Syria: An Historical Appreciation

1946

Brasch DS94 F912

London: Robert Hale

The Middle East would have been a different place today if it were not for the ‘presence and domestication’ of the camel. Their ability to withstand extremes of temperature and up to ten days without water enabled the peoples of the Middle East to explore and inhabit the virtually waterless desert regions. They supplied wool, meat, milk, and transport, and they were essential in opening up the trade routes between the East and West. The Romans found them indispensable in monitoring and protecting their empirical dominions in the East; and as is evident in this image they were used by the Syrians as part of their army in the 20th century. Incidentally, the image of the Baptistery opposite, Qalʿat Simʿān, was the church complex built around Simeon of Stylites, who lived for 37 years perched atop a pillar near Aleppo