Defining Syria as the terrain bounded by Mesopotamia, Anatolia and Egypt suffices to indicate its crucial importance in the history of civilization. Though arbitrarily carved up by the western powers in the earlier part of the twentieth century (Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel and Turkey were the beneficiaries), the residual state retains most of the finest cities, living and dead, of ancient Syria, and much of the best architecture.

‘The Gateway to Asia’ is too easy an epithet, but it is apt – and of course, it postulates that for Asia it was ‘the Gateway to the West’. Trade was Syria’s source of prosperity and cultural variety. The fabulous caravans from Mesopotamia, Persia and China crossed the desert and sought refuge and deals at oasis cities like Palmyra and Bosra, were received at the edge of the sands by ‘desert ports’ such as Damascus and Aleppo and shipped the residue from sea ports such as Tartus.

This prosperity repeatedly aroused the envy of neighbouring powers, with the inevitable consequence of incursion or political interference. The frequency with which the cities and settlements were visited with destruction must be without parallel elsewhere in the world – though because so many settlements were abandoned, archaeologists have enjoyed here a rare degree of unencumbered terrain on which to excavate.

Traders and invaders – both bring ideas and social forms in their wake. But were one to seek a constant characteristic of civilization in Syria it might be found in the practical intelligence of the merchant. It is no accident that the world’s first alphabet emerged here at Ugarit.

Syria is now an agricultural country. There are orange groves on the Mediterranean littoral, olive trees on the adjacent hills and many pockets of startling fecundity in the valleys. In the spring a green carpet is rolled out across the seemingly limitless plains, and in the Autumn Syria wakes up from the dry summer with the first rains and wild flowers flourish again. And there is desert, of course. Much is traversed on this tour, an experience with something of the heroic about it, even in the comfort of an air-conditioned coach.

A sense of continuity in human affairs – Braudel’s longue durée – is a striking aspect of the Syrian experience. The Bedouin scattered across marginal land with their tents and flocks provide a direct link with the herdsmen of prehistory. Recent history has shown that a successor to Sargon is not a wholly unlikely phenomenon, but for the time being Syria provides peace and security and a rare warmth of welcome.

Syria covers a vast expanse of terrain, and the monuments are widely scattered. The aim of this tour is, 1) to select many of the most important and representative sites, 2) to give an emphasis to the visually spectacular rather than the archaeological, 3) to keep the mileage and the number of hotel changes down to a minimum and 4) to tilt the balance in the direction of more time at each site rather than less time at more sites. The reduction of the risks of exhaustion should be amply beneficial.