1Doha – Qatar

2Egypt

The Egyptians were the great traders of the eastern Mediterranean, and there is still a heady cosmopolitan atmosphere in the country, from its coast, where Ottoman mansions remain, to the Cairo bazaar, which rivals Istanbul’s.

3Iraq

Iraq has some of the most resonant names in all antiquity – Babylon, Nimrod, Nineveh, Nippur, Ur – but few sites have escaped the trampling of 21st-century armies and ravaging by looters. 

4Syria

Dreams of travel can sometimes come true, but sometimes events put them completely out of reach. The war in Syria has been cataclysmic for populations of whole cities. Cornucopia's books and articles recall better times. 

5Lebanon