ABSTRACT
The origins of the peoples who have lived along this road and the story of the i r
evolution over time are still being pieced together by archaeologists who dig in to
the countless mounds that dot the countryside. Each mound and its pe r iphery
hold relics of vanished societies--most recently the Babylonian, Assyrian, Persian,
Greek and Roman, Byzantine, Arab and Ot toman empires, followed by the marks o f
British, French, German and now American occupation and colonization.
