The End of the Syrian Segment

That night we all slept terribly, waking in the middle of the night from the window screens banging in the howling wind, later for the pre-dawn call to prayer, then at dawn to see the ruins at sunrise.

After our breakfast buffet at the hotel’s rooftop restaurant overlooking the Roman ruins, we walked the 10 or 15 minutes to the site. We walked on our own until approached by a Bedouin guide with his two camels and he asked us if we wanted a tour by camel. Of course we did, so with my mom on one and me and my dad on the other, he led us for the next hour or so to Zenobia’s palace, where we were met by a Bedouin woman and her two little kids who offered us tea and then many souvenirs, and then back on the outskirts of the ruins where we could see workers reconstructing the ancient walls around the city.

We paid our guide the $7 then continued to explore on foot, picking up another guide inside the huge Temple of Bel (god of gods).

So. A little background. The city was first referred to as ‘the Oasis’ (according to Assyrian tablets from 20th century BCE) and became wealthy because of its strategic location for caravans travelling along the trade routes from al-Sham (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan) to Iraq, trading in goods from across the Silk Road (which stretched from China to the Mediterranean). In the 2nd century BCE, Tadmur was conquered by the Roman Empire and was renamed Palmyra, “city of palms,” and became even wealthier from taxes imposed on the caravans. Then it was declared a ‘free city’ and later a Roman colony (I don’t understand how those two terms go together), which exempted the city from luxury taxes and only further increased its wealth.

When one ruler was mysteriously assassinated, his wife Zenobia, known for her strong character, beauty and intelligence, took the throne and soon conquered all of (Greater) Syria, down into Egypt and east into Asia Minor, controlling all the trade routes to the Far East. Money was coined with her face instead of the Roman emperor, but eventually the emperor took offense and reconquered his lost lands.

One more $5 (for the three) bus ride back to Damascus, and we dropped our bags at our hotel before going to my house to meet my hostfamily for dinner. Leila had prepared a feast for my parents: yalanji (vegetarian rolled grape leaves), tabbouleh, musakhan (Jordanian rolls stuffed with chicken and pomegranate juice), sheesh barak (“old man’s ears,” cooked yogurt and herbs with meat dumplings), fruit salad, apple walnut cake, tea, coffee and mango juice. My hostfather tried to convince us to stay a few extra days in Damascus so he could show us around the city, take us down to Bosra, even to his farm in the south—but alas my parents only had a few days left and they were scheduled for Jordan. He told us next time, they must spend one week only in Damascus, and stay with the family in their house.