Syria (region)
Syria (Sham)
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Coordinates: 33°N 36°E / 33°N 36°E | |
Countries or territories |
Syria (
The term is originally derived from Assyria, an ancient civilization centered in northern Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq.[4][5] During the Hellenistic period, the term Syria was applied to the entire Levant as Coele-Syria. Under Roman rule, the term was used to refer to the province of Syria, later divided into Syria Phoenicia and Coele Syria, and to the province of Syria Palaestina. Under the Byzantines, the provinces of Syria Prima and Syria Secunda emerged out of Coele Syria. After the Muslim conquest of the Levant, the term was superseded by the Arabic equivalent Shām, and under the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, and Fatimid caliphates, Bilad al-Sham was the name of a metropolitan province encompassing most of the region. In the 19th century, the name Syria was revived in its modem Arabic form to denote the whole of Bilad al-Sham, either as Suriyah or the modern form Suriyya, which eventually replaced the Arabic name of Bilad al-Sham.[6]
After
Etymology and evolution of the term
Several sources indicate that the name Syria itself is derived from
In
Geography
In the most common historical sense, 'Syria' refers to the entire northern
The uncertainty in the definition of the extent of "Syria" is aggravated by the etymological confusion of the similar-sounding names
Killebrew and Steiner, treating the Levant as the Syrian region, gave the boundaries of the region as such: the Mediterranean Sea to the west, the Arabian Desert to the south, Mesopotamia to the east, and the Taurus Mountains of Anatolia to the north.[3] The Muslim geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi visited the region in 1150 and assigned the northern regions of Bilad al-Sham as the following:
In the Levantine sea are two islands:
Samosata, Malatiya, Ḥusn Mansur, Zabatra, Jersoon, al-Leen, al-Bedandour, Cirra and Touleb.
For
Today, the largest metropolitan areas in the region are Amman, Tel Aviv, Damascus, Beirut, Aleppo and Gaza City.
Rank | City | Country | Metropolitan Population |
City Population |
Image |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Amman | Jordan | 4,642,000 | 4,061,150 | |
2 | Tel Aviv | Israel | 3,954,500 | 438,818 | |
3 | Damascus | Syria | 2,900,000 | 2,078,000 | |
4 | Beirut | Lebanon | 2,200,000 | 361,366 | |
5 | Aleppo | Syria | 2,098,210 | 2,098,210 | |
6 | Gaza City | Palestine | 2,047,969 | 590,481 |
Etymology
Syria
Several sources indicate that the name Syria itself is derived from
The oldest attestation of the name 'Syria' is from the 8th century BC in a bilingual inscription in Hieroglyphic Luwian and Phoenician. In this inscription, the Luwian word Sura/i was translated to Phoenician ʔšr "Assyria."[4] For Herodotus in the 5th century BC, Syria extended as far north as the Halys (the modern Kızılırmak River) and as far south as Arabia and Egypt.
The name 'Syria' derives from the ancient Greek name for Assyrians, Greek: Σύριοι Syrioi, which the Greeks applied without distinction to various Near Eastern peoples living under the rule of Assyria. Modern scholarship confirms the Greek word traces back to the cognate Greek: Ἀσσυρία, Assyria.[13]
The classical Arabic pronunciation of Syria is Sūriya (as opposed to the Modern Standard Arabic pronunciation Sūrya). That name was not widely used among Muslims before about 1870, but it had been used by Christians earlier. According to the Syriac Orthodox Church, "Syrian" meant "Christian" in early Christianity.[citation needed] In English, "Syrian" historically meant a Syrian Christian such as Ephrem the Syrian. Following the declaration of Syria in 1936, the term "Syrian" came to designate citizens of that state, regardless of ethnicity. The adjective "Syriac" (suryāni سُرْيَانِي) has come into common use since as an ethnonym to avoid the ambiguity of "Syrian".
Currently, the Arabic term Sūriya usually refers to the modern state of Syria, as opposed to the historical region of Syria.
