the first season at the archaeological site of Amrit, and the discovery of a funerary burial and some archaeological finds and discoveries dating back to the Roman era in Amrit by the joint excavation team between the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums and the Department of Tartus Antiquities.
– The national expertise of the Directorate General of Antiquities worked to expand the work to discover the entire rare archaeological mosaic painting in the city of Rastan, which dates back to the Roman era, and reached a length of 20 meters and a width of 6 meters.
– Completion of the restoration work of the Arc de Triomphe in the ancient city of Palmyra, which was destroyed by terrorist organizations in 2015, and the second phase of the restoration project began with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Directorate of Antiquities, the Syrian Secretariat and the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the Russian Federation.
– Holding a workshop “Restoring Syrian Heritage and Reviving Local Communities ” at Expo 2020 Dubai, in which local, Arab and international bodies specialized in antiquities participated.
– In the National Museum in Damascus and in tribute to the lives and sacrifices of about 27 martyrs who rose during the terrorist war on Syria in defense of the Syrian cultural heritage, an exhibition of recovered archaeological treasures 3 entitled (Salute to the martyrs of the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums) was opened within the days of Syrian culture.
– The opening of a painting exhibition entitled “Restoration of Syrian Heritage by Theo Vitit ’ s Vision ” at the National Museum in Damascus, which is a painting of restoration and excavation works in Syrian archaeological sites, painted by the Dutch artist and archaeologist Theo Vitit in 2018 and 2021, and was presented in the Netherlands to introduce the Western community to what happened to the Syrian cultural heritage.
In Damascus Castle, the first national screening of the film Siriacus Section, directed by Olivier Bourgeois, was launched in 2022 in cooperation between the Ministry of Culture, the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums, and the Syrian Trust for Development. The film, which won more than 17 international awards, talks about the solidarity of a small group of archaeologists and museum curators with the escalation of the terrorist war on Aleppo in 2015. The National Museum of Aleppo.
The Directorate of Antiquities, in cooperation with the European Center for Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Monuments and the Department of Antiquities at the University of Damascus, organized a digital exhibition on historical mosaics in Syria, entitled “Syria is still the source of arts ”.
– The beginning of the year witnessed the return of five Syrian destructive artifacts to the National Museum in Damascus at the initiative of the management of the Naboo Museum in Beirut, and the pieces are various funerary destructive statues from the collections of the Naboo Museum previously purchased from European auction houses.
The second leg of the Syrian Antiquities Exhibition, entitled “The Wonderful Syria ”, was opened in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, southwest China, which lasted until May. During this period, special scientific seminars and cultural events were held in connection with the exhibition, in which the Department of Antiquities and Museums participated with 195 important artifacts and collections of Syrian museums.
In 2022, the Directorate of Intangible Cultural Heritage has been active in most governorates, focusing on monitoring, studying and documenting the national intangible heritage and preparing the necessary plans to search for, study and inventory the elements of this heritage and include them in the national register, in cooperation with governmental and non-governmental institutions, local communities and international organizations.
The Directorate of Heritage organized a workshop on Syrian intangible cultural heritage at Al-Assad National Library, in preparation for the development of a national strategy for intangible cultural heritage in Syria.
– The project (Windows 5) was organized, whose musical evenings varied between documentation and promotion of Syrian heritage songs, and many heritage festivals were held in the provinces.
– The project of documenting the elements of the Syrian intangible heritage in ancient Homs, implemented by the Ministry of Culture in cooperation with the Syrian Secretariat and civil society, was launched in 2022 to preserve the elements of this heritage, and work continued on the project of documenting the elements of the intangible heritage in Tartus province.
Within the framework of the implementation of the plan to preserve the element of the theater of shadow imagination Karkouz and Aiwaz after registration on the list of urgent conservation of the world humanitarian heritage at UNESCO, the Syrian Secretariat for Development continued the third professional training after Damascus and Suwayda, for youth cadres in the city of Aleppo.
The Syrian Secretariat for Development has developed the “Living Heritage ” program with the local community in Aleppo governorate, the main axes for the preservation of the Aleppo cod, which was registered on the Representative List of Human Heritage at UNESCO by the end of 2021 with the participation of a group of governmental and civil authorities, artists, musicians, researchers and interested in the Arab, musical and art of cod.
At the international level:
Syria has been elected vice-president of the ninth session of the General Assembly of the States Parties to the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity for a two-year term 2022-2024.
Syria participated in the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development, Mondiacult 2022, in Mexico.
– In 2022, a scientific research by the son of the city of Aleppo, Antoine Makdis, related to how to recover from the effects of war through independent cultural production based on intangible cultural heritage won the first place in the competition of the Foundation of Santgrata, specialized in the Italian cultural economy.
– An integrated archaeological project in the Baal Shemin Temple in Palmyra has been shortlisted for the third cycle of ICCROM Sharjah Award for the Conservation and Protection of Cultural Heritage in the Arab Region 2020-2022.
Rasha Mahfoudh and Mays Al-Ani
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In recent years, the craft has encountered existential threats resulting from the ongoing conflict in Syria since 2011, alongside political instability and economic hardship.

