Aleppo, Syria

You find yourself in a Near Eastern bazaar and see something like this for sale. Of what value are they? As the fibrous roots of what has become known as the toothbrush tree, they are the best you can buy for brushing your teeth. Miswak dates back to the pre-Islamic past, but the fact that the prophet Muhammad used it regularly assured its continued use. [2001]

Der Ezor, Syria

Shabab by the pond making memories that will last them a lifetime. The days in the early 1990s must now be among their most pleasant memories. By their mid-20s, the so-called Arab Spring hit Syria and was brutally repressed by the regime. What followed was a civil war involving ISIS. Let's hope this group of young men (i.e., shabab) survived. [1993]

Damascus, Syria

Here is (or was) one of the oldest cafés in Damascus. And, here is one of the age-old rituals that goes on every day: relaxing with the narjilah, or water pipe. It has infiltrated American culture as the hookah, a name not used much in Syria. Here is, also, one of the age-old practices that characterizes traditional cities: gendered spaces. [1996]

Damascus, Syria

Cities of the Middle East are known for their court yard houses. From the outside, houses are virtually indistinguishable. All you see from the street is the door. Inside, space unfolds to reveal an open-air patio, sometimes with a well of its own. It is a reminder that throughout the dry world, cities are built around access to water. [1993]

Hamah, Syria

The river is the Orontes (3 syllables). The water wheel is called a nouria, a technology that dates from medieval times. The power of  the flowing stream is used to lift water up to the level of the fields where it is dumped into a canal (see below) for irrigating crops. Hamah has the most famous collection of nourias in the world. [1993]

Aleppo, Syria

That dude must have been flying to plow into the ceiling! Not likely: In Aleppo, traffic always moves at a snail's pace. Maybe this merchant was just trying to get attention. Yes, Aleppo used to be a merchant's city with goods available from far and wide. Perhaps, it will one day return to that role. [1993]

Aleppo, Syria

His ancestors were domesticated in this very region over 3000 years ago. (No, not the boy, the ass.) Three millennia later, they are still navigating the narrow streets of ancient cities. In fact, they are probably providing essential labor as Aleppo rebuilds after the four-year battle that left the city incapacitated. [1996]

Bloudane, Syria

High above the city of Damascus, in the folds of the Lebanese mountains, the Barada River begins. The water is so pure, no treatment is necessary. Just bend down, cup your hands, and imbibe. Eventually, these waters will collect at the base of the mountains and make Damascus one of the world's great oasis cities. [1993]

Der Ezor, Syria

When Raqqa (made ISIS capital in 2014) fell in October, Islamic State's locus of power shifted to Der Ezor, another city on the Euphrates. In early November, however, ISIS forces were routed from Der Ezor. Lest you think Syria is returning to normal, remember that Der Ezor is back in the hands of the government, but Raqqa is now under Kurdish control. [1993]

Aleppo, Syria

The mosque of Abraham, centerpiece of Aleppo's citadel, is built on the spot where father Abraham stopped to milk his cow on the way from Haran to Canaan. That event gives Aleppo it name: Haleb. The Arabic word for milk is halib. Aleppo, or Alep, is a French corruption of Haleb.[1993]

Raqqa, Syria

Fresh fish for sale in Raqqa even though it is hundreds of miles from the sea. Where did it come from? The nearby Euphrates. And, in that answer, is a key to understanding why the city is now the capital of a defacto state. [1993]

Maaloula, Syria

Maaloula's built environment crawls and crowds up the hillsides as if space were at a premium. Americans would quickly let the town sprawl over the triangle of green down below. But that would subtract arable land from the carrying capacity equation. It's far better to let agriculture occupy the oasis and let houses push into the dry margins. [1993]

Aleppo, Syria

Happy people make a happy place. Aleppo is no longer a happy place. Syria could have bucked the trend and tried a different path. The hereditary dictatorship could have looked around, seen what was happening in other Arab countries, and said: "We will try to manage the transition to a multi-party democracy peacefully." [1995]

Maaloula, Syria

Perhaps the world's oldest Christian altar was in the Church of Mar Sarkis in Maaloula. The lip around its edge betrays its use for pre-Christian animal sacrifice, which the crucifixion of Jesus made unnecessary. It survived the transition from pre-Christian to Christian times but it could not survive the Syrian civil war. Mar Sarkis has been destroyed. [1996]

