A Series of Photogrammetry for Protection of Syrian Cultural Heritage
Ancient Villages of Northern Syria Vol. 2

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Akira Tsuneki
Nobuya WatanabeSari Jammo
Makoto Takizawa

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Government ofof JapanJapanhhuurrcc
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A Series of Photogrammetry for Protection of Syrian Cultural Heritage

Ancient Villages of Northern Syria
Vol. 2al-BaraA Series of Photogrammetry for Protection of Syrian Cultural Heritage

Ancient Villages of Northern Syria
Vol. 2al-BaraAkira Tsuneki

Nobuya WatanabeSari Jammo

Makoto Takizawa

Financial support for this project was provided by
The Agency for Cultural Affairs of the Japanese Government
A Series of Photogrammetry for Protection of Syrian Cultural Heritage
Ancient Villages of Northern Syria
Vol. 2al-Bara
By
Akira Tsuneki
Nobuya WatanabeSari Jammo
Makoto Takizawa
Research Center for West Asian Civilization, University of Tsukuba
All rights reserved.
Printed in Tsukuba, Japan, 2018

Acknowledgements

All photographs used in this publication were taken by our friends who live in Idlib.
Without their effort, our project was never completed. We deeply thanks them who
carried out photography for our project regardless of serious danger in the great
difficulty under the civil war.

Contents

1. Ancient Villages in Northern Syria Photogrammetry Project1

2. Preliminary Survey in al-Bara Ancient City and7

Akira Tsuneki and Makoto Takizawa

Making 3D Image of the Church 4
Sari Jammo

3. 3D Reconstruction of al-Bara Church 4
Nobuya Watanabe

171．Ancient Villages in Northern Syria Photogrammetry Project
Akira Tsuneki and Makoto Takizawa

The conflict that began in 2011 caused extensive damage not only to the Syrian population and their property, but also
to the cultural heritage of Syria, which is extremely important in human history. Sponsorship from the Agency for
Cultural Affairs of the Japanese Government was obtained in 2014 and various activities were undertaken to protect
Syrian cultural heritage facing destruction. In 2014, an expert meeting in Beirut with Syrian, Lebanese, and UNESCO
experts who deal with cultural heritage protection in Syria was held in order to determine what Japanese experts could
do to facilitate the safeguarding of Syrian cultural heritage. These meetings and other activities indicated clearly that it
was important, above all to cooperate with people undertaking the protection of cultural heritage in Syria. Both material
and intangible support and encouragement are required and specifically it is more important to provide necessary
equipment and techniques to safeguard cultural heritage. In addition, it is also very necessary to disseminate information
to Syrian people and others throughout the world on the importance of Syrian archaeology and history.
The University of Tsukuba received support from the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2016, and three basic strategies
were implemented towards safeguarding Syrian cultural heritage: 1) Instruction of young Syrians on the importanceof Syrian cultural heritage, 2) Documentation of endangered Syrian cultural heritage, and 3) Preparing manuals
for people safeguarding cultural heritage in the field and museums.
This booklet is a result of the second strategy, i.e. 2)
Documentationofendangered

Syrianculturalheritage. For this project, we selected one of the World
Heritage sites in Syria, i.e. Ancient Villages ofNorthern

Syria.

The

limestone

mountainsinnorthwest Syria, consisting of Jabal Saiman in thenorth, Jabal Barish and Wastani in the middle, andJabal Zawiye in the south, extend for about 2000 km2,
and there are over 700 villages from the RomanByzantine periods (1 to 7th centuries) (Figs. 1, 2). The
combination of well preserved building remains andlimestone mountains reflect a very impressive
historical landscape. Archaeological investigationshows that these limestone mountains prospered as aresult of olive oil production and trade (Challot 1984),
and research on these villages indicate a local historicaltransition from the ancient Roman Empire to the early

Figure 1. Location of al-Bara (Source, Abdulkarim andByzantine Christian period. The remains of the early

Charpentier 2016)churches in the limestone mountains also provide a lotof information and material on how the early churches
appeared and developed (Butler 1920).
1

These limestone mountains are located in modern Mohafaza(governorate/district in Arabic) Idlib and Mohafaza Aleppo.
Unfortunately, intense conflict recently occurred in these

two mohafaza, and the destruction of many Ancient Villagesof Northern Syria was reported. For example, severe damage
to one of the most important churches in this World
Heritage group, Saint Simeon in Jabal Saiman, was reported
in May 2016. Al-Bara and Serjira, large trading centers in
Jabal Zawiye, were also reported as having been severely
damaged. Therefore, a project was initiated to document
these important buildings, especially churches, in the World
Heritage site using 3D images. Qalb Lozeh was our firsttarget for documentation, and the results were published as

