This presentation outlines the earliest Armenian pilgrimages to the killing fields of Dayr al-Zur (Der Zor)

in the Syrian Desert. It is there that Armenians interacted with the remains of Armenians murdered during

the Armenian Genocide (1915-1918) in acts of remembrance. Semerdjian discusses the origins of the

now-destroyed Armenian Genocide Memorial in Dayr al-Zur and the ritual and collection habits of

pilgrims that enact what she calls bone memory. Using archival documents and oral histories, she

presents the genesis of these memory practices that largely halted during the Syrian War.