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Pictures of the UNESCO World Heritage site of ancient Palmyra taken following the recapture of the city by Syrian troops backed by Russian forces on March 27, 2016 show the damage made by ISIS during its 10-month occupation. In 2015 the archaeologist, Khaled al-Asaad, who had looked after the ruins for 40 years and refused to reveal the location of archaeological treasures of the city was also murdered by ISIS.

Photos taken on March 31, 2016 by Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images

This is tragic, and we shouldn’t forget Khaled al-Asaad, the archaeologist killed by ISIS because he refused to reveal where valuable artefacts had been moved for safekeeping.

Khaled al-Asaad is now part of the history he gave up his life trying to protect, please, never forget about him.

I’m in an Islamic Art class at my university, currently, and my professor has made heroes like Khaled al-Asaad (who was actually hanged from pillars at the site itself, but managed not to give away any information regarding the artifacts, which have since been recovered) a regular part of the curriculum. Because even though the artifacts and monuments are ancient, the preservation of them is a pressing contemporary issue that is actively affecting what we are able to learn and capable of understanding.

My professor had visited several of these sites before the violence made it too difficult for her to travel there; the other day when we were discussing her last trip to Syria, her face suddenly went blank and she distantly noted that most of her colleagues and friends, who studied and worked with her at sites like Palmyra, are now either dead or missing.

Please don’t overlook the lasting consequences war has on the world of art history – it strips away our humanity in the present and denies us the connection to our humanity in the past.