A Series of Photogrammetry for Protection of Syrian

Cultural Heritage: Ancient Villages of Northern Syria Vol. 1

Qalb Lozeh by Agency for Cultural Affairs and University ofTsukuba in March 2017. It is possible to see and use the 3D
images of Qalb Lozeh via the following URL.
Figure 2. Limestone mountains of NW Syria

http://rcwasia.hass.tsukuba.ac.jp/bunka/
Al-Bara was selected as the second target for 3D

documentation, because Syrian colleagues provided information that buildings at al-Bara were severely damagedby both bombing during the conflict and theft of building stones.
al-Bara ‫ ﺑﺎرة‬35°41′16″N,

36°32′21″E altitude: 673m

Al-Bara is one of the major sites among the World Heritage, “Ancient Villages of Northern Syria” proscribed by
UNESCO in 2011. It was the largest settlement of the Roman-Byzantine ancient villages located on Jabal Zawiye,
and west of modern al-Bara town. al-Bara is located in the lowlands between the valleys in the Zawiye Mountains
and fertile lands with olive tree fields and vineyards surround the site itself. The size of the settlement is as large asa city, measuring ca 2 km x 1 km, and it acted as a center for the Zawiye mountains region during the Roman andByzantine periods. The settlement seems to have survived after the Arab/Islamic conquest, and a medieval Mosque
was excavated in the center of the site.
At least, five early churches were discovered (Figs. 3 and 4). The largest and well-preserved church is so-called alHoşn (horse) Church, which is located on the northern outskirts of the settlement. It is a typical Basilica stylechurch dating to the 5th century. According to colleagues who visited recently, the church was completely destroyed
by local people who used the stones for building (Figs. 5 and 6). E (Eglise) 2 is also a large church located to thesouth of al-Hoşn Church, and dates to the 5th century. Based on colleaguesʼ information and Google Earth, it has
also disappeared recently. The middle sized Churches 3 and 5 in the middle of the al-Bara village were heavily
damaged and their foundations barely remain. The two churches are believed to belong to the 6th century(Tchalenko 1953). The smallest sized Church 4 (Petite église), which is located just north of Church 4, is the mostwell preserved church in al-Bara. It is said that the church dates to the 6th century. Therefore, it was decided to
document the Church 4 using 3D images.
2

Figure 3. al-Bara ruins (Tchalenko 1953, Pl. 12)

Church 2

Church 1 = al-Hoşn Church

Church 3

Church 4

Church 5

Figure 4. Five churches at al-Bara (Tchalenko 1953, Pl. 139)3

Figure 5. al-Bara, Church 1 June, 2010 (Google Earth)Figure 6. al-Bara, Church 1 Feb. 2017 (Google Earth)4

Abdulkarim, M. and Charpentier G. 2016 Sergilla, Rywuga abd El-Bâra (Idlib), in Kanjou, Y. and Tsuneki, A. A

History of Syria in One Hundred Sites :393-400, Archaeopress Archaeology, Oxford.

Butler, H. C. 1920 Early Churches in Syria, Fourth to Seventh Centuries, Department of Art and Archaeology,
Princeton University.
Callot, O. 1984

Huileries Antiques de Syrie du Nord, Bibliothèque Archéologique et Historique, t. 118 P.

Geuthner, Paris

Tchalenko, G. 1953 Villages Anitiquities de la Syrie du Nord: Le Massif de Bélus à lʼÉpoque Romaine, Paris.
Vogüé, M. de

1865-1877 Syrie Centrale, Architecture Civil et Religieuse, du 1er au Ve sicles, Paris.

5

Figures 7, 8. Church 4 (Photographs by UAV.)

6
Figures 7, 8. Church 4 (Photographs by UAV.)2．Preliminary Survey in al-Bara Ancient City and
Making 3D Images of the Church 4
Sari Jammo
1. Abstract

The Ancient Villages of Northern Syria are a large cluster of archaeological sites in northwestern Syria. The culturallandscape in this region is marked by an abundance of significant archaeological ruins that date to the Byzantine
periods. These sites were inscribed on UNESCOʼs World Heritage List in 2011. The cultural heritage site iscomprised of eight assemblages (Jabel al Aʼla, Jabel Barisha, Jabel Saiman, Jabel Wastani, Jabel Zawiye), and theseinclude forty individual village sites 1.
Since 2011, most of the archaeology sites, standing ruins, and museums in the region have suffered from an
excessive level of vandalism and destruction, mainly due to military action and looting. Furthermore, some of thesites seem to have be intentionally and systematically destroyed to the extent that they may eventually disappear.
Recently, the most common pressing phenomena is dismantling of the archaeological ruins, recycling the stones
into carved or hewn blocks and their sale to local people for use in new houses (Fig. 1-3).

