Category: Syria

Armenians

Post author By pkk
Post date May 17, 2008

We don’t know if we’ll make it to Armenia later this year, but it’s been fascinating to see how far and wide outside of Armenia Armenians have settled. Stuck in a corner of the world among greater powers (Iran, Russia and Turkey), Armenians have by choice and by force scattered widely across the world. Despite their turbulent history, many of these Armenian communities have survived, and the extent to which they have preserved their culture and prospered is truly impressive (the Jews are the only other people I can compare them to).

India

In their easternmost reaches, Armenian communities represented the success of Armenians in the business of trade. Armenians were among the first (though possibly not the very first–see my post of 3.5) Christians to settle in India, wher they took an active role in international comerce. One of the British Hong Kong’s foremost residents, Sir Paul Chater, for whom is still named so many things in Hong Kong, was an Armenian of Indian birth. Few Armenians remain in India today.

Madras, India, has several Armenian sites, including 18th century St. Mary’s Church (building closed when we visited). Armenians were some of the first Christians in India

Armenian gravestone, Luz Church (itself originally Portuguese), Madras

Iran

Outside Vank Cathedral, Esfahan

The Armenians of the city of Jolfa on what is now Iran’s border with Azerbaijan were forced to move to Esfahan in 1603 during the reign of Safavid Shah Abbas the Great, who wanted to enhance his new capital with the Armenians’ talents and commercial skills. While the move itself was forced, the Armenians were granted substantial land in Esfahan (in a neighborhood named New Jolfa, or now just Jolfa) and enjoyed certain freedoms and autonomy, protected by the power of the Shahs. These protections were not always continued by later rulers.

Vank Cathedral, Esfahan (note the use of Iranian architectural styles)

Brick and tilework detail

Inside Vank Cathedral

Like many Armenian communities around the world, the Armenians of Iran have been quite successful, now based largely in Tehran and Esfahan. In Tehran tourists are welcome to dine at the peaceful Armenian Club, located near the French and Italian Embassies, where non-Muslim women need not follow the hejab (Islamic dress code). The Armenian population increased during World War I as Armenians fled now Turkey (see also below, under “Syria”), but has steadily decreased since then as Armenians have left Iran for Armenia, the U.S. and Europe. There are some 20,000 Armenians left in Iran, about a tenth of the historical population.

Armenian church service

Recording of music from mass

In Jolfa, Esfahan, there are twelve Armenian churches, but there are only enough worshippers and clergy to celebrate mass in one or two, the churches rotating on a weekly basis. Following the historical precedent of Islam, the Iranian government seems to let Christians worship freely, at least within their churches. However, an Armenian that I spoke to said that the situation was peaceful “especially under [former president] Khatami,” implying that conditions for the Armenians have deteriorated under Ahmedinejad. Asked further, the Armenian mentioned that the greatest problems were judicial (presumably meaning that Armenians have limited access to justice in the courts) and discrimination for government posts.

Inside Bethlehem Church

Syria

Marco Polo noted that now Turkey was populated by three peoples: Turks (“a rude people with an uncouth language of their own” [!]), and Armenians and Greeks (“who live mixt with the former in the towns and villages, occupying themselves with trade and handicrafts”). During what is now called the Armenian Genocide around the time of World War I, hundreds of thousands of Armenians died and were killed in now Turkey with survivors fleeing to areas outside now Turkey, including Iran but especially Syria.

In Syria, Armenians were first taken to the middle of the desert, at Deir ez-Zur near Dura Europos (cf. post of 4.24), and then joined other Christians already settled in Syria, including in the Christian district of Aleppo. Currently Armenians make up a substantial portion of the population of central Aleppo, where they are prosperous and live among Arab Christians. We were told that flights between Aleppo and Yerevan are always full, reflecting the strong link between the Armenian communities in Syria and Armenia.

