UNESCO World Heritage List and Palmyra in Syria

This week the UNESCO-agency of the United Nations is inviting us to make a trip to explore the extraordinary roman remains in Palmyra, an oasis in the Syrian desert, north-east of Damascus in Syria.

Palmyra, in Arabic Tadmor, was in ancient times an important city of central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 120 km southwest of the Euphrates river.

The city contains the monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world.

From the 1st to the 2nd century, the art and architecture of Palmyra, standing at the crossroads of several civilizations, married Graeco-Roman techniques with local traditions and Persian influences.

Next to this, it has long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert and was known as the Bride of the Desert.

The earliest documented reference to the city by its pre-Semitic name Tadmor, Tadmur or Tudmur, is recorded in Babylonian tablets found in Mari.

Though the ancient site fell into disuse after the 16th century, it is still known as Tadmor in Arabic, and there is a small newer settlement next to the ruins of the same name.

The Palmyrenes constructed a series of large-scale monuments such as limestone slabs with human busts representing the deceased.

An oasis in the Syrian desert, north-east of Damascus, Palmyra contains the monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world.

http://www.WHTour.org/23

Jerash in Jordan en Bosra in Syria

This week we are welcome to explore two splendid ancient Roman cities: Jerash in Jordan and Bosra in Syria. Jerash is known for the ruins of the Greco-Roman city of Gerasa, also referred to as Antioch on the Golden River.

It is considered one of the most important and best preserved Roman cities in the Near East. It was a city of the Decapolis.

Jerash is sometimes misleadingly referred to as the “Pompeii of the Middle East or Asia”, referring to its size, extent of excavation and level of preservation, though Jerash was never buried by a volcano.

Bosra
Bosra is an ancient city in southern modern-day Syria. It is an archaeological and UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Under the Roman Empire the city was renamed Nova Trajana Bostra, residence of the legion III Cyrenaica and capital of the Roman province Arabia Petraea.

The city flourished and became a major metropolis at the juncture of several trade routes, including the Roman road to the Red Sea.

Today, Bosra is a major archaeological site, containing ruins from Roman, Byzantine, and Muslim times. The city features what is thought to be the best-preserved Roman theater in the world. Every year there is a national music festival hosted in the theater.

Jerash at our World Heritage Tour
http://www.WHTour.org/22

Bosra at the UNESCO World Heritage Tour
http://www.WHTour.org/10070