Syria issues postage stamps on liberation anniversary

Director General of the Corporation, Emad Alden Hamad, told Enab Baladithat the stamps will go on sale tomorrow afternoon, 9 December, during the opening of the “Syrian Post Museum” at the Corporation’s headquarters in the al- Hijaz district in central Damascus, and will be made available next week in all provinces through the Corporation’s central directorates in each governorate.

He added that the price of the souvenir card will be 15,000 Syrian pounds, while each of the five stamps will cost 10,000 pounds.

Regarding stamps related to the Assad era, Hamad revealed that these have been removed from the stamp museum’s archive in general, especially those bearing the image of the deposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

Hamad explained that it is still not possible to determine the total number of stamps that have been issued in Syria to date.

On whether the stamps issued today can be used in official transactions in Syria, the Director of the Postal Corporation said that these stamps are classified as “commemorative”, while the stamps used for citizens’ official paperwork are handled through a different system.

The Corporation announced that the “Syrian Post Museum” will open its doors to visitors free of charge on the occasion of Liberation Day between 9 and 12 December.

Hamad said that opening the stamp exhibition free of charge is an invitation to all citizens to discover this artistic heritage and to reconnect with national history through the images and symbols imprinted in Syrians’ collective memory.

Through its postal issues, the Syrian Postal Corporation documents major national events, while its exhibition houses rare collections that reflect different stages in the history of Syria and Arab postal services.

The postage stamp, a Syrian cultural heritage

Ruba Abu Hassan, Director of the Services Department at the Syrian Postal Corporation, told the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on 1 October that since the postage stamp appeared in its current form in 1920, it has not been merely a small piece of paper affixed to a letter, but a living memory that preserves a country’s history and culture, a witness to national, social, and economic milestones, and a companion for individuals in their correspondence and transactions.

Each postage stamp, she said, has documented a particular period in Syria’s history, whether through portraits of presidents such as Hashim al-Atassi and Shukri al-Quwatli, or through special issues for exhibitions and national occasions, so that these releases have formed a visual archive narrating Syrian events with their cultural, social, and national identity.

Abu Hassan pointed to the existence of a stamp museum in Damascus, which preserves the archive of stamp issues since 1920 along with their accompanying postcards, cancellation marks, and all printing tools and mail carrier equipment used to deliver letters, in addition to a unique mosaic panel made from stamp cuttings that shows how the postage stamp itself can be transformed into a creative work of art.

In 1946, the Syrian Philatelic Club was established to bring together stamp enthusiasts of different ages and backgrounds, forming a bridge between hobby and knowledge, history and art.

The Club works to organize regular auctions and exhibitions to exchange stamps and highlight rare pieces, according to its chairman, engineer Haytham Abu Ghazaleh as quoted by SANA.

[Source: Enab Baladi English]