3D printing Palmyra: What it means to recreate a city destroyed by ISIS

The destruction at the ancient city of Palmyra symbolizes the suffering of the Syrian people at the hands of the terrorist group known as Islamic State (ISIS). Palmyra was a largely Roman city located at a desert oasis on a vital crossroad, and "one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world." Its remarkable preservation highlighted an intermingling of cultures that today, as then, came to stand for the tolerance and multiculturalism that pre-conflict Syria was renowned for -- tolerance that ISIS seeks to eradicate. Early in the conflict, the area was heavily fortified. Roads and embankments were dug through the necropolises and the Roman walls, and the historic citadel defenses were upgraded.