Syrian Excursion

Gabeed

New member
Thought I'd share a couple pics from my experience in Syria (and a brief weekend in Antioch, Turkey, near Alexandretta ;) ) . . .


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Me and a friend on top of the inner wall at Krak des Chevaliers, the famous crusading castle of the Knights Hospitaller

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The Temple of Bel in Palmyra, rising up over the oasis. This shot was taken from my hotel balcony

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Another shot of the Palmyran ruins

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The Grand Colonnade of Apamea, the city where the Seleucid king kept his military stables of hundreds of Indian elephants and tens of thousands of horses . . .a city of perhaps half a million people in its time
 

Major Eaton

New member
Gabeed said:
Thought I'd share a couple pics from my experience in Syria (and a brief weekend in Antioch, Turkey, near Alexandretta ;) )

Alllllllexandretta! Of course! On the pilgrim trail from Eastern Empire. Ohh. Gabeed, you did it. Amazing photos. Really amazing.:D
 

Gabeed

New member
I'm glad you all like the pics, maybe later I'll share a couple more. :) The best part about all these sites is that for the most part, no one else was around. Granted, there were a decent amount of tourists (including a large troupe of annoying Belgian kids) at the Krak, but I had the Palmyran ruins all to myself that day (must've been off-season, or something), and I was travelling with the people shown in the Apamea pic--and we saw no one else. The experience of making your way through the colonnades and collapsed temples, with merely the sound of the howling wind rather than the chattering of of tourists, was incredible. It's like you yourself are discovering the ruins for the first time.

Major Eaton said:
Alllllllexandretta! Of course! On the pilgrim trail from Eastern Empire. Ohh. Gabeed, you did it. Amazing photos. Really amazing.:D

Allow me to divulge some information that only a person who is a huge Indy fan and simultaneously a huge history nerd would catch, as it is both obscure and trivial--Last Crusade got Alexandretta and Antioch mixed up at one point. Specifically, the line where Indy says "the Crusaders sieged that city for a whole year." He's referring to the Siege of Antioch during the First Crusade--Alexandretta was never sieged for a year. Either someone goofed at some point, or they decided that "Alexandretta" was such a cool name that they switched to it from Antioch.
 

Major Eaton

New member
Gabeed said:
Allow me to divulge some information that only a person who is a huge Indy fan and simultaneously a huge history nerd would catch, as it is both obscure and trivial--Last Crusade got Alexandretta and Antioch mixed up at one point. Specifically, the line where Indy says "the Crusaders sieged that city for a whole year." He's referring to the Siege of Antioch during the First Crusade--Alexandretta was never sieged for a year. Either someone goofed at some point, or they decided that "Alexandretta" was such a cool name that they switched to it from Antioch.

Yeah, without question. I can't imagine a better city name used in that line than Alexandretta. Antioch just doesn't flow as well IMO. There is no way Connery could have delivered that line as effectively with Antioch. Maybe they tested both? Who knows. I can see why history could be altered for the greater purpose in this instance. I'm not a history buff, but it would seem very odd if they missed this unknowingly. If not, I don't think they counted on the majority of the audience to pick up on it, either. As a matter of fact, I was 11 when I saw Last Crusade in the theatre and I was completely oblivious to this history lesson.:eek: It is an Indy movie, after all. Anyway, I really, really enjoy these photos. The Temple of Bel in Palmyra rising up over the oasis, in particular. It looks magical!:D
 
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