Title:

Content: What is the reality of traditional and traditional professions in Syria?
DAMASCUS – The traditional professions and crafts in Syria were not immune to the repercussions of the war. In light of the difficult economic and security conditions that the country has been witnessing for more than a decade, these professions are suffering from an unprecedented decline related to production and market conditions, which makes them today threatened with extinction.
The head of the Union of Craftsmen in the province of Latakia Jihad Pro, in a recent statement to the local newspaper Al-Watan, the decline of the production of handicrafts and handicrafts of various kinds by 50% within the province, considering the high costs of production inputs and increased income taxes as direct reasons for this decline.
Bassam Qalaji, head of the artisanal association for confectionery in Damascus, told the local newspaper Global last month that more than half of the confectionery craftsmen had stopped producing and switched to other professions due to low demand and insufficient profits.
Successive statements reveal the reality of Syrian traditional and traditional crafts, which are suffering under the weight of the economic decline that the country is suffering from.
This situation has prompted thousands of craftsmen to close their workshops and shops and switch to other jobs, or migrate and move their work abroad, amid the real threat of the disappearance of many traditional traditional traditional professions and handicrafts, which constitute vital sectors of the economic sector in the country and an integral part of its cultural identity.
What are the main reasons for this decline?
How does it affect the economic life of the country?
Lack of support and unequal competition
Anton, a 42-year-old Damascene craftsman and former owner of a mosaic workshop in rural Damascus, says his struggle for years to keep his workshop open, producing and selling enough to pay its workers has been futile.
He adds in an interview with Al Jazeera Net: "I tried hard to maintain the workshop and its workers for as long as possible, but the constant high prices of wood (local and imported) in an inappropriate manner, the long interruption of electricity (16-18 hours a day), and the low demand for mosaic in the domestic and foreign market, all factors forced me to lay off workers, and later to close the workshop after months, during which I received only two orders."
In addition to these factors, Anton attributed the low demand for "original" mosaics and other handicrafts and heritage artifacts (copperware, damask, antika, textiles) to:
The reality of the market at the moment in the absence of tourists.
• The decline of external demand for the commodity as a result of the interruption of trade relations with foreign markets.
• Migration of brokers and traders and thus reduced export.
• Unequal competition.
With heritage products becoming “more than luxury ” for Syrians suffering from poor purchasing power (average monthly salaries of about $20), and the lack of support for craftsmen and awareness of the importance and authenticity of these products by trade unions and government agencies, Syria ’ s craftsmen face major challenges to continue their craft.
Although there are no accurate figures on the number of craftsmen who have been driven by working conditions to emigrate outside the country, the head of the Damascus Craftsmen ’ s Union, Ali Qarmashti, revealed in an interview with the local news website Click News last year that the percentage of Damascene craftsmen migrating has become very high, especially among young people.
Repellent economic and social policies
In addition to the direct economic factors that led to the decline of traditional crafts during the past few years, represented by the high prices of raw materials, the poor reality of services, and the decline of the sale and purchase movement, there were indirect factors that affected these crafts.
Syrian economist Younis Karim believes that the artisan crisis began in 2008 after being subjected to great pressures due to the change of the general economic orientation in the country.
He said in an interview with Al Jazeera Net: "Since 2008, the authorities have put their hands on the spread of these industries due to the importance of their geographical location, and work to change their features in favor of wealthy investors, or provide them as donations to countries that Damascus seeks to establish bilateral relations with."
According to the expert, the reality of the work of traditional crafts after 2011 became more complex and difficult with "the continued adoption of economic and social policies by the regime that restrict the owners of these crafts, exclude them from support, take their places of deployment, in addition to the cessation of exhibitions and the difficulty of participating in external events because of the political positions of the regime.
