Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
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Damascus, SANA – Experts at the General Directorate of Archeology and Museums began restoring the mosaic on the outer façade of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, which was damaged by a terrorist mortar attack.
Head of the Directorate Maamoun Abdelkarim said that a committee of experts was formed to document the state of mosaics in the mosque, discovering that the mosaic on the façade is in a poor condition and could crumble, leading to forming a team to restore the mosaic which hasn’t been repaired since the fire that broke out in the mosque in 1893.
Experts believe that parts of this mosaic date back to the 11th century, while other parts date back to the 12th century. It depicts structures and trees consistent with the decorations of the mosque, and experts say that the restoration process will uncover more details.
The experts in charge of restoring the mosaic said the piece is suffering from separations from the walls bearing it, in addition to protruding and fractures and carbon layers around 1-2 mm thick caused by fire, in addition to a layer of bird droppings.
They said the restoration process began by supporting damaged parts, removing carbon precipitation, and bringing out the colors of the individual mosaic pieces.
The Umayyad Mosque in Damascus is the largest structure dating back to the Umayyad era, and it still contains intact elements from that era, namely the time of Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid Bin Abdelmalek (705-717 AD).
H. Sabbagh
