Bagdad...?

We left Damascus, heading south, passing many signs pointing out turns to Iraq and Bagdad - at the closest point, we were less than an hours drive from Iraq.  A rest stop at a beduin establishment called the "Bagdad Cafe" reminded us of this.

We continued along the road and made it to the ancient city of Palmyra, arriving around lunchtime. Palmyra’s ‘golden age’ was during the first two centuries A.D, first as a Greek city and then as part of the Roman Empire. In the afternoon we visited the Temple of Bel, Palmyra’s principal deity, identified with Roman Jupiter and Greek Zeus. We walk along parts of the ceremonial colonnade (once the main street) flanked by pillars, the amphitheatre, shops, public toilets (apparently invented by the romans), palace and eventually, a massive temple dedicate to Ba'al. Hoping for peace in Egypt, I was sacrificed on the offering slab....

Me on the offering slab