Nine civilians, including a three-year-old child, were killed by mortars fired by rebel fighters at the Syrian capital Damascus ... Christian district of the Old City. Police said the shellfire ...

Syrian historian Alaa al-Sayed at the ancient gate of Bab al-Nasr "We formed a little committee called the Friends of Bab al-Nasr," Alaa tells me as one of the old city's remaining master masons ...

BCE clay cylinders with oldest known alphabetic writing were uncovered in Syria, challenging the origins of the alphabet.