A heavy black basalt stele decorated with a carved eagle and Greek inscription has been unearthed in Manbij, a town east of Aleppo, Syria. It features an eagle with open wings clutching a wreath in its talons. Archaeologists believe it is about 2,000 years old and is either a funerary stele from a Roman-era grave.The stone was first spotted by a local resident behind the Cardamom wholesale market. He reported it to the Directorate of Museums and Antiquities who sent a team to excavate the stele and recover it.The civil war has taken an enormous toll on Syrias cultural patrimony. According to the Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums, approximately one million ancient artifacts have been looted been 2011 and 2019, and more than 700 archaeological sites have taken heavy damage.Manbij became a hotbed of antiquities smuggling during the war. Digging for treasure was a controlled cronyism system under the Assad regime, and when the Free Syrian Army (FSA) took control of the city in 2012, the lack of oversight led to a proliferation of crude, disorganized looting operations. ISIS instituted a licensing system when it took control in 2014, allowing anybody to dig for antiquities on their land as long as they got a permit first. Anything they discovered that was made of precious metals or ceramic finders had to pay a portion of their value to the ISIS government. Any artifacts they found with figural depictions had to be handed over to ISIS for destruction.When the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) ousted ISIS in 2016, its leadership became involved directly or by proxy in excavations, they enacted informal protection rackets where locals were provided security in exchange for antiquities and they allowed people with connections to the leadership to excavate inside the city, claiming a 60% cut of its value or seizing the discoveries until a financial arrangement was made.It was during the SDF rule that Manbij became something of an open market for antiquities smuggling. Stolen artifacts from bespoiled Palmyra, Raqqa and Hasakah were transported to Manbij where they would be prepared for illegal export to bordering countries and from there to the rest of the world.The stele has been transferred to the old bathhouse site in the city where it will be kept secure until it is transferred to Aleppo for further study.