Syria: A Textile Civilization Archive Selections VOL 1
Explore Syria’s textile heritage with Syria: A Textile Civilization, Archive Selections Vol. 1 by Aida Dalati, available in paperback on Amazon. You can also purchase the author’s special edition in your choice of paperback or hardcover.
Qalamoun, Ref Dimashq and the Goulan Heights Dresses This volume is the first in a collection of catalogues documenting the historic costume and textile collections preserved at the Azm Palace in Damascus curated by Aida Dalati for the Syrian National Costume Museum, a Ministry of Culture Initiative 2025-2026.
Together, these volumes present one of Syria's most significant surviving collections of regional costume and material culture, making it accessible to scholars, conservators, designers, students, and the public for the first time in decades.
The catalogue series is founded upon the historical research presented in Syrian Costume: Mythology and Symbolism in Syrian Societies, which provides the historical and cultural framework for the identification, interpretation, and regional attribution of the garments documented here. Rather than repeating that broader history, these volumes focus on the museum objects themselves, recording their construction, materials, symbolism, provenance, and place within Syria's diverse textile traditions.
By Aida Dalati
Syrian Costume: Mythology and Symbolism in Syrian Societies
Syrian Costume, Mythology and Symbolism in Syrian Societies offers a fashion designer’s perspective on the enduring language of dress. Through decades of research and collecting, Aida Dalati presents a curated selection of women’s and men’s garments that reveal the intimate relationship between weavers, embroiderers, and adornment.
These textiles—once both cultural expression and currency—stand as an opulent tribute to Syrian societies and the civilizations that shaped them. Rich in history, symbolism, and craftsmanship, this collection is both a record of the past and a living source for cultural revival. This book includes over 130 images.
By Aida Dalati
AIDA DALATI DOES DAMASCUS SYRIA
Restoring Damascus is a non-fiction woman's inside view of returning to her hometown and restoring an old villa inside the Roman walls of Old Damascus. She navigates the labyrinth of culture, bureaucracy, and the never ending corruption with characters such as the undercover-yogurt maker/real estate agent, baby sitting pig-headed stone artists, and digging up flooded Roman-era sewers in a city where time is cheap but a friendly conversation and personal relationships are the real prize. She draws from her knowledge and expertise on the subjects of mythology, common sense, history, gossip and beauty. Engaging craftsmen of her new Damascus neighborhood in a bouquet of restoration jobs became her badge of honor and sustained her through the terrible early months of the Syrian Revolution.
Available in print and e-book | over seventy before and after full color images
Print Version: $44.00
eBook: $7.99
