"From the Euphrates to the Mediterranean, from Zenobia to the Crusaders, there is not an inch of land in Syria that history and men have left untouched. A veritable open-air museum…"¹

In recent years and perhaps now more than ever, the relationship between the United States and Syria has undergone a certain amount of strain and tension. Syria’s position on peace in the Middle East often seems at odds with our own. To understand Syrian political dynamics, it helps to learn what has transpired in Syria to bring this nation to its current status. Let us therefore trace the development of the Syrian nation back to the dawn of history and explore the factors of Syria’s past that have structured the present. Much of the following historical information was extracted from the website of the U.S. Library of Congress.