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MARI MELAWAT SYRIA

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Post time 11-1-2007 09:02 PM | Show all posts |Read mode
1. Palmyra


Syria has always been a center where East an West meet with their varied civilization. It is no wonder that Syria is the cradle of civilization, which flourished throughout history. Monuments, the most important archaeological sites, impregnable castles, citadels and dead cities narrate the glorious history of ancient nations.
The basaltic and the limestone ruins tell about a marvelous architectural art. The Corinthian columns, the khans spread all over the Silk Road, the castles still towering from the Medieval ages, the mosques and palaces are the witnesses of a great rich history.
To know Syria is to have knowledge of a legendary world. Palmyra, is like a pearl in the heart of the desert, Palmyra, rising from the sands, is one of the most graceful and splendid ancient sites in the East, for the glory and the greatness are still evident and fully years after its construction by the Arab Queen Zenobia. It remains one of most famous capitals of the ancient world.
Palmyra is separated by some one hundred kilometers of steppe from the lush valley of the Orontes, to the west. There are more than two hundred kilometers of desert to the cross before you reach the fertile banks of the Euphrates, to the east. To Both north and south there is nothing but sand and stone. But here at Palmyra a last fold of the Anti- Lebanon forms a kind of basin on the edge of which a spring rises out of a long underground channel whose depth has never been measured. This spring is called Afqa (or Ephka) in inscriptions, an Aramaic word meaning " way out'. Its clear blue, slightly sulphurous waters are said to have medicinal properties; they have fed an oasis here with olives and date- palms and cotton and cereals. For generation this oasis was known as Tadmor
2. THE GREAT TEMPLE OF BEL
The temple is surrounded by a great blank wall, 200 meters on each side, the walls of the fortress that replaced its ancient propylaea during the 12th century. This bleak exterior gives no hint of the magnificence of the buildings internal layout. There is an immense courtyard surfaced with smooth rock, which rises gently towards a majestic edifice at its highest point; this is the cella, the holy of holies, towards which the faithful used to crowed, where the sacrificial mysteries were celebrated. The wall surrounding it lined with porticos whose columns are still standing for the most part, allows one to appreciate the vast proportions of the whole building, but at the same time emphasize the enclosed nature of this shrine to the chief god of the city. The layout of the temple corresponds to the arrangement of Semitic sanctuaries -Thus here there is, in front of the cella, the great sacrificial altar and a ritual basin in which the priests performed their ablutions and in which ritual vessels were washed. The cella was surrounded by a colonnade. Its capitals were made of bronze; only the stone cores remain.
        
         
The limestone beams joining the colonnade to the wall behind show by their sculptures with what refinement and abundance the building was decorated. Their themes are floral, representations of the god and of processions. One particularly remarkable scene shows a camel carrying a statue of the god Bel passing in front of people dressed in the local costume, a cloth draped and tied around its middle, and followed by a group of veiled women, their heads bowed in reverence. The altar is shown loaded with gifts: pomegranates, pine cones, grapes and a kid. The two worshippers are in Parthian dress. The interior of the cella consists of two open chapels facing each other with ceilings made from single slabs of stone, and richly decorated; the one on the left (as you enter) with signs of the zodiac, the one on the right with very fine geometric designs. The Palmyrene trinity (Bel, Yarhibol, and AglibUl) is also depicted. The arrangement of these two chapels, like two opposed niches, is enough to show original this Palmyrene architecture is, typically Arab and Syrian. Other details noted by specialist have shown that, far from having been influenced by the Greeks and Romans, the civilization of Palmyra, earlier than that of Rome itself inspired both the architecture and the decoration practiced by her invaders.


[ Last edited by  arnabkiut at 11-1-2007 09:09 PM ]

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 Author| Post time 11-1-2007 09:12 PM | Show all posts
3. THE VALLEY OF THE TOMBS
           
There are enormous cemeteries all around the city, but it is above all on the slopes of the hills to the east that the ancient tombs have been furnished new evidence about Palmyrene civilization. There are four types of burial place to be found here: the tomb-tower (a square structure with narrow windows), the house - tomb (the one that stands in the perspective from the Great Colonnade for example), the hypogeum-tower (a stairway linking a network of underground chambers inside a tomb-tower, and finally the hypogeum tomb, built to receive the bodies of one family over a period of two centuries, a real underground house decorated with frescoes, each cell of which is sealed with a sculpture representing with deceased.
     
