MIDDLE EAST, NORTH AFRICA AND ETHIOPIA - Setur

P60 SYRIAcall 0845 0700 619 to speak to an expert or visit www.abercrombiekent.co.ukStone relief with solarswastika, Roman temple ofHelios, QanawatMarsh Arab weaving reedsThe HauranSouth of Damascus lies the Hauran, a fertile region possessing some of the finest Roman remainsin Syria. You will pass fields of watermelons as you travel south to the ancient Roman city of Bosra,dating back some 3,400 years and once the capital of the Roman Province of Arabia. Its wellpreserved Roman amphitheatre once seated more than 6,000 spectators.At Qanawat, the ruined walls and graceful columns of the Serai temple are intricately decoratedwith wreaths of vines and flowers. This is also home to the temple of Zeus and the scant but richlydecorated remains of a small temple dedicated to the sun god Helios. Passing through the northerngate of the ghost city of Philippopolis at Shahba, you will see ancient steps with basalt columns, oldwalls and the huge arches of the ancient baths.The EuphratesFlowing southeasterly across northern Syria, much of the Euphrates runs in a wide deep valleywhere mounds of debris mark ancient towns and cities, testament to the region’s fertile ground. Onthe dusty plains of northern Syria, unique beehive-shaped houses made of mud brick are clusteredinto villages. Cross the causeway to the Jaabar Citadel, a Seleucid fortress surrounded by two wallswith thirty five towers of differing shapes and richly decorated facades with ornamentations andinscriptions. At Rasafeh lie some of the most spectacular remains in the Euphrates valley includingthe triple north gate of the city with its five arches. A pilgrimage destinations for the Byzantines,Rasafeh showcases a forbidding rectangular circuit of walls defended by 50 bastions and towers.Here, twenty thousand tablets with their cuneiform inscriptions were found recounting the politicaland diplomatic life of the 3rd century BC Kingdom of Mari.