Karim explains that the family and social disintegration suffered by Syrians as a result of large-scale migration during the last decade was an added reason for the decline of these crafts, which “relied on inheritance between generations of the same family as a tradition followed by Syrian craftsmen long ago. ”
Kilo to Piece and Pieces
It seems that some traditional crafts and crafts are in the same trench with traditional crafts in their war against extinction, where the owners of many traditional crafts are no less original than those of heritage, especially the confectioners from the high costs of raw materials in production, high costs of energy stands, and successive losses due to the reluctance of citizens to buy expensive Arabic sweets.
Suhaib, 55, owner of a sweets shop in the Jazmatiya area of Damascus, told Al Jazeera Net: "Days pass without selling a total of a kilo of various items, and two years ago the stagnation of goods in the shop became a familiar phenomenon to us, and had it not been for the holiday seasons, and some occasions and weddings held here and there, we would have closed long ago."
Al-Halwani Al-Damascene adds in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net: "Our profits, and the profits of most of the shops of Halwanis in Damascus, have decreased by a large percentage since the beginning of the economic crisis in the country."
Al-Halwani pointed out that the price of a kilo of some varieties of Arabic sweets has exceeded 400 thousand pounds recently, adding: "Which is not able for Syrians to buy, so we have become selling methods in which we rely on small quantities, so we sell baklava, crystal, shaped, asian, brominated and other items in ounces, grain (piece) and two grains to keep the sales movement, and do not stop customers from our shop."
As for the reasons why sweets in Damascus stopped working and many of them emigrated outside the country, Al-Halwani said: “Many reasons start from the large annual taxes that are inconsistent with high operating costs and low profits, in addition to the high prices of commercial electricity and fuel needed to operate shops and laboratories, the huge increase in the prices of raw materials, the high wages of workers, and the reluctance of customers to buy these sweets except on occasions. ”
High prices
Prices of food, nuts and other components of Arabic sweets have risen by varying rates recently, as the price of a kilo of animal margarine reached 150 thousand pounds ($equivalent to about 2511 pounds), while the price of a kilo of pistachio love rose to 300 thousand, and the price of a kilo of walnuts to 120 thousand.
The prices of popular sweets such as Al-Barazek and Al-Ma ’ amoul in Damascus markets, by the holy month of Ramadan, were between 100 and 130 thousand pounds per kilo, while the prices of medium and luxury sweets such as “Al-Belouria ”,“ Al-Mashkeel ”, “Kool and Shakour ”,“ Aish Al-Bulbul ” and “Baklava ” ranged between 250 and 500 thousand per kilo, which is equivalent to the salary of a Syrian employee in the public sector.
The head of the artisanal association for confectionery industry, Bassam Qalaji, attributed this rise in confectionery prices to the government lifting subsidies on oil derivatives, which led to a direct increase in costs by 150%, pointing out that raising the price of electricity by 5 times will lead to an increase in the price of about 650 products.
Qalaji said in a statement to the local newspaper Al-Watan last month that the largest number of confectionery craftsmen emigrated, and their first destination was Algeria followed by Germany.
In March last year, the head of the artisanal association for the confectionery industry revealed that 70% of the workshops of the confectionery industry were closed due to the economic crisis and the low demand for sweets and refreshments.
A severe blow to the economy
This gradual disappearance of traditional crafts is a painful blow to the Syrian economy, says economist Younis Karim, “For decades these crafts have been the largest incubator of Syrian labor, and their contribution to the economy before 2011 ranged from 40 to 50%. ”
This is what Matanios Habib, a researcher and former Syrian oil minister, said in a research paper entitled “The private sector in Syria ” (2005), when he pointed out that the private industrial sector in Syria tended to invest in crafts for fear of nationalization policies, whether during the era of Syrian-Egyptian unity (1958-1961) or after the revolution of March 8 (1967).
Karim stresses that the crisis of workers in traditional crafts, such as confectioners and others, dates back to before 2011, specifically to the period between 2007 and 2009, when there was “an attempt by the regime to pressure the owners of traditional crafts and crafts by forcing them to pay taxes, and to keep them away from city centers in favor of large investors. ”
Younis Karim believes that the gradual demise of these crafts will have negative effects on the Syrian economy because of their role in "providing job opportunities beyond those provided by large laboratories and their excellence in ease of operation and achievement, and the ability to spread.
Source: The Island

