The Syria-Lebanon Room   

        "The ink of a scholar is more sacred than the blood."       

I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to those teachers.
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Syrian-U.S. poet, writer
"Sand and Foam."

   Originally a library in a fine Damascus home, the Syria-Lebanon room reflects the rich cultures that influenced the art of these ancient lands.

   Linden-paneled walls and ceiling are decorated with "gesso painting," in which a mixture of chalk and glue is applied by brush in intricate relief, then painted and overlaid with silver and gold leaf. some designs suggest geometrical Persian rug patterns, others Venetian brocades.

   In its original Damascan location, the niche mihrab, with its gilded stalactite vault, was oriented toward Mecca, the birthplace of Mohammed. Upon the muezzin's call to prayer, five times a day, the Koran would be placed on the marble ledge and a prayer rug spread before the mihrab for the ritual.

   An old mosque lamp of pierced copper, with handblown glass wells designed to hold wicks suspended in oil and water, illuminates the room. Built-in divans with lustrous satin cushions are supported on bases of dark red and white marble. On the marble floor, an oriental carpet provides the setting for a brass coffee tray, which rests on a handcarved wooden base inlaid with mother-of-pearl.

   Set in the walls are book cabinets with fine painted doors and display shelves. The entrance door and window shutters are inlaid with angled blocks of linden wood. Arabic script in the frieze near the entrance gives the Moslem date of the room as 1197, or 1782 on the Julian-Gregorian calendar.