Street in Christian district of Aleppo, Armenian orphanage on right

Syrian-style inlay in Armenian, Armenian church, Aleppo

Armenian mass, Aleppo

photo politics Syria

Personality Cults

In the most common pose, outside Hamidiyya Souk in Old Damascus

More full post to come, time permitting, but I thought I would share with you some of the many portraits of Bashar and Hafez al-Assad (respectively, the current present and his deceased father and predecessor) that are all over Syria. Some of these, in public places, are clearly put there by the administration, but many (such as Bashar portraits in many shops and one Bashar family portrait we saw in a car) seem spontaneous and personal. One cynic told us that Syrians would wear underwear with Assad on it. All of the Syrians we spoke with on the subject seemed genuinely to like the Assads, even if they did not have warm feelings for the Syrian government overall. And, if you think about Syria as a monarchy, somehow it’s less strange that so many pictures of the leader would be plastered all over the place.

I think there is a focus on the persons of the Assads in Syria in large part because Syria as a state, like most others in the Middle East, is a creation of the West (in Syria’s case, Britain and France drew its boundaries). Without a discrete, unifying history or culture to distinguish itself from its neighbors, a country needs to define itself in other ways, and one of those is by a strong leader.

Father, in sight of the historic Hejaz railway station, Damascus

Son, at Lattakia railway station

At the Lebanese border

With Nasrallah of Hezbollah and Ahmedinejad of Iran, advertising a fast food shop in Old Damascus

Israel Jordan photo Syria

Golan Heights

Post author By pkk
Post date May 3, 2008
2 Comments on Golan Heights

Another interesting thing about traveling is seeing places, right before you in person, that you’ve heard about, either in books or on the news. Today, we went to the Roman-era ruin of Umm Qais/Gerada. The ruins themselves are not particularly compelling relative to other sites in the region and unlikely to impress, but the hill in Jordan on which they are located has a good view of Golan Heights, rising over the Sea of Galilee.

The Sea of Galilee (of biblical fame) is located entirely in Israel, but the Golan Heights rising above it on the east is technically a part of Syria, although it was captured by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967. In 1981, it was formally annexed by Israel, and the disputed territory would be a key point in any peace negotiations between Israel and Syria. There isn’t much in the Golan Heights, but Israel considers them a high ground over its own territory that is important to its security. [We recall having a conversation with a Chinese woman who argued that Tibet was essential to China for the same reason–topography still matters.]

Syria

A Syria Itinerary

We love Syria. There is so much to see, the people are incredibly friendly, food is good, it is safe and everything is quite affordable. In all, we would say it is one of our favorite travel destinations so far. So let’s say you’re coming to Syria for a couple weeks (and you should). Here’s how you could spend your time.

1 – Damascus
2 – Damascus
3 – Damascus
4 – daytrip to Baalbek, Lebanon (not Syria, I know–be sure to have a re-entry visa)
5 – get an early start and travel to Apamea; sleep at Krak des Chevaliers (Hotel Baibars–what a view!)
6 – tour Krak; travel to Aleppo (a few hours)
7 – Aleppo
8 – choose: 1) Dead Cities (Jeradeh, Dana, Bara and Serjilla) or 2) St. Simeon and Deir Samaan
9 – Aleppo
10 – travel to Palmyra (much of day), catch sunset
11 – Palmyra
12 – travel to Damascus (a few hours)
13 – daytrip to Shahba and Bosra
14 – Damascus

Lebanon photo Syria

Roman Ruins

Post author By pkk
Post date May 2, 2008

More full post to come, time permitting, but the most interesting thing to me, perhaps, about the greatest Roman-era ruins that we visited in Syria and Lebanon, Apamea, Palmyra, Baalbek and Bosra, aside perhaps from the sheer impressiveness of Baalbek, is how, while the structures date primarily from Roman imperial times, the cities represent so many different ethnicities and cultures, not only in the people who must have lived or worshipped there but in the traditions that are represented in the art and architecture. These places are Roman, yes, in that they were from the Roman period and primarily in the Roman style, but certainly not Roman in many other senses.

Apamea

Apamea was founded by the Seleucids (heirs to Alexander the Great) in the 3rd century BC. The Romans conquered in 64 BC and the city was largely rebuilt after an earthquake in 115. Apamea remained an important city in Byzantine times, until it was sacked by the Persians in the sixth and seventh centuries, and then taken by the Arabs.

Unusual columns, reminiscent of baroque! Note the pedestals for the placement of statues, an unclassical feature.

Syrian Roman-era cities are noted for their long collonaded streets, of which Apamea’s is perhaps the most impressive.