Shaam
Greater Syria has been widely known as Ash-Shām. The term etymologically in Arabic means "the left-hand side" or "the north", as someone in the Hejaz facing east, oriented to the sunrise, will find the north to the left. This is contrasted with the name of Yemen (اَلْيَمَن al-Yaman), correspondingly meaning "the right-hand side" or "the south". The variation ش ء م (š-ʾ-m), of the more typical ش م ل (š-m-l), is also attested in Old South Arabian, 𐩦𐩱𐩣 (s²ʾm), with the same semantic development.[10][14]
The root of Shaam, ش ء م (š-ʾ-m) also has connotations of unluckiness, which is traditionally associated with the left-hand and with the colder north-winds. Again this is in contrast with Yemen, with felicity and success, and the positively-viewed warm-moist southerly wind; a theory for the etymology of Arabia Felix denoting Yemen, by translation of that sense.[citation needed]
The Shaam region is sometimes defined as the area that was dominated by Damascus, long an important regional center.[citation needed] In fact, the word Ash-Sām, on its own, can refer to the city of Damascus.[15] Continuing with the similar contrasting theme, Damascus was the commercial destination and representative of the region in the same way Sanaa held for the south.
There is no connection with the name Shem, son of Noah, whose name usually appears in Arabic as سَام Sām, with a different initial consonant and without any internal glottal stop. Despite this, there has been a long-standing folk association between the two names and even the region, as most of the claimed Biblical descendants of Shem have been historically placed in the vicinity.[citation needed]
Historically,
Demographics
Year | Pop. | ±% |
---|---|---|
14 | 4,300,000 | — |
164 | 4,800,000 | +11.6% |
500 | 4,127,000 | −14.0% |
900 | 3,120,000 | −24.4% |
1200 | 2,700,000 | −13.5% |
1500 | 1,500,000 | −44.4% |
1700 | 2,028,000 | +35.2% |
1897 | 3,231,874 | +59.4% |
1914 | 3,448,356 | +6.7% |
1922 | 3,198,951 | −7.2% |
Source:[23][24][25][26] |
The largest religious group in the Levant are
.Levantine Christian groups are plenty and include
Other religious groups in the Levant include
History
History of Syria |
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Prehistory |
Bronze Age |
Antiquity |
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Middle Ages |
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Early modern |
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Modern |
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Related articles |
Timeline |
History portal |
Ancient Syria
Hellenistic Syria
In Greek usage, Syria and Assyria were used almost interchangeably, but in the
Roman Syria
In the Roman era, the term Syria is used to comprise the entire northern Levant and has an uncertain border to the northeast that
Various writers used the term to describe the entire Levant region during this period; the New Testament used the name in this sense on numerous occasions.[33]
In 64 BC,
After c. 415 Syria Coele was further subdivided into Syria I, with the capital remaining at Antioch, and Syria II or Salutaris, with capital at Apamea on the Orontes River. In 528, Justinian I carved out the small coastal province Theodorias out of territory from both provinces.[35]
Bilad al-Sham
The
Ottoman Syria
In the later ages of the Ottoman times, it was divided into wilayahs or sub-provinces the borders of which and the choice of cities as seats of government within them varied over time. The vilayets or sub-provinces of Aleppo, Damascus, and Beirut, in addition to the two special districts of Mount Lebanon and Jerusalem. Aleppo consisted of northern modern-day Syria plus parts of southern Turkey, Damascus covered southern Syria and modern-day Jordan, Beirut covered Lebanon and the Syrian coast from the port-city of Latakia southward to the Galilee, while Jerusalem consisted of the land south of the Galilee and west of the Jordan River and the Wadi Arabah.
