Ross Burns is the author of two works on the archaeology and history of Syria. Monuments of Syria was first published in 1992 and has since had a succession of paperback and revised editions including one in French. In 2005, Damascus – A History was published — the only examination at book length in English of this key Arab capital.

Ross was for many years in the Australian Foreign Service and had a number of Middle Eastern assignments. He has also accompanied as lecturer a number of tours to Syria, Lebanon and Jordan for the British travel company, Martin Randall Travel, and for the Melbourne firm, Australians Studying Abroad. He completed a Ph D in urban landscapes in the Roman Near East at Macquarie University in Sydney in 2011.