Damascus

I finally arrived in Damascus today after several days of historical/archaeological adventure. I visited the ruins of St. Simeon Stylites (the pillar-sitter, essentially) and also a number of what are known as the Dead Cities - Greek/Roman/Byzantine era villages where people no longer live but the buildings oddly remain, some of which are entirely complete, like a Colorado ghost-town that has simply been forgotten. But in many cases these buildings are 1500 years old instead of just 150 or so, and the time-lapse is mind boggling. In some cases, you expect some inn keeper to emerge in a toga going about his/her daily business. It's more than a little unnerving. How these buildings lasted so long is anyone's guess, as many things like shaped and carved stone get recycled here for use in other villages, other towns, other cities, other buildings. I also visited Rasafah out on the eastern plains near to the Euphrates River. An immense square of still standing Roman/Byzantine era city walls with several churches and other buildings remaining inside - surrounded by nothing but desert now. Then it was off to immense Lake Assad, an artificial lake behind a dam on the Euphrates, the pride and joy of Syria. Fresh water for drinking, irrigation, and hydro power - a precious resource for so many in Syria, as water is scarce here to say the least.

Shayzar, a Crusader-era stronghold held by the Arabs as a center of resistance to the European heathen interlopers and then the castle of Musyaf - one of the strongholds of a group of Ismailis known as the Assassins were two more places I visited. It was reputed that they steeled themselves to commit political assassination (they were not very strong militarily, so they focused on bold, individual face-to-face confrontation of important representatives of their enemies to achieve their goals) by smoking hashish, and hence the word "assassin" was popularized for the first time - also in the Crusader era. But they didn't just go against the Crusaders, and they didn't just kill. Apparently, after a few actual assassinations, they would also just sneak in to an enemy's tent and leave a dagger and a letter while the intended victim was sleeping. The victim would wake up, see the letter and dagger next to their bed, become entirely unnerved, and give the Assassins whatever they wanted. For example, Saladin was apparently laying siege to Musyaf at one point, and legend has it that he awoke one morning and next to his bed was the dagger, the letter ("Stop this at once, or you'll get it," etc.), and also a plate of hot-cakes. He called off the siege and left the Assassins alone for the rest of his lifetime then supposedly.

Other notable places were the ruins of Apamea and Palmyra - both with extraordinary existing and standing columns and streets and temples and churches and buildings. Both also were places notoriously lacking in shade, and I melted in the heat under the hot sun. It is cooler than it would be in summer time, thankfully, but even October is hot as an oven on some days out in the desert sun here.

And Ibn Wardan - another Roman/Byzantine era border fort, but this one was small and compact. It was essentially two large buildings - a church, and then a keep/palace. Obviously there were other buildings too at one time, but they're gone now, and these two remain, nearly complete. The Persians, when they invaded, seem to have bypassed the strongholds completely and went straight for the big cities, where they could loot and pillage to their hearts' content without wasting time on needless sieges of desert border forts.

Today, I visited Maaloula, one of the remaining Aramaic-speaking Christian communities in Syria with their holy shrine of St. Thecla. Apparently, St. Thecla dedicated herself to virginity, which apparently didn't please her husband to be. Then of course, somewhere along the way, she was thrown into an arena where the animals were supposed to tear her apart (this was apparently before Christianity was big over here). Legend has it that one lion defended her against all the other animals, and she escaped unharmed and came to the Maaloula area where she chose to live in a cave. Now there is a convent there in her name and an orphanage too - oddly. And then to Mar Musa which has a tiny monastery in a narrow and steep ravine that is reached by climbing 350 steps (along the way - there is also a trail to it). They get things up and down from the monastery by a system of pulleys, as carting stuff up the trail would apparently be too difficult. If you get the National Geographic, I think this monastery was featured in one of the recent issues. In any case, there are some exquisite frescoes in the little church up on top, and anyone can stay there for free overnight if they wish - they just need to help out with any chores that might be needed. Of course, I needed to get back with transport to Damascus, so I had to leave. The place is pretty fly-friendly as well. Any time I stopped along the trail for a breather or for a photo up or down the mountain, hordes of rabid flies would land on me - which was a good incentive to not be lazy and keep moving. So I did.

Other good stuff - a bedouin sheep market outside outside of Hama. I hung out and took a few pictures and practiced my limited Arabic, shared cigarettes, etc., with folks as they appraised and moved sheep around for sale - it's the major trade item for many of the bedouin people here who live in tents primarily in the desert scrub outside of the major cities. Truck drivers pointedly cruise the bedouin camps from time to time, willing to transport the sheep to market for a fee of course, but it's a great way for everyone to bring their goods to the city, so people can buy the sheep for food and wool. Not to mention the folks can socialize with other people from other encampments that might be miles and miles apart with no decent transportation other than a truck to the market.

And if anyone knows a little English, they all want to talk about Obama versus Bush - it's the most popular conversational topic with the rare American tourist. Everyone seems to know about the health care plan too, and nobody can understand why not all Americans want it. I can't really understand this either.

And tomorrow, the holy day here, I'll probably rest as well, since nothing will be open. Or at least, as with Aleppo, I can wander the immense souqs where all the stalls will be closed, and then visit them again the day after to see them when there are people everywhere. Before finally heading into Jordan, I will try to visit Bosra which is another major archaeological site with an excellent Roman theater that was converted into a citadel too during the early Arab period.

I still can't post pictures, but I have some good ones. I'll try to do that when I'm able, but unfortunately, something is blocking that feature over here (just as I can post to my blog, but I can't actually view my blog or the comments people leave, currently - hopefully this will be different in Jordan, and I can post pictures again).