Khaled al-Asaad was the longtime director of antiquities at the ancient city of Palmyra, dedicating over 50 years of his life to excavating, protecting, and restoring this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Known as “Mr. Palmyra”, he was a world-renowned scholar, author of more than 20 books, and one of the very few experts fluent in the ancient Palmyrene language. As the Syrian Civil War escalated, European countries offered him citizenship and safe residence—but he refused to abandon his homeland or

Site of Palmyra (UNESCO/NHK)