Damascus, Syria's tangible cultural heritage witnessed many important events during 2023, though it was affected at the beginning of the year by the 6th February earthquake which hit many archaeological sites in some provinces. The most notable event of the year was President Bashar al-Assad's awarding of the Syrian Order of Merit of the excellent degree to the Italian archaeologist Paolo Mattei who has discovered Ebla. Najah Al-Attar, Vice-President of the Republic, awarded the Order of Merit to Mr. Mattei in appreciation of his important achievements in archaeological exploration in the Kingdom of Ebla throughout 59 years of archaeological and research work. On February 6, a devastating earthquake struck many Syrian provinces that affected some archaeological sites in Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Tartous. The Antiquities and Museums Directorate issued reports assessing the extent of the damage inflicted on those sites. on February 19th, Damascus city came under an Israeli aggression that caused major damage to the Technical Institute of Applied Arts and the Intermediate Institute of Antiquities and Museums in the Damascus Citadel. On April 13, the Czech National Museum in Prague organized an exhibition of Syrian antiquities which displayed artifacts that were damaged during the terrorist war on Syria, as most of these pieces date back to the Bronze Age from the period extending between 1500 and 2500 BC. With Syria's participation, the Council for the Protection of the Asian Cultural Heritage was inaugurated in China on April 24th with the aim of cooperating to protect the archaeological cultural heritage and supporting efforts to recover and combat the smuggling of monuments. On July 24, the Directorate of Antiquities and Museums, in cooperation with the Russian Volunteer Expeditionary Corps, began the first phase of a project to restore the façade of the ancient Palmyra Theater, which was destroyed as a result of attacks by the terrorist organization 'Daesh' before it was defeated. 30 July, the National Mus eum of Aleppo opened an exhibition titled 'History of Islamic coins', organized by the Antiquities and Museums Directorate, and included 19 paintings of the most prominent coins used during the historical Islamic period in Syria and Aleppo in particular. On August 4th, (The Oath of Cyriacus) film won the first prize at the 19th Annual Archaeological Film Festival which was held in the Valley of the Temples Archaeological Park in Italy. On September 14 and in cooperation with the National Museum in the Sultanate of Oman, Syria recovered artifacts that had been smuggled abroad, where they were found in the British Museum in the United Kingdom. During 2023, many foreign tourist groups visited the city of Busra al-Sham, inspecting its archaeological and urban landmarks. Source: Syrian Arab News Agency