Last night with some of the gang in the revolving restaurant on top of the hotel
Saturday, October 31, 2009
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.
Friday, October 30, 2009
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.
Justinian's Vision
We visited two centres that both gained major fortifications under Justinian as part of his doomed plan to revive the power of the old Roman Empire. One on the Euphrates was known as Zenobia the other in the desert had as its heart the church of Bishop Sergius
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)