I've just returned to Dimashq from Bosra, the site of a beautiful, and mostly intact, Roman amphiteater seating up to 15,000 people. The old city, which still has about 1500 people living in it, has numerous Roman columns still standing, the remains of an ancient church cum mosque, and a ruined cathedral that still has part of a picture of angels and whatnot painted on plaster. There is a reservoir on the top of the hill, and down in the old city there were baths, which you can still see, that had hot and cold running water.
If you make it to Bosra, ask for Ahmed Maqdad to guide you around. He's a 25 year old guy who's been guiding there since he was 8, and has worked with some of the Italian archeaological teams. He knows his stuff, and is a very nice and generous guy (he bought me dinner!). He says houses in the old city are selling for 20,000,000 Syrian pounds (around USD 400,000), which is a considerable increase just in the last few years. Based on our further discussion, the price increase is being driven by the government, which is willing to purchase the old houses so it can tear them down, then use the basalt stone blocks from which they are built to rebuild portions of the old city. (I would guess that some of the blocks came from there originally anyway, as people pulled from the rubble of old building to build new houses.) Ahmed will also sell you what he claims are genuine antiquities that he's found throughout the ruins; coins, figurines from the Roman era, Byzantine crosses, etc. He claims it's legal, but I'm somewhat dubious, although as he says, similar items are for sale openly in the souk in Damascus. But even if it's legal to take them out of Syria, I'm not entirely certain about the legality of bringing them into the U.S.
Back in Dimashq (Damascus), I had lunch with Maher, who said that he's noticed that fewer women are covered up than before. He's hopeful that the religious fervor that stimulated the building of so many mosques is waning. I have to hope he's right.
Last night I turned on the TV in my hotel room, and stumbled across the beginning of the Dutch-Italian European Cup game. Having married into a Dutch family, I have become a fan of the Orange. Their 3-nil victory was a huge win for Holland--maybe their biggest win in decades. (And the fact that they were clearly offsides on their first goal doesn't matter--they solidly outplayed the Italians, and would have won 2-nil if that goal had been nullified.) I'm sure my wife and father-in-law are quite happy today.
This is my last post from Damascus, as I am about to grab a taxi and head to the Airport, where I will spend the next 29 hours traveling (about 8 of that just sitting in airports waiting to transfer). It will be good to be home. As much fun as I've had, it will be nice to get back to a place where there are few car horns, where I can see grass and lay down on it, where I can have peanut butter, and, perhaps my strangest craving, where I can get some good Thai food.
Showing posts with label Roman Ruins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roman Ruins. Show all posts
10 June 2008
07 June 2008
More Roman Ruins
On my third attempt, I finally got to the National Museum in Damascus when it was open. More Roman antiquities, and Byzantine, and Bronze Age...it's overwhelming.
The museum is chock-full of sculptures, friezes, mosaics, manuscripts, textiles, tombs, etc. My favorite piece was a curved bas relief, apparently once part of a massive column, that depicted the Roman Emperor Trajan speaking to his troops. There were over 30 separate human figures in the piece, and each wholly distinct, with its own facial expression. Unusually, several figures in the foreground were depicted from behind, bringing the viewer into the image as yet another listener standing behind them. One figure had his eyes away from the emporer, trying to calm his horse. The quality of the work, the sculptor's skill, is incredible.
The tapestries room has some silk pieces that were imported to Syria from China in the 3rd century--and we talk about globablization as though it's something new in human history.
A security guard took me to a couple of locked rooms, one a synagogue discovered in the 1920s and transported to Damascus, and the other a tomb, with the most incredible sculptures, that had also been brought from somewhere else. When you go, be sure they open up the synagogue and tomb for you, they seem happy to do it, and you won't regret asking.
Outside, in a sort of plaza with a winding path, are hundreds of stone tombs, statues, large vessels, mosaics, and capitals of Corinthian columns--hundreds! I'm sure I was walking around with my mouth wide open, and several times I just burst out with, "My god!" because it was all so unbelievable. Dumbfounded. Just absolutely dumbfounded.
