The War Memory as Part of the Syrian Cultural Heritage Identity

By classifying the Syrian war as a crisis, when cultural sites are destroyed, it causes damage to the identity of the people. Destroying people’s cultural heritage cracks their belonging by destroying their history and memory. Reconstruction after such destruction marks the beginning of massive change. The destruction of the war ushered in a new chapter in the life of this heritage. The recovery of cultural heritage is crucial because it can be the essential element to bind society in such cases. Yet, reconstruction could easily invite the erasure of a traumatic period of recent history from communal consciousness and thus from collective identity and memory. Consequently, two variables can play a role in the next phase: the destruction of tangible heritage and intangible war memory. Thus, allowing the conflict (the evidence) to be observed and recognised as part of this cultural heritage is a reverse equation; if we view cultural heritage as a resource in and of itself, while memory and identity serve as evidence, we will explore the resource as evidence. The article looks for the philological meaning of war and heritage in relation to memory and identity.