The Syrian Desert

Its borders extend from the Orontes Valley, the Hauran and the edge of the Transjordanian Plateau in the west, to the banks of the River Euphrates in the East. In the North, the desert and steppe give way to the fertile area of North-Central Syria. In the south it runs unchecked through the basalt desert of South Syria and Jordan and into the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. 

Whilst seemingly an inhospitable environment, the location of several highly fertile oases has meant that it has been possible for successive societies to use the desert as an important east-west trade route. In Syria, the most important of these oasis cities are Damascus and Palmyra