It was nearly 4 months ago that I left Egypt and set off on my own into Jordan, Syria and Lebanon (this has become less of a blog, and more of a quarter- annual report!) I was hardly the first foreigner, nor would I be the last to traverse the fertile crescent, an intercontinental crossroads, stringing together Europe, Africa, Arabia, and Asia. For over 12,000 years this land has withstood the ebb and flow of some of the world’s oldest and greatest civilizations. An All-Star cast of Sultans, Caliphs and Pharaohs played the starring roles in creating its history of faith, land, war and power. It is here that the tales of miracles and acts of the prophets Jesus, Moses, and Mohammed, seem to be etched on every stone. It is here that Queen Zenobia defied Rome in her quest for power while channeling the seductive charms of her ancestor, Cleopatra. And it is here that Lawrence of Arabia rode with the Arab Revolt through the rose-colored desert jebels of Wadi Rum.
The Levant is one of the world's “cradles of civilization,” birthplace of the first alphabet, the first legal system and the first great empire. The Greeks and Romans built their grand cities, testaments of their glory and wealth, only to be reduced to ruins by time and the harsh desert climate. Islam spread through the region, as did the Christians who came to fight it. Solitary desert castles and fortresses with bloody histories still echo with the ancient war cries of the Crusaders and Saladin. French, British, American and UN troops left their heavy boot-prints on the land, its people and their culture, staking their political claims and drawing lines in the sand, laying the foundations of discontent over which its inhabitants still fight today. This land, its borders, and those who control them have always been in a state flux, perhaps the only constant in this unpredictable region. This land has changed hands so many times that it resembles that old neighborhood bicycle… there ain’t nobody on the block who hasn’t had a ride.
(These blog enties about the Middle East DO NOT include Israel/Palestine, which is a different trip, and a different story altogether.)
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