The best museums Syria

Consecrated to the civilizations of Djézireh, the museum, inaugurated in 1996, showcases life in the region. It traces the rich past of this land from the Neolithic to Muslim Syria.

" See the museum in the city centre (even for anti-museums). Indeed, we finally have excellent daily scenes to imagine what life could be 3 000 to 4 000 years BC along the Euphrates in the Mari and Dura-Europos cities. The presentation of figurines, tablets, bronzes… is very well done. My recommendation: instead of épuiser to say "I was there" in Mari or Dura-Europos… I recommend spending a morning in this museum and then reaching Palmyra. " Jean-Claude Sylvestre, Paris, France.

Room 1. Rebuilding of a house of Tell Bouqras (site to the south-east of Deir ez-Zor). The main pieces are displayed in the left bedroom of the house.

Room 2. It comes from the reconstitution of a door of Tell Bderi (south of Hassaké). The objects of the Mari civilization (including cylindrical seals) and the Empire empire and beautiful jewels of Tell Brak (manufactured in 2300 BC), including some gold, are presented. It is amazing how much contemporary jewellers are still inspired by these forms today. At the centre of the passage to room 3, a showcase is devoted to the Hourrites, a non Semitic population originating in Anatolia.

Room 3. Reconstitution of Room 64 of the Royal Mari Palace. It opened on the throne hall and it was in this hall that the statue of the goddess in from vase was found. The frescoes illustrate the royal investiture (on the sides, two dates of dates harvest and, in the upper register, meeting between the king of Mari and the goddess Ishtar). On the Neo-Assyrian Djézireh, notice the door from Tell Ajaja. It is the god Lamassou, a winged bull with a human face.

The Assyrian reconstructed garden, like the rooms of the nearby windows, comes from Hard Katlimmu. Closing the room, the Dura-Europos's Nest presents copies of the paintings of the temple of Bêl. The most recent part of the museum is devoted to the inhabitants of the steppe. It is essential to reserve a little bit of its concentration to look at the valuable ethnographic data identified here.

Beautiful rooms from prehistoric times. Very good explanatory panels. Finally, a masterpiece of ancient art dated the end of the th century. The Mosaïque mosaic was discovered in a villa in the town of Mariamin in Jebel Ansarié. Six women are represented playing musical instruments (castanets, flute, organ, rattlesnakes). A unique document on the music of the time.

The. Tablettes, the military art and the currencies of the Lattakia museum are not looking for masterpieces. Most of the excavations are exhibited either at the Damascus museum or at the Aleppo Museum. Here the main interest lies in the place itself (a former caravanserai to the beautiful vaults), whose upper floor, built under the French mandate, housed the governor of the state of the Alawi. The large number of columns of columns crammed into a corner of the garden betrays the importance of Lattakia in antiquity. The garden of the museum is a pleasant break in the midst of lush vegetation, the only possible green stop to Lattakia without gardens.

The museum's rooms are located on the ground Floor and do not hesitate to push the wooden doors that give them access.

An interesting museum that brings together collections from various eras, prehistoric, classical and Muslim.

The large, almost square courtyard of the khan serves long galleries that house a collection of mosaics, stelas and sarcophagi of Apamea and its region. Built by the Ottomans, this caravanserai served as accommodation for pilgrims on the road to Mecca. Among the hosting steps that remain in Syria, it is certainly the most impressive. The chimneys of the galleries are there to remind you of the severity of winter. The courtyard also houses a large arlon collection.

Past the door door, a visit will be carried out clockwise. By entering left in the first gallery, you will discover two beautiful mosaics among the beautiful collection of the museum.

Socrates and the sages (basement of the eastern Cathedral, circa 362 m. ). Socrates, in the centre, dominates an assembly of six other important but unidentified characters. This mosaic reveals the presence in Apamea of a traditional school of néoplatonicienne philosophy.

The judgment of the Néréïdes (basement of the Cathedral of the East, approx. ). The scene depicts a beauty contest between Néréïdes and Thétis on the one hand, Cassiopeia on the other. Cassiopeia, naked, on the far right, wins the competition. She receives the crown from a victory. Each character is légendé in Greek.

The mosaics come from the site of Huarte, 15 km north of Apamea. See in this part, the long panel which consists of two distinct scenes. Three compositions depicting two lions and a lion fighting their prey, and a man leading two mules with a stretcher.