Inscription in Greek, the primary language of the eastern Roman Empire.

Mosaic from Apamea, showing Socrates

Going back to my Scams post of 3.13, a favorite around ruins all over the world–a man who sells “ancient” coins

Note the ruts in the Roman street

Palmyra

Palmyra was an important oasis as long ago as the third millennium BC, and was partially integrated into the Roman Empire in the first century AD. Rising to great prosperity as a stop in the trade between the Mediterranean and the East (India, China, etc.), Palmyra played a role in Rome’s campaigns against Sassanian Persia in the 3rd century AD. Recognizing Palmyra’s importance, and with newfound strength, then Queen Zenobia began to challenge the Roman Empire itself and was defeated in 274, when she was taken to Rome. Palmyra was won by the Arabs in the seventh century.

Overview of the site, from nearby Arab-era castle. Note the collonaded streets. The Temple of Bel is in the upper left corner.

Temple of Bel. Bel is a Semitic god, and the temple structure is similar to Semitic traditions going back to the temple at Amrit (cf. post of 4.15).

Inside the cella, or central shrine, at the Temple of Bel

Funerary towers, also within the Semitic tradition

Typical Palmyrene funerary busts. The style derives from the Hellenistic, following the conquest of the area by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC.

Bilingual inscription in Palmyrene (related to Aramaic) and Greek. Most inscriptions in Palmyra are bilingual or in Palmyrene only.

Baalbek (Heliopolis)

Baalbek was the site of a Phoenician temple to Baal, the Sun God, as early as 2000 BC. In Roman times, Baal was worshipped at Baalbek/Heliopolis as Heliopolitan Jupiter, and great constructions were added in the first century by the Roman Emperors.

The great court, in the tradition of other Semitic temples

Note on lower right the Latin inscription to Heliopolitan Jupiter

Look at the size of those stones!

The astonishing Temple of Bacchus

Temple of Bacchus detail, looking up

Inside the cella of the Temple of Bacchus

Snows of Lebanon

Bosra

Bosra, a city occupied since ancient times, was in the latter part of the first century AD the capital of the Nabataean kingdom (most famous for Petra), until ruled directly by Rome beginning in the second century. It is most famous for its second century theater, but also is said by legend to have been traveled by Mohammed, who met with a Nestorian Christian monk who educated Mohammed on Christianity and recognized Mohammed as a prophet.

Bosra’s Nabatean Arch

No camels in Italy!

Theater in full

photo Syria

What Things Cost in Syria

To give a basis for comparison, an electrician working in the oil industry we spoke to said that he makes approximately 30,000 Syrian pounds (USD 600) each month.

falafel sandwich – 15 SP (USD 0.30)
chicken shawarma sandwich – 35 SP (USD 0.75)
can of soda (usually local brand) – 15-20 SP (USD 0.30-0.40)
dinner for two at a top restaurant in old city of Damascus – 1000 SP (USD 22)

one liter of fuel oil (diesel?) – 22 SP (USD 0.50)
one liter of unleaded – 50 SP (USD 1.10)
one hour minibus ride – 10 SP (USD 0.20), thanks to the subsidized fuel
taxi base fare – 5 SP (USD 0.10) (but it starts ticking immediately)

reasonably comfortable, good value hotel room in Damascus, outside old city – 1000 SP (USD 22)
upscale hotel room in refurbished house in Damascus, old city – USD 150-250
decent two bedroom apartment in Damascus, near university – USD 400
admission to museums, sites – 50-150 SP (USD 1-3)
hammam entry – 200 SP (USD 4)

As in other parts of the Middle East, there has been some serious inflation of late!

photo queer Syria

Hammam

Post author By pkk
Post date April 26, 2008
15 Comments on Hammam

Public bathing is a part of many cultures, from Scandinavia to East Asia. (I grew up going to public baths and love a good scrubbing.) Perhaps the most famous bathing culture, however, is the Roman one (I and many others probably have been in almost as many Roman bath ruins as actual functioning modern baths), which survives today all over the Middle East (though, as far as I know, not in Italy). In this post, I thought I would describe the experience of visiting an Arab hammam (pretty similar to Turkish hamams, at least from my limited experience).

