National Museum of Damascus, Damascus (must see)

The National Museum of Damascus is a large museum in the heart of Damascus. It was founded in 1919 at Madrasseh al Adiliyeh. The current building was constructed in 1936, with wings being added in 1956 and 1975.

The exhibits are organised into 5 wings: Prehistoric Age (Remains and skeletons from different Stone-Age periods); Ancient Syria (Many Exhibits from ancient sites such as Ebla. The most important of these is the world's first Alphabet); Classical Age (This wing contains Roman, Greek and Byzantine exhibits. It includes many rare statues, as well as stone and marble sarcophagi. It also includes a jewellery section, and many other exhibits which may not be found in any other part of the world); Islamic Age (The facade of an Islamic palace has been moved and reconstructed as the museum's main entrance. Some of the contents of the palace are also located in the museum, including carvings.

It also contains many exhibits made of glass and metal, as well as coins, from different periods of Islamic History. There are also scriptures from the Ummayad era to the Ottomans.