The Jaqmaqiya Jaqmaqiya was raised in the 1438 th century by the Mameluke governor of Damascus, Jaqimaq al-Argunsawi, who was then Sultan in Cairo from 1452 to. The facade is in black, pink and white. Inside, a central courtyard with a fountain is covered with a richly decorated ceiling worn by columns.

The decorative function of calligraphy, essential in the arts of Islam, is illustrated by the variety of media used: ceramic, stone, paper, metal, glass… On a stage on the right of the entrance, there are very beautiful copies of the Koran. The interest of this museum lies in its playful side, the game of recognizing styles of calligraphy (including the very old coufique, toulouth and naskhi). The lack of explanation unfortunately makes the visit a little tedious.

Of Persian origin, bimaristan, founded by Noureddin in 1154, hosted both a medical school and a care house. The Centre of Care disappeared in the th, the creation of a separate national hospital. The teachers who have exercised it have experienced a wide spread in the Arab world. There was a "vanguard" medicine. The care was free, the patients returned home with a little nest to help them recover. Some mental illnesses were even treated with music.

The small door to the north is strangely surmounted by a Roman lintel and mouqarnas (among the first visible in Syria). A first room contains naturalized animals. The Cour courtyard, very sober, is surrounded by three iwan. Iwan was reserved for teaching and consultations. The iwan to the south, reserved for prayer, contains a beautiful mihrab. The doors are surmounted by claustras in remarkable walls stucco.

Three rooms illustrate the considerable advance of the Islamic world in science and medicine in the Middle Ages.

Watch the rôdeurs in front of the museum, trying to get you a ticket for the graves, even if you want to visit the museum only. Audioguide in French free at the entrance.

A true gem, this museum deserves to be spent at least one hour's visit. It exhibits superb pieces. Explanations are given in French. The small garden facing the entrance presents a beautiful set of statues, one of which is 3,50 m from the Mothers temple.

Right wing by entering.

Room 1. Very interesting signs present palmyrénienne writing. They complement the very clear explanations of the museum of Deir ez-Zor. On the right wall, one can see the oldest palmyrénienne inscription (44 BC).

Room 2. Model of the temple of Bêl.

Room 3. In front of the entrance, look at the palmyrénien boat with double rudder. Before you reach the next room, you must dwell on the magnificent camel relief packed.

Room 4. See, on the right, a relief depicting the temple of Baalshamin. He represents an eagle to the wings deployed surrounded by two smaller eagles. These are Aglibol (the Moon, left) and Malakbêl (right). See also, mosaics found in private houses and tessères and oil lamps from the great times of Palmyra. In the middle, two very beautiful windows exhibiting fine stone sculptures: statues, heads of personnalités, or many heads of children who give an idea of childhood 2 000 years ago.

Wing on the left. A statue of the Mothers goddess stands in the gallery, a statue of the Déesse goddess.

The following rooms are certainly the most beautiful of the museum. They expose the recent discoveries of 2007.

Room 4. Immediately right on the right, you admire a relief decorated with a funeral banquet scene. The head of the family is richly clothed: leather boots, tunic, large trousers. Other reliefs, from the tomb of Zubida, the heir of a large family of Palmyra, and the tomb of Zabda.

Room 5. Again a funeral banquet scene at the bottom of the room, where a long registration is arranged. All of them spotted the tomb of Bolabrak (a rich Palmyrénien). Registration is a fine example of cursive writing (from top down). Left of this relief, a woman wears her child.

This room, and the next one, highlight the skill of palmyréniens artists. Fatigue or old age features are accentuated on the faces while women are adorned with their beaux.

This recent museum, mainly dedicated to the Roman period, presents a superb collection of mosaics and statues discovered in the region. The presentation panels are very pedagogic and the proposed course follows chronological order. Some sculptures fully value artists'ability to deal with a material as thankless as basalt: the lintel with continuous decoration (room 6), from Jerash (7 th century), or busts in room.

Among the mosaics presented from Bosra, two main panels are particularly expressive: Artemis surprised the bath by Actéon and Venus at his toilet.

The calligraphy section presents some examples of safaïtique writing. Part of the floor is devoted to the Druze folklore.

Located at the entrance to the city when you arrive in Aleppo, the museum presents mainly the objects uncovered during the excavations of Ebla. They include the reconstitution of the archives hall, numerous tablets, an Egyptian cut in the name of the pharaoh Chephren, elements of an interlining panel of the Royal Palace.

The best preserved of the two/of the main street transformed into a museum. It presents an interesting collection of mosaics from the region. The Khan Assad Assad (1748) facing him does not visit.