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Week 18
Adieu Turkey
As Thanksgiving approached this week, we quickly made our way across the rest of Turkey as it is never safe to be a turkey around Thanksgiving. While we covered a lot of ground in Turkey, we look back fondly on our Turkey time knowing we experienced two of the seven wonders of the ancient world and Turkish Delight.
Syria
Syria has been a cradle of civilization for at least 10,000 years. It was home to the ancient majestic city of Ebla, which flourished from 1800 B.C. to 1650 B.C. A vast trove of 20,000 cuneiform tablets unearthed in the city provided an unprecedented look at everyday life in Mesopotamia at the time. Since then, it has been part of the major empires of history: At various times, the Egyptians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Persians, Macedonians and Romans ruled the region. Unfortunately, Syria has been engulfed in a terrible civil war since 2011.
Aleppo, Syria
Aleppo is be one of the oldest continuously occupied cities in the world. There is evidence of human inhabitance of the area from about 6000 B.C., and because the city was along the Silk Road, it saw bustling trade for centuries.
The Al-Madina Souq, a link in the ancient silk route, is the perfect example of a tinsel town. Oblivious to the modern era, it maintains the rare charm of a medieval marketplace, filled with exotic goods and stunning architecture.
With its long and narrow alleys, al-Madina Souq is the largest covered historic market in the world, with an approximate length of 13 kilometers. It is a major trade center for imported luxury goods, such as raw silk from Iran, spices and dyes from India and many other products.
The Aleppo Citadel in Syria is the mother of all citadels.
It is considered to be one of the oldest and largest castles in the world. Usage of the Citadel hill dates back at least to the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. Occupied by many civilizations over time – including the Greeks, Byzantines, Ayyubids, Mamluks and Ottomans
Syria Countryside
Outside of Aleppo, we encounter several people and places that illustrate the determination of Syrian people even in the midst of crisis.
We spend some time visiting with the amazing women of Jinwar. After surviving ISIS and a civil war, this group of Syrian women built a female-only village. Named "Jinwar" (women's land), the village welcomes women and children regardless of religion, ethnicity, and political views.
Krak des Chevaliers is a Crusader castle in Syria and one of the most important preserved medieval castles in the world.
The castle was built by the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem from 1142 to 1271. With further construction by the Mamluks in the late 13th century. Since 2006, the castles of Krak des Chevaliers and Qal’at Salah El-Din have been recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
The Qal’at Salah El-Din (Fortress of Saladin), even though partly in ruins, represents an outstanding example of this type of fortification, both in terms of the quality of construction and the survival of historical stratigraphy.
It retains features from its Byzantine beginnings in the 10th century, the Frankish transformations in the late 12th century and fortifications added by the Ayyubid dynasty (late 12th to mid-13th century).
Our time in Syria is sobering and a reminder of all that we have to be thankful for. As the week comes to an end, we share a typical Syrian breakfast is called meze. It is an assortment platter of foods with cheeses, pickles, olives, and spreads.
Accompanying our meze is Arab-style tea, highly concentrated black tea, which is highly sweetened and served in small glass cups. As we drink our tea, we reflect on how sobering our visit to Syria has been and how thankful we are for the many blessings we have.
We covered over 600 miles this week and continue to be on track to get to Bethlehem by Christmas if we don't get lazy or lost. This coming week we'll continue to make our way across Syria and make our way into Jordan. Keep up the great work!