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| Euphrates
River: The rivers in Syria, southwest Asia, are
essential to the country’s agricultural communities.
Here, Syria’s longest river, the Euphrates, runs
through Karkemish. The river, because of its size, supplies
much of the water needed to irrigate the country’s
large land tracts. |
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| Mari (Tel Hariri): It
is located near Abu Kamal. This kingdom dates back to
the 3rd millenium B.C. Kings of the 10th dynasty ruled
it after the flood. The discovery of Mari (1932), like
the discovery of Ebla (1975), attracted the attention
of archaeologists and researchers in various fields. Twenty
thousand tablets with their cuneiform inscription recount
the political and diplomatic life in these kingdoms. Many
of the remains and relics, statues, jewels, tablets and
stamps, are now at the Damascus, Aleppo, Deir al- Zor
and Paris museums.
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| Palmyra:
The bride of the desert is located at a distance of 235
Kms east of Damascus beyond Al-Qaryatein and Quaser al-'
Hir Al-Gharbi at a distance of 160 Kms East of Homs. Its
intermediate geographic position made it the most important
commercial center between Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean
Sea.
Excavations show that it was inhabited since the Paleolithic
age.
It was inhabited by the Cannanites, the Arameans, then
it yielded to the Romans in the first century A.D.and
was conquered by the Moslem Arabs under the leadership
of Khaled Ibn el-Waleed in 636 A.D. (a separate brochure
for Palmyra is available).
The most important ruins in Palmyra:
Bel's Temple, Bel-Shamen Temple, Beon Temple, The Straight
Street of Columns, The Theater, The Stadium (Forum),
The Tombs, The museum, The Citadel of Fakhr Eddin Al-Ma'ni,
the Sulphuric Spring.
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Castle of the Knights:
The medieval citadel known as the Castle of the Knights
is near the Orontes River in ?ims, also known as Homs,
Syria.
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| Bosra :
Situated on the plain of Horan, 140 kms. south of Damascus.
It is thought to be a very ancient town, being mentioned
in tablets by "Thutmose the Third" and "Akhnatoun",
in the 14th century B.C. It has been one of the first
Nabathean cities in the second century B.C. named "Bohara"
whereas in the Hellinistic period it bore the name "Bostra"
Then the Romans arrived, and during the king Trojan days
made it a capital of the state of the Djesire under the
name of "Niatrojana Bosra". At that name the
city underwent a great housing development being an important
center for caravans as well as the seat of the emperial
ruler. Even after the Roman domination, Bosra maintained
its role during the early Christianity as well as at the
rise of Islam. In this place lived a Nestorian monk named
"Buheira". One day he met a young man named
"Mohammed ben Abdulla", who was passing with
his caravan and predicted his prophecy, and his call for
Islam. The most spectacular site of Bosra, most certainly,
would be its famous Roman theater that dates back to
the 2nd century, and is considered to be as one of the
most intact and the most beautiful Roman theaters known
to us.
It seats fifteen thousand spectators. Its stage is 45
m Long and attains 8 m . in which local entertainment's
as well as pan Arabic and international ones are shown.
The town has many other vestiges such as Nabathean
ruins (remnants of walls), Roman ones, (a Triumph Arch
and public baths), Byzantine traces (a cathedral and
remnants of the church of "Buheira" the monk)
and finally some Islamic vestiges such as the Mabrak
and the Arous mosques ,the citadel and the pool. The
most ancient Islamic square minarets can be seen in
this town.
A new international hotel has been inaugurated to welcome
visitors.
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Damascus:
Damascus is one of the world’s oldest continuously
inhabited cities. The city is believed to have been the
capital of an ancient Egyptian city-state and has long
been an important trading center. Today, modern buildings
such as the State Bank of Syria, shown on the right, stand
beside historic squares.
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Maaloula:
This famous village is some 56 Kilometers from Damascus,
and is situated at an altitude of more than 1500 meters.
