Near the end of my trip, I made two other sojourns to places outside of central/western Syria where I had spent all of my time. The first was to Palmyra (or Tadmor in Arabic), an ancient oasis city in the desert that once was an important caravan stop. The Roman ruins here give a glimpse into how prosperous it once was:
The Temple of Bel:
The other trip was to Beirut–which is of course not in Syria but fairly close to Damascus and accessible by bus or shared taxi. After making it through a relatively complicated border process into Lebanon, I got to spend a day in this amazing but also war-scarred city:
The American University of Beirut:
And an additional bonus: the museum in Beirut actually did allow photos!
The Ahiram Sarcophagus:
The Batnoam Inscription:
All in all, it was quite a fruitful and exciting trip!
3 Comments
Breathtaking!
Great shots, Joe!
These entries are amazing — thanks for the (no doubt teeny) window on Syria!