The number of practitioners and active workshops has fallen sharply due to emigration, destruction, scarcity of raw materials, erratic access to electricity, rising costs, and declining demand among local and tourist markets.

Many artisans have been forced to close their shops or change professions, imperiling the intergenerational transmission of glassblowing knowledge and skills.

Urban redevelopment and restoration also threaten to disrupt historic artisan quarters, raising concern over the craft’s future.

In December 2023, UNESCO formally inscribed Syrian traditional glassblowing on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

This designation acknowledges the craft’s profound historical and cultural value but also highlights the severe threats stemming from conflict, economic pressures, and the loss of skilled artisans.

UNESCO’s safeguarding strategy entails documentation, education, raising awareness, and facilitating cooperation among local, national, and international partners to ensure the craft’s survival.

Title:

Content: Saturday 26 August 2023
Chairman of the Board of Directors and Editors
Abdurrahim Ali
Editor-in-Chief
Dalia Abdul Rahim
Chairman of the Board of Directors and Editorial Board
Abdurrahim Ali
Editor-in-Chief
Dalia Abdul Rahim
Governorates
Archaeologist: UNESCO gained international fame with the Nubian Archaeological Rescue Campaign
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Antiquities expert Dr. Abdel Rahim Rayhan, member of the Supreme Council of Culture and the Committee of History and Antiquities, confirmed that the relations between Egypt and UNESCO extend to more than 75 years, and Egypt was one of the first 20 countries to ratify its formation.
He added that Egypt has been a member of the Executive Board of UNESCO since 1946, with the exception of a few times, which gave it the expertise not available to many members, and Egypt was re-elected to the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) from 2021 to 2025, after receiving 130 votes during the elections held within the framework of the General Conference of the Organization.
The Executive Board is the most important governing body of UNESCO, the organization concerned with consolidating the foundations of peace and development through the promotion of international cooperation in the fields of education, science and culture, including the implementation of development programmes, education and vocational training, heritage protection, communication and information, and contributing to the achievement of the goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
This comes within the framework of the visit of Dr. Noria Sanz, Regional Director of UNESCO in Cairo to the monastery of St. Catherine currently.
Dr. Rehan told Al-Bawaba News on Saturday that UNESCO has gained a great reputation internationally in the field of cultural heritage with the Nubia campaign, which began in 1960 to transfer the Great Abu Simbel Temple after it was flooded by the waters of the Nile when the Aswan Dam was built and took 20 years, during which 22 monuments were transported.
This led to the adoption of the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in 1972.
UNESCO Member States have since adopted important documents in the field of heritage and cultural diversity: in 2003 they adopted the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, in 2005 they adopted the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, and the Memory of the World Programme was established in 1992 to safeguard documentary heritage at risk. In 2012, the programme strongly emphasized the importance of ensuring the preservation and long-term use of the world ’ s digital memory.
Dr. Rehan pointed to the models of cooperation between Egypt and UNESCO, which was embodied in saving the area of   Nubian antiquities, the temples of Abu Simbel and Villa, the preparation of the International Convention for the Protection of Intangible Heritage, the establishment of the Center for Nubian Studies in the Nubian Museum in Aswan, the establishment of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo and the Bibliotheca.
In October 1987, the General Conference of UNESCO approved the International Call to Support the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Project in five languages: Arabic, English, French, Spanish and Russian. In June 1988, the call culminated in the laying of the foundation stone for this great project, in the presence of Federico Mayor, then Director-General of UNESCO.
