Syria is the cradle of World civilisation, and the accomplishments of her ancient peoples are renowned throughout the world.

It was here that agriculture began ten thousand years ago, that  settlement commenced and civilisation emerged. Houses, not caves, became man's dwellings, and he embarked on a journey of self-discovery. He observed heaven and sang the earliest hymns. He tried his hand at drawing and sculpture. Evidence of these ancient arts is found all over Syria, at Mereibet, Jeyround, Yabroud, and on the riverbanks.

Syria also presented the world with major discoveries. It was here that copper was made pliable and bronze was invented. The Bronze civilisation came into being at Tel Halaf.

At Mari (Tel Hariri), by the Euphrates and elsewhere, there was an abundance of palaces, temples and murals reflecting cultural and commercial activity.

The kingdom of Ugarit (Ras Shamra) offered mankind the first alphabet in history. At Ebla (Tel Mardikh), a royal palace was discovered containing one of the largest and most comprehensive documentary archives of the ancient world. These specialised in industrial, diplomatic, commercial and administrative matters, in addition to relations of peace and war with other countries.   

The Amorites, the Canaanites and Phoenicians inhabited the coastal regions, while the Arameans populated the inland areas , and the Nabateans inhabited the south.

Successive waves of migrations from the Arab Peninsula gave an Arab identity to Syria, and the country withstaod invasions by Hittites, Persians, Greeks and Romans. The Islamic conquest of 636 A. D. confirmed this Arab identity and gave the land its lasting character.

The immense strategic importance of Syria is due to her unique position as a meeting point between of three continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe), and as a crossroad between the Caspian Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Black Sea, and the Nile River. Through Syria passed the silk route which led from China to Doura Europos (Salhiyeh), from Palmyra and Homs to the Syrian ports on the Mediterranean, where for thousands of years Syrian seafarers had ridden the wave in their great fleets with gleaming white sails.

This geographical position lent distinction to the country, not only as a trade and caravan route, but also a melting pot of diverse ideas, beliefs, talents, and cultures.

A journey through Syria is a journey through time. When you enter the old souks you realise that history is some time alive and tangible, something you can see and touch. You go down the 'Street called Straight' (Midhat Pasha) which stretches from Bab Kissan to Bab Al-Jabieh, and you feel that you are walking beside Saul of Tarsus when he saw the light of faith, the bright flash on 'the Road to Damascus'.

The silk weavers whom you see in Damascus, Hama and Aleppo still work at their wooden handlooms just like their ancestors did in Ebla four thousand years ago. Glass blowers at their brick furnaces recall their predecessors who invented coloured glass three thousand years ago. Folk artists still draw pictures of epic heroes almost identical to those engraved on stone by Doura Europe's artists in the year 3000 B. C.

 Syria is often described as the largest small country in the world because of its wealth of ancient cultures. Humanty is indebted to this land for much of it thought and learning. Indeed it was aptly said that every learned person has two homelands: his own, and Syria.