Its little houses cling to the face of more than 1500
metres. Its little houses cling to the face of an enormous
rock; they look suspended in mind-air . There are two
monasteries here: Saint Sergius and Saint Taqla's. The
inhabitants still speak Aramaic, the language spoken by
Christ. Two neighbouring villages, Jaba'din and Naj'a
also speak the same language. The word Maaloula means
'entrance' in Aramaic.
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| Lattakia:
Lattakia is Syria’s main sea-port on the Mediterranean.
It has retained its importance since ancient times. Lattakia
was one of the five cities built by Saluqos Nikator in
the 2nd century B.C. He named it after his mother, Laudetia.
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| Qal'aat Samaan:
The Basilica of St.Simeon 60 kilometers from Aleppo. The
basilica was erected at the end of 5th century in honour
of St. Simeon Stylite. built in the shape of an octagon,
at its center stood the pillar on which St.Simeon lived
and preached for 40 years. The basilica is an example
of the beauty attained by Syria architects of the Byzantine
period. In the 10th century fortifications were built
around the structure, hence it received the name "castle"
(Qal'aat Samaan). |
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| Abraham Mosque:
The Abraham Mosque, or Maqam Ibrahim, lies south of ?alab,
Syria. The mosque is built over the rock where, according
to legend, biblical patriarch Abraham rested while leaving
the city. |
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| Aleppo:
Is the second city of Syria and rivals the capital
Damascus. It boasts many souks, some fine mosques and
interesting museum containing magnificent oriental archeological
exhibits. The Citadel dominating Aleppo is a masterpiece
of Arab military architecture. The Museum of Aleppo
contains masterpieces of ancient Oriental archeology
-visit of the old city with its teeming streets and
of the Citadel dominating the labyrinth of the richest
and most fascinating souks of the orient.
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| Hama: It
is a very ancient city, which has flourished continually
since ancient times, and has known the successive civilizations
the Fertile Crescent. Hama has a long heroic history
in defending Syria against foreign invasions. One of
the outstanding battles was that of Qarqar, where the
A Syrian army was defeated in 853 B.C. Unfortunately,
few of its ancient relics have been preserved. However,
Hama is well known for its enormous waterwheels (noriahs)
on the Orontes, which are as old as Hama itself. |
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Ancient City of Aleppo:
Located at the crossroads of various trade routes since
the 2nd millenium B.C., Aleppo was ruled successively
by the Hittites, Assyrians, Arabs, Mongols, Mamelukes
and Ottomans. Its 13th-century citadel, its 12th-century
Great Mosque and various 17th-century medersas, palaces,
caravanserais and hammams give it a cohesive and unique
urban fabric, now threatened by overpopulation.
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Site of Palmyra: An oasis
in the Syrian desert, north-east of Damascus, Palmyra
contains the monumental ruins of a great city that was
one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient
world. The art and architecture of Palmyra, at the crossroads
of several civilizations from the 1st to the 2nd century,
married Graeco-Roman techniques with local traditions
and Persian influences.
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| The National Museum
of Damascus: This museum contains a world-class
archaeological and historical collection. There are two
wings to this Museum, the east wing and the west wing.
The west wing contains pre-classical and Arab Islamic
collections, and the east wing contains Classical and
Byzantine collections. The façade of this museum
is fragments of the twin-towered gateway of Qasr al Heir.
The west wing has rooms devoted to Ras Shamra (Ugarit)
with small clay tablets of what is known to be the oldest
Alphabet in the world, the Ugaritic Alphabet. It also
contains the ivory head of an unknown prince, a collection
of cylinder seals, and Mycenaean pottery imported from
Greece. Another room is devoted to Mari, the Bronze
Age sight on the Euphrates. Here you will find the 3rd
Millennium treasure of King Cansud. Further on, you
will find a room concentrating on finds from Raqqa,
the Abbassid city on the Euphrates. Another hall contains
Islamic jewelry, coins and armor, and the final hall
is the Damascus Salon, a wood-and-marble paneled room
from an 18th-century palace. |
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