And to think I began the day upset because my plan to go to Bosra didn't work out.
The museum is chock-full of sculptures, friezes, mosaics, manuscripts, textiles, tombs, etc. My favorite piece was a curved bas relief, apparently once part of a massive column, that depicted the Roman Emperor Trajan speaking to his troops. There were over 30 separate human figures in the piece, and each wholly distinct, with its own facial expression. Unusually, several figures in the foreground were depicted from behind, bringing the viewer into the image as yet another listener standing behind them. One figure had his eyes away from the emporer, trying to calm his horse. The quality of the work, the sculptor's skill, is incredible.
The tapestries room has some silk pieces that were imported to Syria from China in the 3rd century--and we talk about globablization as though it's something new in human history.
A security guard took me to a couple of locked rooms, one a synagogue discovered in the 1920s and transported to Damascus, and the other a tomb, with the most incredible sculptures, that had also been brought from somewhere else. When you go, be sure they open up the synagogue and tomb for you, they seem happy to do it, and you won't regret asking.
Outside, in a sort of plaza with a winding path, are hundreds of stone tombs, statues, large vessels, mosaics, and capitals of Corinthian columns--hundreds! I'm sure I was walking around with my mouth wide open, and several times I just burst out with, "My god!" because it was all so unbelievable. Dumbfounded. Just absolutely dumbfounded.
And to think I began the day upset because my plan to go to Bosra didn't work out.
05 June 2008
Roman Ruins in Latakkia
If you're into Roman ruins, be sure to visit the National Museum in Latakkia when you come here. I took some pictures of some ancient statues outside (no photography allowed inside). I did manage to get a picture of the nude male before my film was used up, but didn't get the nude female. Just my luck.
The main building is from the Roman era, and has the classic Roman vaulted rooms, which I'd seen pictures of, but had never seen in person before. An aesthetically beautiful design--I'm almost sad that it's not practical or structurally necessary anymore.
I noticed that the junction of the vaulted ceilings didn't have any spandrels. Gould was wrong, and Dennett was right! Actually, Gould should have been deeply ashamed of his spandrels argument. Not only was he dead wrong in his example (and in a way that is ridiculously easy to demonstrate), he perpetually--I think purposefully--conflated adaptations with features that weren't adaptations. I remember reading his article, and his claim that the cleft in the chin wasn't an adaptation, just a point where the two jawbones met, and thinking, "That's his argument? That something no one has ever claimed is a selected-for adaptation is, in fact, not an adaptation?" I never saw a case where he disputed another biologist's claim about a feature being an adaptation.
All that, just from looking at an old Roman building in Latakkia. I may be over-educated.
P.S. and I still can't view my own blog. I'm told "It is forbidden." Keep that in mind, you infidels--who knows what harm could befall you from reading this blog. Who knows, you may all turn from God and rebel against your government. Don't say I didn't warn you.
The main building is from the Roman era, and has the classic Roman vaulted rooms, which I'd seen pictures of, but had never seen in person before. An aesthetically beautiful design--I'm almost sad that it's not practical or structurally necessary anymore.
I noticed that the junction of the vaulted ceilings didn't have any spandrels. Gould was wrong, and Dennett was right! Actually, Gould should have been deeply ashamed of his spandrels argument. Not only was he dead wrong in his example (and in a way that is ridiculously easy to demonstrate), he perpetually--I think purposefully--conflated adaptations with features that weren't adaptations. I remember reading his article, and his claim that the cleft in the chin wasn't an adaptation, just a point where the two jawbones met, and thinking, "That's his argument? That something no one has ever claimed is a selected-for adaptation is, in fact, not an adaptation?" I never saw a case where he disputed another biologist's claim about a feature being an adaptation.
All that, just from looking at an old Roman building in Latakkia. I may be over-educated.
P.S. and I still can't view my own blog. I'm told "It is forbidden." Keep that in mind, you infidels--who knows what harm could befall you from reading this blog. Who knows, you may all turn from God and rebel against your government. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)