UNESCO also cooperates with Egypt mainly in the education and higher education sector, curricular purification and cooperation on the development of new university admission systems. Egypt participates in many of the activities of the organization and its effectiveness in various fields, including: joint cooperation to preserve the historic area of Cairo, and the organization helped Egypt restore a site inscribed on the list of World Heritage in Danger, Abu Mina in Alexandria.
He added that UNESCO contributed to the action to save the Mallawi Museum after the looting of its belongings, where it published the looted pieces on its website, which helped stop any attempt to transfer or sell these pieces illegally in foreign markets, as UNESCO was present through its experts in the site of the Museum of Islamic Art within a few days after its bombing and issued an international condemnation of the terrorist attack on the same day of the explosion. Germany, Switzerland, Italy and the United Arab Emirates provided financial and technical assistance that helped Egypt restore the museum and its collections.
He added that Egypt succeeded in 2016 in issuing a unanimous decision by the Executive Council of the Organization to place the Regional Center for Training and Studies in the Field of Water in Arid and Semi-Arid Areas under the umbrella of UNESCO to be one of its centers of category II within the framework of strengthening the role of scientific and research centers of the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation. UNESCO Category II institutes at different levels, whether regional or global.
The Arabic language is one of the languages that the organization seeks to preserve, so 18 December of each year has been designated as the International Day of the Arabic Language.
The Arab Group at UNESCO is keen to hold a special celebration on this day to disseminate Arab culture, Arabic literature and music within the organization.
UNESCO has been concerned with the preservation and protection of underwater heritage sites in Alexandria for more than forty years after being alerted to them thanks to some scientific studies in underwater archaeology, and UNESCO contributed experts to the project of restoration, maintenance and protection of the heritage of architect Hassan Fathi in the village of New Qurna.
In 2016, Dr. Iqbal Al-Samaloty, Secretary General of the Arab Network for Literacy and Adult Education, was appointed as UNESCO ’ s Regional Vice President in Beirut. UNESCO appointed its Goodwill Ambassadors in Egypt to support UNESCO ’ s activities and missions by a group of prominent personalities who donated their talent and fame to raise global awareness of the organization ’ s missions.
Dr. Rehan pointed out that Egypt has 14 properties registered with UNESCO, including six properties of cultural heritage, one property of natural heritage, five properties of intangible cultural heritage, two properties of shared intangible cultural heritage, and cultural heritage includes five properties registered as world heritage in 1979, namely Memphis and its tomb Pyramids area from Giza to Dahshur, Thebes area and its tomb "Luxor". From Abu Simbel to Philae, Abu Mina area west of Alexandria, Islamic Cairo, and the owner of the 2002 register is the city of St. Catherine, the natural heritage includes one site, the Valley of the Whales was included in 2005, the intangible cultural heritage includes five properties: the crescent biography was included in 2008, the game of wood was included in 2016, the Aragoose was included in 2018, the handweaving in Upper Egypt was included in 2020, and 30 celebrations associated with the Holy Family November 2022.
With regard to the common intangible cultural heritage, the Palm includes as a common intangible cultural heritage registered in 2019 with 14 countries: Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Palestine, Yemen, Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania, Sudan, and Arabic calligraphy registered in 2021 with 16 countries: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Palestine. Lebanon, Yemen, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Sudan.

Protective measures include training programs, restoration of workshops and marketplaces, and integration of glassblowing heritage into cultural promotion initiatives.

In sum, traditional Syrian glassblowing, centered in Damascus, stands as an enduring symbol of cultural resilience and artistic mastery.

The UNESCO listing affirms its urgent safeguarding needs and serves as a catalyst for preservation efforts aimed at ensuring its continued vitality for generations to come.

