Children play on ruins of al-Kfeir in Syria, March 24, 2021. So many people have fled to Syrias crowded northwest during the countrys 10-year civil war that families have settled in important archaeological sites. Ivor Prickett/The New York Times.
by Ben Hubbard
(NYT NEWS SERVICE)
.- As the sun set, children in dirty clothes and battered shoes herded sheep past the towering stone walls of a Byzantine settlement abandoned more than 1,000 years ago, leading them into a nearby ancient cave where the animals would spend the night. Laundry hung near the semicylindrical wall of a ruined, centuries-old church. Vegetables grew between the remnants of two rectangular doorways ornamented with carved leaf patterns. Scattered about were giant cut stones from what had once been an extensive town. It was here, at the vast archaeological site of al-Kfeir, Syria, where Abu Ramadan and his family sought shelter more than a year ago after fleeing a Syrian government assault. Theyve been here ever since. Ramadan, 38, said he cared little for the sites history as a trading and agricultural center, but he appreciated the sturdy walls that blunted the wind and the abundance of cut stones that a family who had lost everything could salvage to piece together a new life. ... More