Satellite View of Dura-Europos on February 14, 2011
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This view of Dura-Europos records the site’s condition on February 14, 2011, a month before the ongoing conflict in Syria initially began on March 15, in connection with the 2011 wider Arab Spring protests. The devastating humanitarian crisis that has ensued together with political instability, high unemployment levels, and economic desperation has sparked a rise in looting at sites and museums across Syria for antiquities to sell on the black market. Looters are paid small amounts for their finds, which are then trafficked along a chain of international smugglers: the smuggling of illicit antiquities funds organized crime, similarly to drugs or arms.