There is a guided tour of the most remarkable of the tombs. These include to the north of the city, beyond the ramparts, the so-called Marona house-tomb, behind Diocletianis Camp the Jamblique tomb-tower, built in 83 A.D., and 500 meters further on, up the hill, the tomb-tower of the Elhabel family, 103 A.D. Near the latter, on the edge of the sandy road, is a hypogeum tower, from the terrace of which, in the evening, there is a fine view over Palmyra. Near the top of the hillside there is an entrance at ground level, to the hypogeum of Atenatan which was dug in 98. But the most impressive of all the underground tombs is that known as the Tomb of the Three Brothers (at the beginning of the Valley of the Tombs), which contains some four hundred niches and whose walls are covered with frescoes in a remarkable state of preservation. If you climb the hill crowned by a 17th century fort you wit be rewarded by a magnificent general view of Palmyra the ruins, the market.
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 Author| Post time 11-1-2007 09:21 PM | Show all posts
4. THE AMBITIOUS ARAB QUEEN ZENOBIA
Impelled by an influential Arab family, Palmyra passed, in two or three stages, from being a merchant republic governed by a senate, to being a kingdom under a certain Odenathus the Younger who awarded himself the original title of "King of Kings".
To be sure, his brilliant military actions had earned him the gratitude of Rome: the Palmyrene armies had twice defeated the Persian armies and, in 267, the Senate of Rome named him the "Corrector of the East" in return




The authority of Oriental Palmyra seemed destined to to extend over a vast territory. But at the end of 267  Odenathus and his, the heir to the throne, were assassinated in mysterious circumstances. Rumor had is that Zenobia, the kings second wife and mother of a very young son, was in some way involved in the crime. In fact, the queen immediately revealed herself to be an exceptionally able monarch. She was boundlessly ambitious for herself, for her son and for her people. Within six years she had affected the whole life of Palmyra. Her dreams of unattainable glory and greatness had brought ill fortune, ruin and .death to the flourishing city.



In 270, the Queen, who claimed to be descended from -Cleopatra, took possession of the whole of Syria, con quered Lower Egypt and sent her armies across Asia Minor as far as the Bosphorus. In open defiance of Rome, Zenobia and her son took the title "August and had coinage struck in the name, thus setting themselves up as rival to Aurelian who was at that time having difficulties on the German borders of the Empire
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 Author| Post time 11-1-2007 09:27 PM | Show all posts
5.Qal'at al-Hosn
The most famous medieval citadel in the world, Qal'at al-Hosn is 65 km west of Homs and 75 south-east of Tartus. It is 650 m above sea-level. It was built in order to control the so-called "Homs Gap", the gateway to Sryia. It was through this passage that Syria communicated with the Mediterranean.



In ancient times the importance of this strategic corridor was immense. It was of crucial importance to the Crusaders and other foreign invaders in their conquest of the coast. Conflict over the Crac des Chevaliers continued through the ages. It was a fierce and bloody dispute, but in the end, Sultan Beybars managed to recover it in 1271 through a military trick and one month of fighting



Carc des Chevaliers was built on the site of a former castle erected by the emirs of Homs to accommodate Kurdish garrisons; "Carc" is a modification of the Arab word "Qal'a". The citadel covers an area of 3000 square meters and has 13 huge towers, in addition to many stores, tanks, corridors, bridges and stables. It can accommodate 5000 soldiers with their horses, their equipment and provisions for five years

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 Author| Post time 11-1-2007 09:29 PM | Show all posts
6. Aleppo


This is the second capital of Syria (350 km north of Damascus), and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in history. Abraham is said to have camped on the acropolis which, long before his time, served as the foundation of a fortress (where the Aleppo citadel is standing now). He milked his grey cow there, hence Aleppo's name: "Halab al-Shahba".

Ever since the 3rd millennium B.C., Aleppo has been a flourishing city, with a unique strategic position. This position gave the city a distinctive role from the days of the Akhadian and Amorite kingdoms until modern times. It was the meeting-point of several important commercial roads in the north. This enabled Aleppo to be the link in trade between Mesopotamia, the Fertile Crescent and Egypt. The Amorites made it their capital in the 18th century B.C.

This position made it subject to invasions from various races; from Hittites, Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks and Romans. Aleppo was prominent in the Christian era; it became a Bishopric and a huge cathedral was built in it, which is still standing.