Figure 1. al-Bara ancient city1

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1348/

7

Most, if not all the archaeological sites in this region have been subjected to this kind of vandalism. The ruins
become quarries and the main stone sources for modern building, and people freely access and extract the stones
they need.

Figure 2. Modern building built using heritage site stones

Figure 3. Carved blocks

2. Preliminary survey

Due to the extent of vandalism in the cultural and archaeological sites of al-Bara ancient city a documentation
project in this region was undertaken. The goal of this project is not only estimating the damage and reviewing thepreservation status of the ruins on the ground in this region, but also selecting a site for 3D modeling.

Figure 4. Deir Sobat, traces of munitions fire

8

The team began a survey in the ancient city of al-Bara
starting from the northern part of the city. Lack of amap or plan for the ancient city was one of the main
obstacles at the beginning of the work. Therefore, thedrawing and maps published by G. Tchalenko (1953)2
who researched the Roman and Byzantine remains inthis region were utilized. The starting point was thenorthern side of the ancient city from Qalat abu Safian,
Church 1 (al-Hoşn Church), Church 2, Pyramidalroofed tomb, Church 4, 5 and Dier Sobat. Most of thesesites were subjected to varying degrees of damage andvandalism. Specifically, loss of wall sections, traces ofshelling on the walls, use of the walls for target practiceand recycling building stones were observed as the
major cause of damage (Fig. 4, 5).
Notably, the degree of damage and vandalism increased
and is more visible at sites furthest from the modern
village of al-Bara. Locals extensively raided thearchaeological sites, and systematically dismantled the

Figure 5. Deir Sobat, collapsed part of interior wallbuilding stones. A heavy machine driller likely used for
digging the foundation of a modern house was observed
bulldozing the remains of a former archaeological site.
Five churches numbered from 1 to 5 arepresent in a small area3. One of the worst
manifestationsofdestruction

andintentional vandalism is the case of the
Church 1 (al-Hoşn Church). The building
landmarks have almost disappeared and are
difficult to recognize. However, through theremains and a plan of the building, it waspossible to identify and confirm that abuilding was the al-Hoşn church.
The building was turned into the personal
property of a local inhabitant. Theinterior part of the building was turned
into a field for planting fruit trees such as

Figure 6. Eastern part of al-Hoşn church (apse)

2

Tchalenko, G. 1953 Villages Anitiquities de la Syrie du Nord: Le Massif de Bélus à lʼÉpoque Romaine, Paris.

3

ibid.

9

figs. The size of the small trees indicatesthat they have been newly planted. The
entire building has been destroyed orbulldozed. The arched-shape remnants
left standing in the eastern section, islikely an apse (Fig. 6, 7). The survey andphotos suggest that the stones from thebuilding were recycled and re-located.
The recycled stones were used toconstruct a stone base (terrace) wherelater a new modern building was built(Fig. 8). The remnants of the standing
walls, and the remains of broken andunshaped stones were pushed aside to
define the field boundary (Fig. 9).

Figure 7. Remains of the eastern walls of al-Hoşn church

Within this massive chaos and systemic
destruction, a small beautiful church
building stands intact. Thus, this building
has been selected for 3D modeling. The
reason for its selection is to enable thedocumentation of its details because ofthesystematic

destruction

of

the

surroundings very close to the building
and there is concern that the building will
be damaged (Fig. 10-12).
3. Building description

The Church 4 building has a T-shape. Its
axis is aligned east‒west (apse-entrance),
and the structure is not very tall. Even

Figure 8. Turning the al-Hoşn church into a field and theconstruction of a modern housethough the building size is small, it has
several access doors in the east and west.

