I am myself an archaeologist and have travelled extensively in the Middle East, either alone or together with the Dutch artist, Gerti Bierenbroodspot.  My way of working is to travel to a new place and to settle down there, staying for months at a time, to experience the landscape and the physical remains of an ancient city.  I make photographic records of what I see, and, slowly, the secret harmony of the place reveals itself.

            Most recently, we have been living and working among the ruins of the three great Caravan Cities: Petra, Palmyra, and Baalbek.  I wrote about our adventures in Sign of Taurus: the Archaeological Worlds of Gerti Bierenbroodspot (Waanders 1998).  It was at Palmyra in Syria that I began to tell the story of Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, and the rebellion that she led against imperial Rome.  We were living within the grounds of the Temple of Bel, and at night, when the great gates of the temple were shut, we came closer to the spirit of the time and place than anyone has ever done before.  I know that I felt very close to Zenobia, which made the book a joy for me to write.