The conflict between Byzantium and Persia, however, resulted in the latter's occupation of Aleppo in 440. The Persians robbed the city, burned considerable parts of it and damaged many of its features. Though expelled by Justinian, the Persians still threatened Aleppo and frightened its inhabitants until the Arab Islamic conquest came in 636. The city then regained its status, both cultural and commercial. Apart from the Omayyad and Abbassid periods in which Aleppo flourished the Hamadani state established by Sayf al-Dawla in 944 made Aleppo the northern capital of Syria. Sayf al-Dawla built Aleppo's famous citadel, and in his days the city enjoyed great prosperity and fame in science, literature and medicine, despite this leader's military ambitions. Mention should be made of the two most prominent poets, al-Mutanabbi and Abu al-Firas; of the philosopher and scientist, al-Farabi; and of the linguist, Ibn Khalaweh, all of whom lived in Sayf al-Dawla's court and were renowned for great knowledge and scholarship.

Aleppo was famous for its architecture; for its attractive churches, mosques, schools, tombs and baths. As an important center of trade between the eastern Mediterranean kingdoms and the merchants of Venice, Aleppo became prosperous and famous in the centuries preceding the Ottoman era. Many of its "khans" (caravanserai) are still in use even today; one of them is called "Banadiqa Khan", "Banadiqa" in Arabic being the term for "inhabitants of Venice".

In the Ottoman age, Aleppo remained an important center of trade with turkey, France, England and Holland. This caused various types of European architecture to be adopted in Aleppo which can be seen in many buildings today.
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 Author| Post time 11-1-2007 09:33 PM | Show all posts
7. Seydnaya



Some 30 kilometres from Damascus, the village is spread out over a hilltop, and is surrounded by vineyards and olive groves.



It has a famous monastery founded in 547, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. The name of the village itself, "Seyda Naya" in Syriac means "Our Lady".
The monastery contains a portrait of the Virgin believed to have been painted by St. Luke.



-- to be continue..lapar...g makan sat.....banyak lagi inpo nie....oo sebelum aku terlupe...all source got from ministry of tourism syria website..http://www.syriatourism.org/ ----------

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 Author| Post time 12-1-2007 03:36 PM | Show all posts
8. The Omayyad Mosque
        

This Great Mosque stands at the heart of the Old city at the end of Souq al-Hamidiyeh. It was built by the Omayyad Caliph al-Walid ibn Abdul Malek in 705 A.D. when Damascus was the capital of the Arab Islamic Empire.   

It was constructed on the site of what has always been a place of worship: first, a temple for Hadad, the Aramean god of the ancient Syrians three thousand years ago; then, a pagan temple (the temple of Jupiter the Damascene) during the Roman era. It was later turned into a church called John the Baptist when Christianity spread in the fourth century. Following the Islamic conquest in 635, Muslims and Christians agreed to partition it between them, and they began to perform their rituals side by side.

When al-Walid decided to erect an impressive mosque suited to the grandeur of the Arab state "whose like was never built before, nor will ever be built after" as he is reported to have said he negotiated with the Christian community of Damascus, and undertook to construct a new church for them (St. John's) and allot several pieces of land for other churches, if they relinquished their right to their part of the Mosque. They agreed. It took ten years and eleven million gold dinars, as well as a huge number of masons, artists, builders, carpenters, marble-layers, and painters to complete. It became an architectural model for hundreds of mosques throughout the Islamic world.
   
  A prominent feature of it are the three minarets built in different styles; the upper parts of which were renovated during the Ayoubite, Mamluk, and Ottoman eras. The mosque has a large prayer hall  and an enormous courtyard. The interior walls are covered with mosaic panels, made of coloured and gilded glass, portraying scenes from nature. The dome is greyich-blue, celebrated for its magnificence. The prayer hall contains domed shrine venerated by both Christians and Muslims, the tomb of St. John the Baptist.


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 Author| Post time 12-1-2007 03:39 PM | Show all posts
9. St. Paul's Church

It commemorates the memory of St. Paul, whose name was Saul of Tarsus, charged by the Romans to persecute the Christians. As he approached the village of Daraya, a burst of blinding light took his sight away, and he heard Jesus Christ ask him "Saul, why do you persecute me? This was a vision of faith.

He was taken unconscious to Damascus, attended by Hananiya, Christ's disciple, and became one of the staunchest advocates of Christianity. His Jewish peers decided to kill him, but he hid in a house by the city wall. The church is located at the site of his escape. He traveled to Antioch, Athens, and Rome, after a brief stay in Jerusalem, and continued to teach the gospel until he died.

