The United Nations Security Council called an emergency meeting over the weekend after more bombing by Syrian and Russian forces of Aleppo, a city split by the rebel army and forces loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

Even if they know the name, few Americans know much about Aleppo — one of world's oldest continually inhabited cities — beyond the grisly headlines coming out of the military conflict there.

In addition to claiming more than 31,000 lives in Aleppo, the war has ravaged this city once known as "the jewel of Syria."

For a look at Aleppo before the civil war began in 2012, Here & Now's Robin Young talks with Charles Wilkins of Wake Forest University.

Interview Highlights: Charles Wilkins

On how the area comprising Aleppo first became a cultural center

"It's geographical position, perhaps, was strongest in determining its fate. It was placed in an area that connected Anatolia with lands to the south — that is, what is today the Fertile Crescent, the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt — and to the east, Iran and India. And running east-west, of course, it connected Europe with the rest of Asia, so it was very well placed to be what was called a 'caravan city' with those caravans carrying goods to peoples and ideas between those various points."

The ancient city of Aleppo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that has been damaged during the Syrian civil war. (Courtesy Ron Van Oers via UNESCO)

On the formation of modern Syria and the effects on Aleppo

"Following the first World War, there was an effort by indigenous peoples, namely the Arab people, to establish an independent Arab kingdom. However, the French asserted their control over Syria and basically drew lines that separated Syria from the modern republic of Turkey, and also created Iraq and Syria, so you have various new modern political boundaries that separated the city of Aleppo from its natural hinterland, that included southern Turkey today, as well as what is the city of Iskenderun or Alexandretta in Turkey. And then further to the east, it separated it from Mosul in Iraq, also an important sort of trading partner with Aleppo. So, it was in fact a cataclysm for Aleppo when those modern boundaries were drawn because its economic ties were severed.