In Syria, hammams are located all over the older parts of cities, sometimes just blocks from each other. Some hammams, especially the older and nicely refurbished ones located in central areas, attract some tourists and are accustomed to our relative inexperience with bathing protocol. Although some hammams have occasional hours for women, public bathing is more a masculine habit.

You enter the hammam, which is often located a few steps under street level, into a large open room (in Latin, apodyterium), which has platform seating lining the walls. This is the room in which you start and finish your hammam experience, in the beginning by removing your clothes. A hammam attendant furnishes you with a towel that you use to cover yourself at all times in the hammam (despite the fact that you are in a male-only environment, being completely naked is forbidden–more on this below).

From that open room, you go through a series of sequential rooms, ranging from cool (in Latin, frigidarium) to warm (tepidarium) to hot (caldarium). There are small rooms branching out, where you do most of your washing by scooping water from drainless basins that you fill with faucets. There is usually a steam room as well. In the Turkish baths I have been to, there is a large (often octagonal) marble platform in the central domed chamber, on which you can rest, and be scrubbed and massaged by attendants. In the Syrian baths I have been to so far, there is no such platform, the scrubbing and massaging being done on the floor in a separate area. [Some Syrian baths date from the Ottoman period, but many are much older.] When you’re done, you go back to the main room at the entrance, where your wet towel is replaced by a dry one, and additional dry towels draped on your torso and wrapped around your head. There, you sit and relax, drink tea, smoke nargileh, watch television, read a paper, whatever, until you are ready to leave.

Back to nudity, or the prohibition thereof. The strangest thing to me about the Arab/Turkish bathing experience is that you are always partially covered. In Turkey, at least in my experience, this is done with a relatively small piece of cloth (“pestemal”), which remains at least partially on (covering your genitals) but still gives you sufficient access to clean effectively. In Syria (and presumably other parts of the Arab world), the cloth is closer to a full-fledged, large (though thin) towel, making clean your nether regions a little trickier (though still doable). To someone coming from a nude bathing culture, to be naked while washing seems somewhat obvious. (I have not been to a Scandinavian bath, but I imagine in the enlightened north they even have nude co-ed bathing facilities–but I could be wrong.) Even in the non-bathing West, public nudity is something we grow accustomed to in lockerrooms and does not cause undue anxiety. (One hotel gym we saw had private changing stalls within the men’s lockerroom–I assume this is universal in the Arab world as well.) I do not know the history, but presumably the Romans (even if they did not love nudity as much as the Greeks) bathed nude. Perhaps the towel was a Christian Byzantine invention (although I believe that in the Byzantine period bathing as a whole was viewed as something of a pagan excess) or a Muslim one (lovers of modesty).

I think staying covered eliminates suggestions of homosexual curiosity and activity, which might otherwise be associated with an all-male environment. It is as if it is feared that, were the towels to come off, the hammam would turn into one huge orgy, people unable to contain themselves. And such fears are not totally unfounded. In Ottoman times, Turkish hamams were so well-known for offering (on a pay basis) same-sex sexual services that gay men are still called, in Turkish, “bath boys.” We heard from one Arab man that his parents told him when he was young not to go to hammams. He didn’t realize it at the time, but he knows as an adult that it was because they feared him being exposed to “inappropriate” sexual activity, which is apparently surprisingly common. When we discreetly revealed to a shopkeeper in the Aleppo souk that we were a couple, one of the first things he said was to ask whether we had visited a hammam, as though it were something we particularly would find of interest.

Keep your distance! Painted on a wall outside a hammam in Damascus.

And, perhaps the most revealing and surprising story: Back in 2001, when we were visiting Turkey, we met a ferry captain who was very friendly to us, largely because he had had positive experiences with my compatriots. Now, this middle-aged man was clearly heterosexual–he was married with children and kept sharing with us (in a typically macho Turkish manner) his various sexual exploits while sailing the world. He let us ride in the front of his boat in Istanbul and offered to take us around with his wife around his neighborhood, an offer we did not take him up on. As part of his neighborhood tour, he said he could take us to a hamam, a real good one that wouldn’t rip us off (some do, offering tourists really substandard service for inflated rates) but provide full service for (I believe it was) about ten dollars. The shocking part was the hand gesture he made when he said that the service would be complete–the universal motion for male masturbation. He sort of laughed it off afterward, but it was not at all clear that he was joking. Ever since then, we were wondering–do middle-aged, straight Turkish men really go get handjobs in hamams? The more I learn about hammams/hamams, I think the answer may be yes.

