The Tour

Looking back on the trip I think Petra and Krak get the prize for being even more stupendous than imagined, Ugarit for being more interesting and Saladin's tomb for being unexpectedly moving. The real bonus though was the quality of the group I was with. I have never travelled with such a friendly, intelligent, amusing and interesting bunch, it was a very great pleasure.

Last visit to the BM

Islamic, Anglo-Saxon and before both

Back in London

Quite a contrast to Syria

 

Last night with some of the gang in the revolving restaurant on top of the hotel

The souk and the Mosque

 

In the souk

Damascus

 

Carpets in the souk and in the traffic, a memorial in Martyr Square

Damascus

 

The traditional and the new, approaches to just hanging around

Crusader Castles

Saladin's Castle, the gate where Raymond of Tripoli was taken out by the Assassins Cult and the town and crusader tower interior in Safita. Plus Krak des Chevaliers and the pass through from the coastal plain towards Damascus, the Homs gap, which gives Krak both its importance and its wild weather.

Ebla, Apamea and Ugarit

Ebla as a working site was still very nuch in action with excavators finishing off their season. You can see above the kitchen with its grinding stones looking towards the main gate and the destruction layers in the walls. Apamea was a cavalry base with both 300 elephants, that didn't work out as the climate was wrong for them and later 33,ooo horses. The very long and elaborate colonade was unsurprisingly the victim of the frequent earthquakes in the region.
Ugarit, as a part of the Empire that Akhenaten lost to the Hittites despite extreme diplomatic efforts to save it, is very interesting to me. There was more to see than I thought as the guide books were unfairly scathing about it. From the strangely Mycenean front gate to the palace with its plumbing and gardens, the streets, houses of the wealthy with thier inbuilt tombs and water storage arrangements, it was easy to read, admittedly the temple area at the top is more of a jumble but I don't know why the guides strongly implies there was nothing discernable.

Aleppo

This is where the bug got me so I didn't get around that much, probably a lovely place. Citadel, mosque and souk saw me on the run.