President Shukri al-Quwatli at the tomb of the Muslim caliph Saladin, in 1955. Second from left is Mahmud Riad, the Egyptian Ambassador to Syria, followed by Sheikh Hasan Taghelbi, Interior Minister Ali Buzzo, Prime Minister Said al-Ghazzi, and President Quwatli.

President Hafez al-Assad of Syria, with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, and Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi in 1978.

The presidents of Syria, Algeria, and Egypt in the early 1970s.

King Faysal of Saudi Arabia on a state visit to Syria in 1974, being greeted by President Hafez al-Assad.

President Hafez al-Assad at the funeral of King Faysal of Saudi Arabia in 1975. Surrounding Faysal’s successor, King Khaled, are President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, President Assad of Syria, President Houarie Boumeddien of Algeria, and Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).

Presidents Hafez al-Assad and Richard Nixon in Syria in 1974.

President Hafez al-Assad (praying) next to Fahd of Saudi Arabia (then prince) and King Faysal, at the Grand Umayyad Mosque in Damascus in the mid-1980s. Standing in the back row are Defense Minister Mustapha Tlas, and seated is Syria’s Grand Mufti Ahmad Kaftaro.

President Hafez al-Assad at a dinner in honor of US President Richard Nixon, who was visiting Damascus in 1974.

President Hafez al-Assad in Paris, with French President Valery Giscard D’Estaing in 1976.

President Hafez al-Assad in Shtaura, near the Syrian-Lebanese border, with Lebanese President Suleiman Franjiyyieh in 1976, at the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War.

President Hafez al-Assad with Algerian President Chadli Benjedid in the 1970s.

At the military court for the assassination of Colonel Adnan al-Malki, the Deputy Chief-of-Staff of the Syrian Army. Seated in the middle is judge Afif al-Bizreh (who became Chief-of-Staff in 1957), and to the left is Colonel Amin al-Nfuri.

Akram Hawrani (far right), the speaker of the Syrian Parliament, with Chief-of-Staff Afif al-Bizreh on the eve of Syria’s merger with Egypt to form the United Arab Republic (UAR) in 1958.

A group of Syrian officers in Cairo in January 1958, demanding union with Gamal Abdul Nasser’s Egypt. The Syrian delegation went to Egypt without authorization from Syrian President Shukri al-Quwatli and famously, cornered the Syrian government into union talks with Nasser. Back row (left to right): Hussein Hiddeh, Mustapha Hamdun, Bashir Sadiq, and Jaddo Izzeddine. Middle row (left to right): Mohammad Nisr, Yassin Farjani, Amin al-Hafez (future President of the Syrian Republic), Tomeh al-Awadallah, and Mohammad al-Sufi.

Adlai Stevenson, US presidential candidate in 1952 and 1956, signing the guestbook at the Presidential Palace in Damascus in 1953 after meeting with President Adib al-Shishaki. Standing next to him is Chief of Protocol, Abdullah al-Khani.

Prince Fahd Ibn Abdul-Aziz (later king of Saudi Arabia) at the Presidential Palace in Damascus being escorted to meet President Shukri al-Quwatli in the late 1950s.

President Shukri al-Quwatli receiving King Hussein of Jordan at the Presidential Palace in Damascus in 1957. Standing between both men is Fouad al-Halabi, the bureau chief of the Syrian President.

President Hafez al-Assad greeting Major General Abdulkader Agha, the Chief of Missile Command, on Independence Day, April 17, 1987.

At the graduation of new cadets from the Police Academy in 1947. Front row from left to right : An officer, Aref Sidqi Tarakji, instructor of legal medicine, Fouad Shbat, instructor of administrative law, Police Commander and future President of the Republic Husni al-Zaim, Hanna Malek, instructor of criminal law, Salah Nahhas, instructor of medical science, Jamal Miqdad, director of the Police Academy.

Interior Minister Muhsen al-Barazi (third from left) at the Police Academy in Damascus in the mid-1940s. Third from left is Nasuh al-Ayyubi, the secretary-general of the Ministry of Interior. In military uniform next to Barazi is Hrant Menkolian, the commander of the Syrian Gendarmerie.

Muhsen al-Barazi, the Secretary-General of the Presidential Palace (left) with Hanna Malek, the future Attorney-General of the Republic, in the mid-1940s. In the center stands Ghalib Mirzo, a former judge who went on to become Chief-of-Police.

A group of Syrian and French judges in the early 1930s. In the center stands French judge Louis Serde. To his right stands Hanna Malek, the future Attorney-General of Syria. To his left is Munir Bayrakdar, the state persecutor.

The Grand Victoria, Syria’s first luxury hotel in the heart of Damascus in 1900. The hotel was owned by Ahmad Izzat Pasha al-Abid, a major shareholder in the Suez Canal Company in Egypt who was private advisor to the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II.

President Amin al-Hafez (center) entering Damascus University in 1964 with Interior Minister (and future president) Nur al-Din al-Atasi (left). To the right of President Hafez is Abdul-Qadir Qaddura, the future speaker of Parliament under President Hafez al-Assad.

A poster for the “Free Theatre Group” (one of the first in Syria) dating back to the union years between Syria and Egypt (1958-1961). The show was held at the Damascus International Fair, staring the Syrian comedian Abdul-Latif Fathi.