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Syria: Crossroads of Civilizations

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Scientists originally believed Syria was one of the lower civilizations, only inhabited by illiterate nomads. An archaeological discovery in the seventies proved however, that even before Aleppo and Damascus flourished as part of the trade route between east and west, Syria held its own next to Egypt and Mesopotamia among the oldest known civilizations in the world. Dutch tourists marvel at the amphitheatre in Palmyra: 'To think we call the Arabs uncivilized!' The gates, temples and colonnaded streets in the old city were indeed built by the local people, but they did so under Roman rule. The Bedouins still tend sheep in the desert even though their tents are now made out of plastic bags instead of goat hide.
Maloula, a village close to Damascus, is one of the oldest centres of Christianity. Aramaic, the language of Jesus, is still spoken in this area. Caves in the mountain range have sheltered early Christians who sought refuge from persecution. Next to a tourist attraction, Maloula has become a popular spot for city people to build a second home. The Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, one of the Great Holy sites of Islam, is built on the ruins of a basilica for John the Baptist that was destroyed by the first Islamic invaders. A shrine inside the mosque is said to hold his head. The Christian population is now a small minority in Syria. In Jdaide, the Christian Quarter in Aleppo, the streets are full of families and merchants on Sundays.
When the western European Crusaders came to the East to wage war against what they considered the infidels, the fortress Krak des Chevaliers functioned as their base. A traveller cannot escape the signs of the ongoing war in neighbouring Iraq. En route to Palmyra, our 4WD is overtaken by Iraqi plated vehicles: taxi's, buses and private cars loaded with barrels of water, oil, and other supplies either unaffordable or unobtainable in the country. At the eve of the first democratic elections in Iraq, when observers from the UN are arriving in Damascus, insurgents and US troops come to violent clashes.