food photo Syria

Food in Syria

Syria doesn’t really have a cuisine that is unique to itself, but rather shares a cuisine with Lebanon (and certainly overlaps with other Mediterranean countries, such as Turkey and Egypt). As you may know, Lebanese food is generally considered the most sophisticated and tasty in the Middle East (why so many Middle Eastern restaurants are called Lebanese restaurants), and so one could say the same about Syrian food.

The most common foods for the budget traveler, cheap, quick and ubiquitous, are felafel, shawarma and mini-pizzas. You are probably familiar with at least falafel, which are deep-fried chick pea patties usually served in a sandwich. Felafel in Syria is generally made in the form of a little doughnut, which increases the crunchy surface area relative to a sphere or disk, the other common shapes. The felafels are crushed on the bread as the first step of the sandwich assembly. I’ll miss felafel in the months to come–they are not only cheap and tasty, but the combination of the savory, crunchy fried felafel with the cool refreshing salad can be a real pleasure.

Shawarma, which comes in chicken or lamb, is a vertical spit meat (similar to doner or gyro) that gets gradually cooked by a heat source and sliced off, usually into sandwiches. The chicken variety is usually cheaper than the lamb, and also tastier. We were told that 30 chickens are used to put together a full shawarma “pole.”

Lamb shawarma on the fire

Chicken shawarma, being sliced

Raw chicken shwarma

Mini-pizzas (I imagine they have an Arabic name although I do not know it) come in many varieties, including perhaps most exotically a salty thyme (?) one that is green (I believe the Arabic is zaatar). They are baked in great big ovens, and if not fresh hot are reheated for you.

Variety–zaatar on left

More conventional pies, hot out of the oven

Stepping one step closer to restaurant food, but also cheap, common and served just off of the street in smaller shops, are foul and fatta. Both are derived from some combination of chick peas, tahini, olive oil, beans and perhaps some meat, served with bread.

From a restaurant in the Aleppo souk

Finally, the most common restaurant food, or what I think would be considered core Syrian-Lebanese cuisine. As with food in Turkey, my belief is that the foods below actually do not make up the bulk of what a Syrian household eats on a daily basis; rather, there is a sort of separate repertoire of dishes that one would cook at home. This latter category of food is somewhat inaccessible to tourists, but we were able to sample it at some simpler restaurants where pre-prepared food is served from bins (as we had once in Turkey and not dissimilar from the manner of serving at basic Latin American restaurants in the U.S.). This food is also delicious, but harder to describe as a cuisine–an assortment of stews served with rice, in contrast to most restaurant food, which is eaten with bread. I imagine that the split in the cuisine has a historical/ethnic history. [Speaking of rice, there are also restaurants that serve what is called “bedouin” food, including the dish mensaf which is a biryani-like mixture of seasoned rice with meat. My guess would be that the rice cuisine is of eastern origin while the bread cuisine is more natively Mediterranean.]

Anyway, back to the restaurant. You start your meal (as in Turkey) with mezze, which are hot or cold appetizers that are shared by the table. Each cold mezze generally costs something around 50 SP (or USD 1), although the serving size and quality of course differ. The most common cold mezze are spreads with which you are likely familiar: hummus, moutabbal, babaganoush, and so forth. Hot mezze, which are somewhat more expensive, include pastries with meat inside, sausages, grilled eggplant, etc. Also eaten earlier in the meal are fresh salads, most commonly fattoush (our favorite!) and tabbouleh.

“Arabian salad” in front, similar to fattoush though with different dressing, moutabbal on rear right and beans on rear left

Our favorite babaganoush, in a restaurant in central Aleppo

Muhammara, made with walnuts and pomegranate juice

In Turkey, we found and heard that mezze often takes over the meal, but in Syria we saw that people generally do order main dishes, which means grill items–some form of kebab. Predictably, there are chicken kebabs and lamb kebabs, the latter coming in ground (meatball-like) and unground (chunks of meat) form. In some restaurants, we found the standard of seasoning and preparation to be quite high.

