Between 2013 and 2017, the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) together with the Museum of Islamic Art (MIK) secured research data on Syrian cultural artefacts in a cooperation project, thereby laying the foundations for future tasks in the field of cultural preservation. The Federal Foreign Office funded the project as part of its cultural preservation programme.

With its impressive monuments and archaeological records, Syria is one of the most historically significant cultural landscapes in the world. The war in the country has left a broad trail of destruction since 2011, including archaeological and historical monuments.

The DAI and the MIK have therefore set themselves the task of recording their extensive data holdings, which also extend beyond the institute's own research, and creating a digital register of Syrian cultural artefacts. Important private and research archives made available, completes this database.

The data was entered, structured and standardised in the DAI's digital research environment ( iDAI.world ). Sustainable preservation was a primary concern (Recommendations for Sustainable Data Preservation for Classical Studies. System components such as iDAI.objects/Arachne (image database of the DAI), iDAI.gazetteer (archaeological site database) and the iDAI.Geoserver (plans and maps) were also used. Data records for the respective sites were also linked to relevant literature references (monographs and journal articles) from the library database iDAI.bibliography/Zenon . An analysis with a thematic focus and/or an application in the field of cultural preservation (e.g. damage mapping) is therefore possible.

The work in SHAP is part of the larger network "Stunde Null - A Future for the Time after the Crisis", which in turn is under the umbrella of the Archaeological Heritage Network (ArcHerNet).