There will not be a newsletter this week as I took a short trip to (southern) Syria and didn’t have the chance to track the news in my usual manner. Next week’s issue will include a short summary of key events occurring between March 26th and April 1st, including the announcement of a new government and the deal between the SCG and SDF regarding al-Sheikh Maqsoud. Sorry for the inconvenience.
I’ve attached a couple photos from my trip below, mostly general tourism stuff but a couple towards the end related in some capacity to northern Syria.
The Umayyad mosque facade with its iconic green and gold Byzantine mosaics
A Syro-Hittite lion in the National Museum courtyard (didn’t get any details)
The recently restored Damascene Sword statue at the Umayyad square with the Presidential Palace (hill on the left) and the slopes of Mt. Qasioun in the background
The old flag is still visible everywhere while most of the old election posters have been defaced
Eid festivities in Barzeh, north of Damascus
Maaloula and the breathtaking landscapes of western Qalamoun
Scratched off decal that almost certainly portrayed Hafiz, Basil, and Bashar
The Khan al-‘Arous caravanserai northeast of Damascus which locals say was built by Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi
The tomb of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, the Sultan of Syria (and Egypt) from 1174-1193. Of Kurdish ancestry he reportedly mobilized Kurdish tribes for further northeast in his war against the Crusaders, some settling in parts of western Syria
The German not-tomb of Salah al-Din
The tomb of Nour al-Din al-Zengi, the Turkoman Emir of Aleppo who conquered Damascus in 1154 and ruled most of modern Syria on behalf of the Seljuk empire until his death in 1174. The figure that western Aleppo Islamist group and eventual SNA faction Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki named themselves after
Part of a series of displays outside the National Museum covering Afrin’s ‘Ain Dara temple, this one focused on the Turkish airstrikes that damaged the temple in February 2018
A 100 year commemoration memorial in Bab Touma for the Sayfo, the Assyian/Syriac genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman state parallel to the Armenian genocide. The covered up part of plaque referenced “Dr. Bashar al-Asad,” as the state was likely involved in monument’s erection.
From the same park
The graves of three early Ottoman aviators who died in 1914 and were buried on the grounds of the Salah al-Din Ayyubi tomb. Turkish state development department TIKA renovated the site earlier this year though judging by older photos on Google Maps little was changed.
Bottled water produced by a Kurdish company based in northern al-Hasakah, served in Damascene institution Rawda cafe. I heard that this brand began appearing in Damascus several months ago.
Great photos. I find the last post among the most interesting-that NE Syrian capital has been able to penetrate the market in the rest of Syria. Maybe a testament to the development done by the AANES, but maybe I am reading too much into it there. Plus shows that, thankfully, AANES-rest-of-Syria trade is lively and functional.
Also interesting that the museum covers Turkish airstrikes and general desecration of the (many) historical sites in Afrin. Is this new or something that was done under the Assad govt, I wonder?
Great photos. I find the last post among the most interesting-that NE Syrian capital has been able to penetrate the market in the rest of Syria. Maybe a testament to the development done by the AANES, but maybe I am reading too much into it there. Plus shows that, thankfully, AANES-rest-of-Syria trade is lively and functional.
Also interesting that the museum covers Turkish airstrikes and general desecration of the (many) historical sites in Afrin. Is this new or something that was done under the Assad govt, I wonder?
Thanks for the post!