The north entrance of Arthur Evans’s restoration of Knossos in Crete, complete with charging-bull fresco.
The best anyone can say is that they will do the best that can be done. I don’t see how anyone at this moment can vow to fully restore Palmyra unless they plan to ride roughshod over archaeological reality. What is never legitimate is to rebuild ancient monuments using modern materials to replace lost parts – to essentially refabricate them – even though today’s technology makes that seem practical. On the other hand, it may turn out to be more truthful to display the fragments in a specially constructed museum. If enough chunks of masonry and sculpture have survived in sufficiently recognisable shape, it may indeed be possible to re-erect parts of buildings or even entire structures. It will surely take many years to sift through the rubble of the demolished buildings with the appropriate caution and precision. The first job in Palmyra is to assess the damage very, very carefully. Restoration is a delicate art, and the responsible preservation of antiquities has to mean accepting the finality of loss where rebuilding might be deceitful. How can these terrible losses be put right? That seems to be the question archaeologists are asking. The Temple of Baalshamin has also been obliterated. An arch dedicated to the Roman emperor Septimius Severus similarly withstood the centuries until it was brutally demolished last October. Only two columns and a lintel remain after it was blown up by Isis in August 2015. The Temple of Bel stood poignantly as a survival of the city’s ancient religion. Palmyra had some remarkably well-preserved ancient buildings. Russian combat engineers check for mines in the retaken city.
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