Introduction

Aleppo is probably the world’s oldest continuously inhabited urban centre, and its Old City is among the most important in the eastern Mediterranean region. Partially destroyed, in some quarters razed, the city is threatened by further deterioration and ad hoc reconstruction works. In response to these threats, the Museum for Islamic Art – Berlin State Museums is creating a catalogue documenting the Old City’s most prominent monuments. The built heritage of the city, whose importance is recognized worldwide, is being recorded for posterity and attested to as worthy of preservation in the present. This multifaceted documentation will also provide concrete help with the reconstruction.

The Aleppo Heritage Catalogue is an important part of the Syrian Heritage Archive Project at the Museum for Islamic Art in the Pergamon Museum. Since 2017, it has been financed by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung. Each catalogue entry focuses on the following elements of a major historic building:

Photos, showing the monument before 2011, based on the digital databank of the “Syrian Heritage Archive Project”
Reports and materials concerning damage, carried out by the “Aleppo Built Heritage Documentation Project”, being part of the “Syrian Heritage Archive Project” (which is also financed by the Gerda Henkel Foundation)
Art and architectural history of the buildings, written by Aleppine and international researchers and art historians.
Endowment history: the social history/urban historical background of the structures.
Memories of Aleppine people in relation to these buildings and its neighbourhoods in the form of texts, voice records and films.
Detailed drawings and plans of the buildings.

The Aleppo Heritage Catalogue aims to raise awareness. This means communicating with Aleppines and other Syrians about the cultural heritage of their city and country in their mother language, regardless of their political affiliation or economic and social status. Such communication could help launch a discussion among the inhabitants of Aleppo, groups with different interests, and experts. This also entails raising awareness of the Old City’s value, especially as regards its social and historical worth, responsible preservation and reconstruction.

Classic Aleppine salon music and the rich Aleppine kitchen are legendary all over the Arab world. Actors from all parts of society are invited to help document Aleppo’s intangible heritage by sharing their personal memories of these facets of life in the city.

Aleppo’s has been a multi-religious and multi-ethnic society enlivened in the city’s narrow meandering alleys, in which vibrant traditional crafts thrived. The meticulously crafted mosques, churches, commercial buildings and markets testify to the beauty and wealth of Aleppo as a former trading hub on the Silk Road.

The “Aleppo Heritage Catalogue” project extends its interests to actively sensitize the national and international media, and consequently public awareness of the importance of these monuments and their preservation. All texts are available in two languages: English and Arabic. In cooperation with UNESCO, the materials produced within the project will be available as a basis for reconstruction work.

This work was conducted in collaboration with several researchers, each of whom is mentioned at his/her due contribution. In addition, following up and managing the project, included collecting, developing, editing, layoutting, and translating the texts; all was made possible through the work team consisting of Dima Dayoub, Zoya Masoud, Hiba Bizreh, and the director of the Museum for Islamic Art in Berlin, Stefan Weber.

The following authors contributed to this catalogue: Stefan Knost, Ross Burns, Lorenz Korn, Ruba Kasmo, Miriam Kühn, Rami Al-Afandi, Michael Braune, Klaus Kreiser, Anette Gangler & Jean-Claude David.