Before entering the church main building or “sanctuary” there is an attached aisle which extended north south. The
entrance wall of the aisle has three doors, on the right, left and in the center. Only the right door is still intact,
whereas the central and left doors were already collapsed. There are window-openings above the lintel of the rightdoor. Likely the other collapsed doors have the same design. The aisle also has two doors in the north and south
side.
The western wall of the church sanctuary likely has the same design as the western wall of the aisle. Three doors(on the right, center and left), and a window opening above the lintel of each door existed. The church sanctuary
is divided into three aisles (right, central, left) by a row of five stone columns. On the right side, the columns which
10were attached to the east and west
sidewalls were intact, however, threeothers were collapsed and their stone
fragments found on the ground. On theleft side, four columns were still standing,only one was collapsed. The right and left
aisles have the same plan, and end with adoor in the east parallel to the one in thesouth. There are four window openings
along the southern side wall and anotherparallel four window openings on thenorthern side wall. The central aisle ends
at the church apse, which has threewindow-openings and there are two doors
on the north and south sides.

Figure 9. The remnant of al-Hoşn Church used in field boundary

4. Photogrammetric process

Being a small relatively low building
allowed photos to be taken freely from all
sides and directions. The tools were
simple, a camera, handmade pole anddrone. Most of the work was undertakenusing the ground photos. The camera
pole was enough to reach the higher
elevation and to take photos from above.
The work was successfully accomplished,
step by step, wall by wall, layer by layer,
comprising more than 70% horizontal
andvertical

photosoverlapping,appropriate timing, dead spots, shadow
and utilizing all the written instruction in

Figure 10. Church 4

the photogrammetry for cultural heritage
brochure4 . To cover all the internal andexternal facades required more than 3,500 photographs, in addition to about 200 aerial photos and some videos. It
is the second cultural heritage-documentation project undertaken by this civil organization group. The measuring
and photographing skills of the photographers gradually improved throughout the process of recording the church.

4

Watanabe, N. 2017. Photogrammetry for Cultural Heritage. Booklets for Protection of Syrian Cultural Heritage, Vol. 1. ResearchCenter for West Asian Civilization, University of Tsukuba.

11

Figure 11. Church 4, illegal excavations and destruction near by

Figure 12. Illegal excavation and destruction in the Church 5
5. Conclusion

Archaeological sites and cultural properties in Syria are part of peopleʼs national identity. However, local people in
Syria essentially have assumed the responsibility for safeguarding heritage regardless of whether they receive
support from concerned authorities or not. Unfortunately, many people do not share the same sense, and the result
can be seen clearly on the ground. The perceptions and attitudes of local people surrounding the archaeologicalsites strongly influences their behavior in relation to protecting heritage and promoting public awareness. Hence,in identifying the principal factors that influence local peopleʼs cooperation in heritage protection, an "education
paradox" is shown to be the critical factor. Syrian people did not receive cultural education in their youth or via the12promotion of activities by archaeological missions. Thus, as a result, it is possible to clearly see the negative
consequences of this prior inaction in recent years.
Violations against archaeological sites will not stop soon as most locals did not receive any kind of cultural education,awareness or knowledge about the importance of these sites. They are not aware that their actions are hurting thecountry, but rather are just looking for financial benefits in the first instance.
Whilst strongly rejecting these actions heritage professionals often do not know what to say or how to react against
this vandalism. In contrast, it is possible to understand to some degree that the vandalism is a consequence of a lackof education since childhood, reinforcing the fact that, education is critical for a nationʼs development.
The wish is that these documentation projects working in cooperation with civil organization groups will contributetowards safeguarding Syrian cultural heritage. It is also hoped that these projects will pay significant attention tobetter knowledge provision and building awareness for locals in relation to Syrian cultural heritage.

13

Photo annex
External sections

Western facade and aisle

General view from the west

Western facade

14

General view from the southeast showing the apse and the southern facade

General view from the northwest showing northern facade

General view from the northeast

15

Interior sections16

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 ##
 



 
     #   "  "        " $%!"  " $ "    #   "  "      
% " !"    






28



 ! '"#(!)! '%!! $ %$ " " #!"!! $ #  ( )!"!"! """%!!! # 
#  ! !! $"#  '!

&!'!""!"!"" ! ! $"!#  !# "#" !"%
" !# !'!"#" ! #!" " 29 " 






 #   
 !      !   !     "  !30           31%"$"#!"$&'" $# %$'#$$ '$%"$"#!"$&'""$$# %$'#$





$'$ "$#$#%"""$# '$%#!$"" $#"#%$"! $($%"#$  ##%$
# '$"$#$#%""%#!$"" $#"#%$  ##%$ "! $($%"#$ 

%"   '$"$ "$'#$

%"   '$"$ "$'#$

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      

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2018
2018