UNESCO-backed exhibit in Rome features 3 destroyed treasures

ROME (AP) - Three archaeological treasures damaged or destroyed by fighting in Syria and Iraq have been reproduced for a UNESCO-sponsored exhibit at the Colosseum.

The exhibit, which opened Thursday, features life-size replicas of the Temple of Bel at Palmyra, the human-headed bull at Nimrud and the Royal Archives at Ebla.

Three Italian companies, guided by archeologists and art historians, used technologies including 3-D printers and materials mimicking sandstone and marble to reconstruct the artifacts. They will be on display until Dec. 16.

Islamic State militants destroyed ruins of the 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel in Palmyra in August 2015 and bulldozed the archaeological site at Nimrud, in Iraq, a few months earlier. The Royal Archives at Ebla, including thousands of cuneiform tablets, have suffered extensive damage during Syria’s war.