Proceedings of a Nordic Research Training Seminar in Syria, May 2004 The papers of a Nordic research training seminar that took place during a NorFA (currently NordForsk) PhD course in Syria in May 2004. These papers offer an introduction to anyone interested in archaeology, history, art history and ethnography of the neighbourhood of Jebel Bishri. They are written so that they are also approachable by a general reader or a non-specialist of a particular period. They are not scientific reports but contribute as a reference source to the previous and forthcoming archaeological publications concerning Jebel Bishri under the study by SYGIS (the Syrian GIS). The papers bring new insights, points of views, and methodological approaches to the already known sites in the vicinity of Jebel Bishri, as well as contexts to the newly studied sites in the area.