Brunt of blasts puts Baalbeck and Sour vestiges at risk

“Israeli airstrikes are razing to the ground the neighborhoods adjacent to the Sour archeological site. Heritage buildings have not been spared; they have been destroyed right down to the ground,” an official at the Directorate General of Antiquities, who declined to be named, told L’Orient-Le Jour. Commenting on whether the brunt of the airstrikes that targeted the ancient town could have had a knock-on effect or impact on nearby archaeological monuments, he said, “Further analysis by conservation experts will be required to assess the damage sustained. Due to the barrage of bombardments, no archaeologist is able to visit the site, so we don’t have precise details.”The specialist recalled that Sour, this great Phoenician city that ruled the seas and founded prosperous colonies such as Cadiz and Carthage, is made up of two sites: al-Mina...