Raqqa, Syria

Five young men dedicated to keeping Syria running on four wheels. Twenty-three years ago, their home city was on the dusty frontier of the Fertile Crescent. Today, it's the capital of a self-proclaimed, but de facto, independent state: The Islamic State. At least some of these smiling mechanics must still live there. They would be in their early 40s. [1993]

Qamishli, Syria

There's always time for chai (pronounced "shy"), which is nothing more than the Arabic word for tea. How it ever came to mean the spiced tea we consume in the United States is a mystery. In Syria, it is usually served in little glass tumblers, not cups, and always hot, never iced. [1993]

Palmyra, Syria

The Roman city of Palmyra may have been named after its date-producing palms, but it seems to have been equally proud of its grape-producing vines (and wines). So proud, the Palmyrenes built their boastfulness into their architecture. It's easy to recognize the leaves and tendrils, but how do explain the shape of the grapes? [1996]

Palmyra, Syria

For a synoptic view of Palmyra, the ancient city of palms in the middle of the Syrian Desert, you must find someone in town to take you to the nearby heights. If you find the right person, he will have two things: a motorized three-wheeler and a key to the castle. Don't try it now, though, the Islamic State is in control. [1995]

Palmyra, Syria

The ancient Roman city of palms, Palmyra, may soon be no more. It may have survived the elements and marauders for 1800 years, but it may not survive the Islamic State's take-over of the Syrian Desert. Next stop: Damascus, only 150 miles away. This view is from the Ayyubid castle atop a nearby peak. [1995]

THE BACKSTORY ~ Posted on the 11^th Anniversary of Geographically Yours, 4 August 2021: Life in Syria was such an adventure. I lived there in the spring of 1993 as a visiting scholar. A scholar I was, and my mission was to be visiting as much of the country as possible. One of the places that cried out for a visit was Palmyra, the ancient oasis city in the middle of the Syrian Desert. Built by the Romans and abandoned, the city was slowly reclaimed by the desert and then unearthed by the archaeologists. Yes, I wanted to go so badly and would let my friends on the Aleppo University campus know of my desires. ‘Aiwa’ (أيوة), they would say, ‘we will go’ or, on one occasion: ‘The English Department has a special trip planned.’ I thought aiwa meant ‘yes,’ but my three months came and went without ever visiting Palmyra. Three years later, however, I returned to Syria with a friend to set up a seminar for Virginia teachers. That trip was not going to end until I got to the ancient city of palms, where I could ground truth the vocabulary of Roman city planning: forum, cardo, decumanus, tetrapylon. Once there, though, the big picture was hard to grasp: I needed to change scales. The old fort on the top of a nearby hill became the next stop on our itinerary. I hoped that a bird’s-eye view would put the puzzle of Palmyra together for me. But, how to get up there (‘cause it wasn’t that close)? We started asking around the ruins. Local voices always know: ‘The old fort is locked,’ they said, so you must go into town (the adjacent modern town named Tadmur) and find the man who has the key. We did, and not only did he have the key, he also had a three-wheel drive. The elevation of the fortress (built to protect the date palms and the caravan trade) gave us the perfect wide-angle view. Suddenly, geographical relationships became clear: This was a place in the desert where water collected underground, setting the stage for palm groves that seemed to go on forever. When you are walking down the cardo of the ruins, however, you would never guess that a super-sized palmarie was at hand. That’s because the ancients knew where to build a city: not in the oasis, which yielded wealth in the form of dates, but perched on the up-slope ledge where the desert begins. The size of the oasis clarified two more pieces of the puzzle: With all those dates, of course (1) you would need a service center the size of Palmyra, and (2) caravans would find it profitable to brave a great desert to get there. To finish the story, though, required another change of scale and a map of the Fertile Crescent: Palmyra is halfway between the Euphrates River in the east and Damascus, a far greater oasis city, in the west. The water and wealth of Palmyra made the short-cut between the two sides of the Fertile Crescent, an alternative to following the arch. D.J.Z.

Aleppo, Syria

In 1993, Easter fell on April 11, and the Armenian Protestants of Aleppo gathered to celebrate Christ's resurrection. The only difference between their service and an American service was the language. The bulletin itself (see it?) looks like it rolled off an American press. How have the Armenians fared in Syria? Anyone know? [1993]