Snow Bound in Syria WW2.  In the Lebanese mountains, troops became snow-bound for days at a time during their one severe winter there.  The scene is at Aley, within sight of the Mediterranean, where the clearing of the road to Damascas was directed by Australian engineers.
Our land is very very ancient and has dreaming stories as an oral account.  Syria. Just imagine recorded annals from the eighth centruy BC when it seems the prophet Isaiah was having a rant to impress the people of Judah and was calling them to conversion...again. The threat was not from over the border. Conversion is ongoing...trying again. His drastic description is new to me as is the context.

The Lord said, 'Damascus will not be a city any longer; it will be only a pile of ruins. The cities of Syria will be deserted forever.  They will be a pasture for sheep and cattle, and no one will drive them away.  Israel will be defenseless, and Damascus will lose its independence. Those Syrians who survive will be in disgrace like the people of Israel.' 
Isiah 17, 1-3 Good News Bible. Good news? And Australian War Memorial publishing, 1942.