Syria has an extraordinarily rich cultural heritage, both pre-Islamic and Islamic. The selection of images shown here dates from the 1980s and 1990s, before the country was modernized on a larger scale and long before it went down in civil war and chaos. Since December 2024, with the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad, a new era has begun, which will hopefully bring more freedom and prosperity for all Syrians.
The focus of the archive are photographs of Islamic architecture, especially from Aleppo and Damascus. A rarity are the 1993 taken pictures of the Tigris Bridge of Jazirat b. Umar near Ayn Duvar / Ǧazīrat ibn ʿUmar near ʿAyn Dīwār جزيرة ابن عمر عين ديوار, today on Syrian territory, but very close to the border with Iraq.
Ancient Oriental, Roman and Byzantine places are covered: e.g. Apameia, Bosra, El Andarin, Ebla, Mumbaqat, Palmyra, Qal'at Seman, Qanawat, Qasr ibn Wardan, Resafa, Zenobia.
