Mark Sykes


This picture shows a young Mark Sykes (Middle Right) with John Hugh Smith, servants, dragoman and hired muleteers ready to head off into the interior of Syria. Mark Sykes first travelled to the Middle East with his father but soon developed an affinity and interest in the region which kept recurring throughout his life and which eventually made him an ideal advisor to the British Government, especially when war broke out against the Ottoman Turks in 1914. By the way, the child and the dog in the photograph did not accompany the team to Damascus and Palmyra. They were included in the photograph as good luck charms!


The Middle East | The Man Who Created the Middle East


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by Stephen Luscombe