Chicken kebab (shish taouk), served with fries

Kebabs grilled on the street, nighttime Aleppo

Note the bread being used as a plate–bread is always free in Syria and often used as a plate or cover for served kebabs.

Sweets. Some restaurants do offer desserts, but I believe the local sweets are eaten more often as snacks than after-meal finishers. Syrian sweets, which include a form of baklava, are sold everywhere, and are somewhat expensive. We also purchased (from the factory featured in my 4.19 post) really great marzipan-ny cookies that were in the form of macaroons (the mini-sandwich, not the coconut, kind). A more basic local dessert called muhalabiya is a form of rice pudding, though not as delightful as the Indian variety.

A sweets store in Hama

Pistachios are a common feature of sweets

Beverages. The most common beverage in Syria, as with much of the Middle East, is tea. Like in Turkey, it is served highly sweetened in small cups. In addition to tea, Syrians also drink yerba mate, imported from Argentina (the history of this may be related to Syrian emigration to South America). Coffee of the Turkish variety is also available, as is the universal “nescafe.”

Tea being sold in a shop. The tea is Syria is almost always from Sri Lanka.

From a coffeeshop near the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus

Fresh juice is also available from specialized stands, served in gigantic glass mugs for about 50 SP, or USD 1. The juice guys also make a pretty good banana milk.

Blended fresh

One special drink we saw, and one that all foreigners seem to love, is lemonade with mint. One person we met said that it goes well with gin!

photo Syria

Sandstorm!

Post author By pkk
Post date April 26, 2008
1 Comment on Sandstorm!

While we were in Palmyra, a Roman-era city with extensive ruins on which I hope to blog later, we experienced a first (for us), a sandstorm. Below are pictures showing what it looked like from our hotel window. We could first see the storm approaching from a distance, as the quality of the light changed. Oddly enough, in the beginning, despite the surreal orange light, it wasn’t so bad to be walking around, although we could tell that we were breathing some dust; things got worse later as accumulated sand started blowing around. The whole storm passed by in about 12 hours. We were told that the storm came from Iraq and was worse than usual (speculation: social disruptions in that country resulted in greater erosion?).

View from our window, on a normal clear day.

At the height of the sandstorm. Note that this is happening mid-day–none of these photos have been retouched and the color is purely from the dust/sand, which around Palmyra is a pinkish orange.

A bit later, it turned white. The sandstorm also seemed to have an “eye,” when things were briefly quite calm.

Didn’t get in the way of his nap! Hanging on the left are dates, much sold in Palmyra.

photo Syria

Faces of Syria

I knew that Syria is in the middle of the world, but I was not prepared for the variety of faces I would see in what is statistically reported to be a fairly homogeneously Arab country. Some of the people below may belong to various minority groups (I have identified a couple), but I imagine most of them, if asked, would simply answer that they are Arab. Clearly, Arab ethnic/cultural identity is far more complex than many others–not all these people are “pure” descendents of Arabs from Arabia, as a simple comparison with Gulf Arabs reveals. Syrians, belonging as they do to a country that lies at a crossroads, must have ancestry that traces back thousands of miles both east and west. As I have said before, there are no doubt descendants of Crusaders and Mongols in Syria (along with descendants of Phoenicians, Greeks, Persians and Romans), whose ancestors have intermarried with each other and with, perhaps, Arabs from Arabia.

Reading, within a mosque just off of the main souk in Damascus.

Selling coffee and tea, Damascus.

At Bekdach, the famous ice creamery in the Damascus souk.

I am not sure what his Arabic title is, but this man’s job is to tend to the nargilehs (or sheeshas/hookahs). Most restaurants/cafes have a designated specialist.

A bedouin girl at Apamea. I much admired her lambskin jacket!

Abdullah found us at a historical madrassah next to the Aleppo Umayyad Mosque, and then escorted us all around town for hours, helping us find buildings and introducing us to his family. Of seven siblings, he and one of his brothers have fairer features, while the others have darker hair/complexion. Abdullah didn’t speak English, but was clearly exceptionally bright and curious (knowing finer details of many parts of the Old City and rummaging through the contents of each of our bags and pockets). He exuded a bold confidence unexpected in a young boy.