The Syrian Desert, also known as the North Arabian Desert or Badiya, is a vast semi-desert and steppe region spanning approximately 500,000 square kilometers across West Asia, encompassing parts of Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. Characterized by a rocky, gravelly landscape and the elevated Hamad Plateau, this area is one of the world's most arid deserts, bordered by the Orontes Valley and Euphrates River.
Once home to diverse wildlife including gazelles, wolves, and ostriches, many large mammals are now locally extinct due to environmental threats like drought, over-grazing, and hunting; notably, it is the origin of the golden hamster. Historically, the desert has been inhabited by nomadic Arab and Aramean tribes, leaving behind Safaitic inscriptions dating from the 1st century BC to the 4th century AD.
Crucially, it hosted ancient, strategically vital settlements such as Palmyra, an affluent trading hub on the Silk Road from the 2nd millennium BC through Roman times, and Dura-Europos on the Euphrates. These cities leveraged the desert's position for trade, connecting the Far East with the Mediterranean.