Annie-Christine Daskalakis Mathews, an art historian who is an authority on room interiors from Ottoman Damascus, documented and researched two rooms at Shangri La which originally came from Syria. The 18th-century Damascus Room and Syrian Room came from Syria and are among the highlights of Shangri La. For a rising merchant class in Damascus, the lavish decor of painted walls, ceilings and cut marble floor conveyed social status, wealth and prestige.