Title:

Content: Syria participates in a workshop in Tunis on Arab cultural property listed on the World Heritage in Danger List
Tunisia-Sana
The Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums participated in the framing workshop to help Arab countries to remove their sites on the List of World Heritage in Danger, organized by the Arab Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) at its central headquarters in Tunis.
The workshop was attended by many Arab countries that embrace cultural properties on the list of danger, including Syria, which participated in the sites of Qal ’ at al-Hosn, the Citadel of Salah al-Din and the ancient city of Aleppo.
In his opening speech, Dr. Mohamed Ould Amer, Director General of the Organization, presented on his behalf by Dr. Fathi Al-Gray, Heritage Expert at the Department of Culture, stressed the support of Arab countries until the removal of the last cultural property from the UNESCO Red List, with the exception of the city of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, which remains linked to the end of the Israeli occupation.
From Syria, representatives of the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums participated in the workshop via video link on the sites of Qal ’ at al-Hosn and Salah al-Din, as well as the ancient city of Aleppo, which are listed on the UNESCO endangered heritage list since 2013 due to the terrorist war on Syria.
The head of the buildings division in the old city of Aleppo, Engineer Rasha al-Masri, talked about the importance of the old city historically and civilization.She touched on the dangers suffered by the city as a result of terrorism, so that the earthquake on February 6 increases the seriousness and leads to some collapses in the western and southern walls of the city, in addition to cracks in the entrance of the castle and some buildings inside such as the mill and the minaret.
It pointed out that the historical markets that were recovering and where restoration work began were not spared from the damage of the earthquake, as well as the khanates, the National Museum, Dar Ghazaleh and Beit Ajqbash, while the residential houses that suffered previous cracks as a result of terrorism and poor maintenance and restoration due to the lack of necessary funding, suffered the same fate from collapses and cracks.
As for the Citadel of Salah al-Din and the Citadel of Al Hosn, registered in a single file on the UNESCO list in 2006, Engineer Ibrahim Khair Bey, Director of Antiquities of Latakia, and Engineer Hazem Hanna, Director of Citadel Al Hosn, spoke about the importance of the two citadel as a prominent example of military architecture in the medieval period.
Salahuddin Castle was reopened in April 2016, to start the restoration and rehabilitation of the damaged buildings and within the available possibilities, emergency reinforcement was carried out for some dangerous places structurally, which increased their seriousness due to negligence and lack of periodic maintenance during the period of
The terrorist war, which led to cracks and cracks in the towers and defensive fences, and the increased growth of plants led to another danger that appeared through the collapse of the roof of the second floor of the Crusader Tower and the southeast wall.
He pointed out that the earthquake contributed to the increased risk and damage to many of the castle buildings, as well as the fires that broke out in 2020 in the coastal area, which extended to include the castle enclave.
In turn, Hanna talked about the restoration and emergency support of many of the buildings that were damaged in Fort Al Hosn, including the restoration of Al Zahir Baybars Tower and its surroundings, the door leading to Sultan Qalawun Tower and the staircase adjacent to the façade of Al Zahir Baybars Tower, the two arches in the western outer wall near the tower, as well as the north curtain near Bint Al Malik Tower. M in cooperation with the Hungarian Archaeological Mission working at the site.
For their part, the participants praised ALECSO ’ s initiative on cultural property, stressing the importance of such events combining theoretical framing and field work, as it is important to help implement the recommendations of UNESCO and its affiliated bodies, in order to respond to the requirements and controls imposed by various international treaties and conventions, and to benefit from international cooperation programs and exit the list of endangered heritage.
It is noteworthy that the team of the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums in 2022 provided UNESCO with a report on the state of conservation of the sites of Qalat Al Hosn and Qalat Salahuddin, including the efforts made by the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums of corrective measures at the sites, in preparation for their removal from the list of heritage in danger.
At its 37th session in 2013, the World Heritage Committee decided to include Syrian heritage sites on the List of Heritage in Danger, in order to draw attention to the dangers facing these sites due to the war in Syria.
The inscription on the List of Heritage in Danger aims to mobilize all possible support in order to ensure the preservation of these sites, which are recognized by the international community as a value for all humanity.
The Syrian sites in question are: the old city of Aleppo, the old city of Damascus, the old city of Bosra, the fortress of the fort, the citadel of Saladin, the site of the historic city of Palmyra, and the collection of ancient villages in northern Syria.
Rasha Mahfouz
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