The Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, shown here in the ’20s, is one of Syria’s most famous ancient sites.
A man prays above the ancient city of Damascus
People shop in the market of the Al-Hamidiyah Souq in Damascus, the country’s largest.
Shoppers chat under straw brooms and reed baskets at a bazaar in Damascus.
A young cobbler’s assistant carries strips of leather in Damascus. This photograph was featured in a 1946 National Geographic
Shoe vendors sit underneath hanging bundles of their wares in the 1940s.
The modern buildings of Damascus, seen in 1997, rise above the ancient sites.
A mud-and-brick housing compound in the region of Tell Mardikh, which was first settled some 5,000 years ago. The area is one of Syria’s most important ancient sites, but has been badly looted in the war.
Perched atop camels, Syrians prepare to ride in front of the gateway at Palmyra in the 1930s.
The modern buildings of Damascus, seen in 1997, rise above the ancient sites.
A boy works at a locksmith booth at a market.
Syrian kids pile on a car in Damascus.
A mother and her daughter walk along the waterfront in Latakia.
A boy reads an issue of National Geographic in Beirut when the city was part of Syria.
A waterwheel brings water from the Orontes River to an aqueduct in Hama. Thousands of years ago, the river served as an important trade route from modern-day Turkey, Lebanon, and Syria.
