Documentation and Digital Preservation of Syrian Heritage: A German Archive Project for Syria

Since 2013, the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin and the German Archeological Institute (DAI) have hosted a digital archive documenting Syrian heritage and built environment. This project was developed in the face of a war that would destroy places of cultural heritage on a large scale. The archive consists of photos, plans, and documents and includes more than 200,000 items. For long-term storage and attainability they are integrated into the digital world of the DAI. In order to raise awareness and to present the data to a wider audience, selected photos and drawings are bundled into stories on a new website with text in English, Arabic, and German. The project exhibits Syrian cultural heritage in both its tangible and nontangible aspects.