玛莽·阿布杜凯如博士为“考古学最终代表社会凝聚力”树立了一个光辉的榜样。该奖项表彰了他在叙利亚乃至整个世界考古学领域的独创性和勇气。

2012年以来，正值叙利亚战争开始后不久，玛莽·阿布杜凯如博士迅速采取措施，撤走并保护叙利亚所有博物馆（所有地区和主要遗址）的文物。这不单单是一个后勤问题，他还着手去劝说叙利亚国家文物与博物馆总局的大量官员，树立了一种强烈的文化价值观，以此作为抵御野蛮行为的堡垒。这一点尤为重要，因为在他任职期间，有十五名成员遇害，其中一些成员遇害的手段非常残暴。此外，他还在全国开展了广泛的教育活动。在战争期间，他在全国范围内倡导广泛的公共运动、组织学术会议，并在学术活动中积极发表文物与博物馆总局的系列学术成果，从恐怖主义控制中恢复过来的地区（巴尔米拉和马拉拉）就是最好的例子；他还不知疲累地开展了一系列的海外讲演，向世界各地介绍叙利亚的情况。他之所以这么做，是因为他深刻地理解了考古学是什么。在这个国家发生重大分裂的时期，他的所作所为向我们展示，一个人能够，且应该为了国家去扮演一个“超级角色”。换句话说，他坚持不懈地努力表明，坚持基本原则应始终是唯一的目标，他不妥协，只为减轻他人的诋毁与恶意。上海世界考古论坛授予他奖项，因为他学术的卓越与优秀如灯塔一般，这是考古学在面对暴力和政治利益时的光辉所在。他向媒体发表了一份勇敢的声明：“叙利亚国家文物与博物馆总局（DGAM）在现阶段主要关注的是保护叙利亚文化遗产的所有组成部分，因为这是叙利亚民族的历史，是民族的遗产与记忆。这些文化遗产属于所有的叙利亚人，不论其观点和政治取向如何。出于这一愿景，叙利亚国家文物与博物馆总局一直保持专业、科学和有效，其成员在所有地方省份都保持团结，并在许多地区和地区取得了成功。”

有关他的成就的一些细节，将有助于正确看待他的工作和获奖的原因。叙利亚国家文物与博物馆总局在全国拥有约2500名成员，是阿拉伯国家最大的致力于文化遗产的机构之一。在战前，它与约80个外国科学使团进行了合作，而34个主要博物馆的撤离工作则在2012年底前迅速确定并实施。30万件文物被存放于城市间的安全之处，珍贵的档案也得到了相应的安置。博物馆建筑和大型且不可移动的大件遗存也得到了保护。为保护考古遗址，他们招募了更多的警卫。但文化遗址的数量有10000有余处，其中许多都位于偏远地区。在几个星期前的第二波疏散期间，来自受威胁城市代尔祖祖尔的13000件文物被运送到大马士革，运送文物的军用飞机同时也载有战死的士兵尸骸。来自霍姆斯博物馆的6000件文物被转移至陆军护卫队。德拉博物馆发掘出土的其他文物也被安全地存放在首都。

除了上述数据和事实之外，必须强调的是，玛莽·阿布杜凯如令人理解和尊重的关键性因素，就在于叙利亚国家文物与博物馆总局将保护工作与当地社区紧密联系在一起，他们的工作人员正在为新的任务做好准备。他们举办有关文物非法交易或战争对文物破坏的研习会和培训班，也与大学、专业组织、非政府组织和民间社会建立了协调关系。他们也与媒体一起举办全国宣传活动，包括大型公共海报宣传和展览。最新的计算机技术很快就被用于库存工作之中。来自大马士革国家博物馆的大约77,000件藏品信息都已电子化，其他博物馆的50％比例的藏品也是如此。互动式地图已经包含了8000个已登记过的遗址，另外还有一个地图是专门针对受损遗址的。在阿勒颇，一些建筑遗址的保护计划也已数字化。同时，他们还建立了一个阿拉伯文和英文的双语网站，用以介绍相关新闻和活动；网站中更新的文字内容和图片内容，在严肃性与可信性方面，已广泛获得了赞誉。

Dr. Maamoun Abdulkarim is a shining example of what archaeology ultimately stands for in terms of social cohesiveness. The award recognizes both the originality and the courage of what he has done not just for Syria, but for the whole field.

Since 2012, and thus shorty after the start of war in Syria, Dr. Abdulkarim took quickly measures for the evacuation and safeguard of the objects in all Museums in Syria (one for every region and others at major sites). This was not just a logistic matter. He set out to motivate the large number of functionaries in the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums, offering a strong image of commitment to the value of culture as a bulwark against barbarism. This was all the more significant as, during his tenure, fifteen members of the Directorate were killed, some of them quite brutally. He also mounted a broad campaign of education in the country, right in the middle of war, with an extensive public campaign throughout the country, the organization of scholarly gatherings, the very active publication of scholarly series within the Directorate, the intense restoration work in areas recovered from terrorist control (Palmyra and Ma’lula are prime examples), and an unrelenting series of travels abroad to present the case of Syria to the world. This he managed to do because of his deep understanding of what archaeology is all about. He was able to show, at a moment when great divisions were happening in the country, that one could, and should, remain super parts. In other words, he unremittingly showed that adhering to the basic principles of the discipline should always be the only goal, without compromises aimed at mitigating slander and ill will. The SAF award points to him as a beacon of scholarly excellence. It is the excellence of archaeology in face of base violence and of political gain. Here is a courageous statement he gave the press: “The main concern of the DGAM at this stage is to protect the Syrian cultural heritage with all its components as it is the history, heritage and memory of the Syrian nation. The cultural heritage belongs to all Syrians irrespective of their views and political orientations. Thanks to that vision, the performance of DGAM has been professional, scientific and effective and its team members have remained united in all governorates, and their efforts have resulted in success in many cases and regions.”

Details about his accomplishments will help put in the right perspective his work and the reason for the award. With about 2,500 employees in the whole country, the DGAM is comparatively one of the largest institutions devoted to cultural heritage in Arab countries. It had a working collaboration with about 80 foreign scientific missions before the war. The evacuation of the 34 major museums was quickly decided and implemented before the end of 2012. 300,000 objects were stored in safe places, city by city. Archives too. Protection was secured for museum buildings and for heavy or large unmovable pieces. Additional guards were recruited for the protection of archaeological sites, but the number of cultural sites reaches 10,000 and many of them are located in remote areas. During a second wave of evacuation, 13,000 objects from the threatened city of Deir Ez-zor were brought to Damascus, a few weeks ago, in Army planes also carrying the bodies of dead soldiers. 6,000 other pieces from Homs museum were brought in an Army convoy. Other pieces from Deraa museum were unearthed to be also more safely stored in the capital.

Beyond figures and facts, it must be stressed that Maamoun Abdulkarim understands the importance of the human factor, which is why local communities have come to be associated to the DGAM protection efforts and his staff is increasingly prepared to its new missions. Workshops and Training sessions are organised about illegal trafficking or war damage. A co-ordination is set up with universities, professional organisations, NGOs and the civil society at large. National awareness raising campaigns are organised with the media including large public posters and exhibitions. Up to date computer techniques were soon used for inventories. Files of about 77,000 objects from Damascus national museum were apidly computerised and so were 50% from other museums. An interactive map has included 8,000 registered sites and another one was set up for damaged sites. Some architectural plans were digitalised in Aleppo. A bilingual Arabic and English web site was created presenting news and activities. Its written and graphical updated content has widely gained a reputation of seriousness and credibility.