Those behind the project hope it will later be taken to Palmyra next year, and find a permanent home near the original arch.
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Getty ImagesThe replica of Palmyra’s Arch of Triumph fully assembled in front of the Carrara marble caves on April 12, 2016 in Carrara, Italy.
The world was appalled in May a year ago when Isis captured Palmyra and set about using dynamite, bulldozers and pickaxes to destroy monuments at the Unesco World Heritage site.
The arch is the highest-profile project yet for the IDA, which is also working on building a Million Image Database of 3D pictures of threatened monuments in conflict zones throughout the Middle East and north Africa.
The institute revealed its plans to recreate artefacts destroyed by IS – known as “Daesh” by its opponents – last August, following the group’s obliteration of the 2,000-year-old temple of Baal Shamin in Palmyra.
London was chosen for the arch’s unveiling because it was rebuilt after it was bombed during World War II.
The replica will be on display for three days before moving to other locations, including NY and Dubai.
The triumphal arch in the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria, circa 1880.
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The six-metre Egyptian marble replica is about two-thirds the size of the original.
Roger Michel, executive director of the IDA told The Guardian: “Monuments – as embodiments of history, religion, art and science – are significant and complex repositories of cultural narratives”.
Syria’s top antiquities official, Dr. Maamoun Abdulkarim, was in London to watch the arch being installed.
Five months later, the terror group demolished the arch, which was built between 193 and 211 AD, for the Roman emperor Septimiuis Severus.
Mr Abdulkarim, who visited Palmyra a week after its liberation from Isis, admitted: “We can never have the same image as before Isis”. “What you destroy, we can create again”.
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The installation of the replica, which cost about £100,000 to create, has taken place during World Heritage Week. Well, to help raise awareness of the importance of historic sites as part of this year’s World Heritage Week.
