Destruction to a hotel, walkway and shops from an Israeli airstrike the day before is seen in front of Baalbeks Unesco World Heritage site ancient ruins on November 7, 2024, in Baalbek, Lebanon.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Hundreds of cultural professionals, including archaeologists and academics, called on the United Nations to safeguard war-torn Lebanon’s heritage in a petition published on Sunday (November 17, 2024) ahead of a crucial UNESCO meeting.

Several Israeli strikes in recent weeks on Baalbek in the east and Tyre in the south — both strongholds of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah — hit close to ancient Roman ruins designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites.

The petition, signed by 300 prominent cultural figures, was sent to UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay a day before a special session in Paris to consider listing Lebanese cultural sites under “enhanced protection”.- It urges UNESCO to protect Baalbek and other heritage sites by establishing “no-target zones” around them, deploying international observers and enforcing measures from the 1954 Hague Convention on cultural heritage in conflict.

“Lebanon’s cultural heritage at large is being endangered by recurrent assaults on ancient cities such as Baalbek, Tyre and Anjar, all UNESCO world heritage sites, as well as on other historic landmarks,” says the petition. It calls on influential states to push for an end to military action that causes destruction of damage to sites, as well as adding protections or introducing sanctions.

Change Lebanon, the charity behind the petition, said signatories included museum curators, academics, archaeologists and writers in Britain, France, Italy and the United States.

Hezbollah and Israel have been at war since late September.

Ruins of the stone Gates in Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire.

Conservationists at Persepolis, Iran’s most iconic ancient site, are waging a delicate battle against an unlikely adversary: tiny but persistent lichens eroding the millennia-old monuments.

The fight, which began years ago, is aimed at stopping the threat to the integrity of the site’s structures and its intricate carvings from lichens, organisms that grow on surfaces like stone and can slowly break them down over time.

Built in the 6th century BC by Darius I, Persepolis has withstood destruction, looting, earthquakes, fires and harsh weather.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, Persepolis features colossal sculptures and intricate stone reliefs of ancient Persian kings, nobles and deities. But these have suffered over the years from lichen.

“This is the most serious problem, especially for carvings on stones,” said Shahram Rahbar, a conservationist at the site. “If we do nothing, these organisms could reduce these relics to dust within 50 to 100 years,” he said.

Red lichen marks are now etched into many of the ancient relics at Persepolis. The spread of lichens, which dissolve minerals and penetrate stone surfaces, is driven by industrialisation, acid rain and the harsh desert climate, said lichenologist Mohammad Sohrabi.

Iran is home to more than 3,000 species of lichens, with 500 to 700 varieties growing on historical monuments, Mr. Sohrabi said, noting that some at Persepolis were over 1,700 years old.

“Many of Persepolis’s intricate motifs have already been lost due to lichen activity,” he said.