With ISIS’ control of Palmyra, many fear the extremist group will go on to destroy the historical artifacts of the ancient Syrian city. Al Azhar, one of the oldest universities in the world and a center of Sunni Muslim learning, released a statement which stressed that “protecting archaeological sites from destruction and plundering is the battle of all humanity.” The Cairo-based institution further said, “We have to unite our efforts in order to protect one of the most important archaeological cities in the Middle East from being destroyed by Daesh [ISIS]”.