  
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 Author| Post time 12-1-2007 03:44 PM | Show all posts
10. Ar- Rasafeh

It is located south of the Euphrates and north of the Syrian semi-desert, 160 km south-east of Aleppo and 30 km south of the Aleppo-Raqqa road.
Rasafeh palace was the residence of Hisham ibn Abdul malik, the third Omayyad Caliph, whose age was a golden one, due to his great interest in the arts and in architecture. He had several palaces built in various parts of Syria. He was in favour of simplicity and modesty; this is why he chose Rasafeh as his residence. There, he died and was buried.

The palace was originally a church, built to commemorate a Roman officer (St. Sergius), who died in defence of Christianity in the 4th century. In 616, the church was invaded by the Persians, robbed and destroyed. When Hisham ibn Abdul Malik became a caliph in the 8th century, he built two beautiful palaces on its site. Later, the Abbassids invaded and destroyed what the Caliph Hisham had built. Very little of the ruins of the Mar Sarkis church remain. Parts of the church have been used as a mosque; inscriptions in both Arabic and Greek, engraved on the walls, indicate that Christians and Muslims co-existed peacefully in Syria from the 13th century onwards.

  

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 Author| Post time 12-1-2007 03:45 PM | Show all posts
11. Qasr al-Hir al-Sharqi ( istana lama )

       

110 km north-east of Palmyra, this palace was built by the Caliph Hisham in 628, it contains a palace-residence for the caliph and for the garrisons. There is a small mosque built in the style of the Omayyad Mosque in Damascus, there is a bath with hot, warm and cold running water. This is the oldest Omayyad bath. The palace is surrounded by a wide garden.
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 Author| Post time 12-1-2007 03:47 PM | Show all posts
12. Qasr Al-Hir Al Gharbi




45 km south-west of Tadmor (Palmyra), built by the Caliph Hisham ibn Abdul Malik in the 8th century, this palace is square and surrounded by a huge wall, at each corner of which there is a round tower. At each side of the main gate there are two half-rounded towers. It has a courtyard with columns with Corinthian crowns.


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 Author| Post time 12-1-2007 03:50 PM | Show all posts
13. Raqqa

Located on the left bank of the Euphrates between Aleppo (188 km) and Deir al-Zor (105 km). It is an ancient city built by Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C. In 662 the Caliph Mansur built, on the ruins of Raqqa, a new city imitating the style of Baghdad which he called "Rafiqa". Invaded by the Mongols in the 12th century. Raqqa has few remains left from that period. These were built by the Caliph Harun al-Rashid in the Abbasside age. Some remains of ancient Raqqa survive today. Those built in pink tile reflect a particular style of architecture

  

Of the Jam'I al-Kabir (the Great Mosque), there remains only the minaret, which was reconstructed by Nur al-Din in 1166. Pottery and glass were famous and there is a museum in the city which contains many relics of ancient Raqqa. A lot of these relics can also be seen in museums in new York, Washington and other Western cities.

  
Raqqa is beginning to flourish again, and to play an important economic role (after the building of the Euphrates Dam) in the life of Modern Syria.
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 Author| Post time 12-1-2007 03:54 PM | Show all posts
14. Kingdom of Mari (Tel Hariri)
      

120 km south of this town is the site of the Kingdom of Mari (Tel hariri), near Abu Kamal. This kingdom dates back to the 3rd millennium b.C. It was ruled by kings of the 10th dynasty after the flood. The discovery of mari (1932), like the recent discovery of Ebla (1975), attracted the attention of archaeologists and researchers in various fields. Twenty thousand tablets with their cuneiform inscription recount the political and diplomatic life in these kingdoms. Many of the remains and relics, statues, jewels, tablets and stamps are now at the Damascus, Aleppo, Deir al-Zor and Paris museums.
Another archaeological site is at the intersection of the Euphrates and of the Khabur near Mayadin (Tel al-Ashara), where the ancient city of Tarqa, the capital of the Khana kingdom, flourished in the 2nd millennium B.C. after the fall of Mari. The wall that surrounded the city is one of the most enormous of the ancient world; it had a diameter of 20m.
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 Author| Post time 12-1-2007 03:56 PM | Show all posts
15. Halabiya and Zalabiya

   

North-east of Deir al-Zor, there is a vast enclosing wall with three fortified gateways which enfolds within its towers a town that dates from Byzantine days. Both halabiya and Zalabiya were forward-defence lines against Persian invasions. At Mayadin is the Rahbi Citadel, which was built by Assad al-Din Shirgoh, the uncle of Salah al-Din al-Ayoubi.
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Post time 12-1-2007 10:58 PM | Show all posts
rasanya.ada tak menara putih seperti di war2kan dalam hadis,bahwa nabi isa a.s akan diturunkan disini (Syria)
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