Although the region's population was dominated by
.-
1803 Cedid Atlas, showing Ottoman Syria in yellow
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An 1810 map of the Ottoman Empire in Asia, showing the region of Ottoman Syria
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Ethnic groups in the Middle East shown in a pre-World War I British government map. The primary population of the region of Syria is described as "Arabs (settled)" and inland as "Arabs (nomadic)"
Arab Kingdom and French occupation
The Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (OETA) was a British, French and Arab military administration over areas of the former Ottoman Empire between 1917 and 1920, during and following World War I. The wave of Arab nationalism evolved towards the creation of the first modern Arab state to come into existence, the Hashemite Arab Kingdom of Syria on 8 March 1920. The kingdom claimed the entire region of Syria whilst exercising control over only the inland region known as OETA East. This led to the acceleration of the declaration of the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon and British Mandate for Palestine at the 19–26 April 1920 San Remo conference, and subsequently the Franco-Syrian War, in July 1920, in which French armies defeated the newly proclaimed kingdom and captured Damascus, aborting the Arab state.[39]
Thereafter, the French general
In pan-Syrian nationalism
The boundaries of the region have changed throughout history, and were last defined in modern times by the proclamation of the short-lived Arab Kingdom of Syria and subsequent definition by French and British mandatory agreement. The area was passed to French and British Mandates following World War I and divided into Greater Lebanon, various Syrian-mandate states, Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. The Syrian-mandate states were gradually unified as the State of Syria and finally became the independent Syria in 1946. Throughout this period, Antoun Saadeh and his party, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, envisioned "Greater Syria" or "Natural Syria", based on the etymological connection between the name "Syria" and "Assyria", as encompassing the Sinai Peninsula, Cyprus, modern Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, the Ahvaz region of Iran, and the Kilikian region of Turkey.[40][41]
Religious significance
The region has sites that are significant to Abrahamic religions:[1][42][43]
Place | Description | Image |
---|---|---|
Acre | Acre is home to the Shrine of Baháʼu'lláh, which is the holiest site for the Baháʼí Faith.[44][45] | |
Aleppo | Aleppo is home to a | |
Bethlehem | Bethlehem has sites which are significant for Jews, Christians and Muslims. One of these is Rachel's Tomb, which is revered by members of all three faiths. Another is the Church of the Nativity (of Jesus),[50] revered by Christians, and nearby, the Mosque of Omar, revered by Muslims.[51] | |
Damascus | The Old City has a Great Mosque[52][53][54] which is considered to be one of the largest and best preserved mosques from the Umayyad era. It is believed to house the remains of Zechariah's son John the Baptist,[36][55] who is revered in Christianity[47] and Islam, like his father.[49] The city is also home to the Sayyidah Zainab Mosque, the shrine of Zaynab bint Ali the grand-daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and Sayyidah Ruqayya Mosque, the shrine of Ruqayya the daughter of Husayn, both sites holy to Shia Muslims.[56]
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Haifa | Haifa is where the Shrine of the Báb is located. It is holy to the Baháʼí Faith.[42][57]
Nearby is Mount Carmel. Being associated with the Biblical figure Elijah, it is important to Christians, Druze, Jews and Muslims.[58] |
|
Hebron | The Old City is home to the Cave of the Patriarchs, where the Biblical figures Abraham, his wife Sarah, their son Isaac, his wife Rebecca, their son Jacob, and his wife Leah are believed buried, and thus revered by followers of the Abrahamic faiths, including Muslims and Jews.[59][60] | |
Hittin | Hittin is near what is believed to near the | |
Jericho / An-Nabi Musa | Near the city of Jericho in the West Bank is the shrine of Nabi Musa (literally: Prophet Moses), which is considered by Muslims to be the burial place of Moses.[43][63][64] | |
Jerusalem | The Old City is home to many sites of seminal religious importance for the three major Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These sites include the Temple Mount,[65][66] Church of the Holy Sepulchre,[67][68] Al-Aqsa and the Western Wall.[69] It is regarded as the holiest city in Judaism,[70] and the third-holiest in Sunni Islam.[71]
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Mount Gerizim | In Samaritanism, Mount Gerizim is the holiest site on earth, and the location chosen by God to build a temple. In their tradition, it is the oldest and most central mountain in the world, towering above the Great Flood and providing the first land for Noah’s disembarkation.[72] It is also the location where Abraham almost sacrificed his son Isaac, in their belief.[73] |
See also
Notes
- Genesis 1:6 Elohim separated the "water from the water". The area above the earth was filled by sky-water (sham-mayim) and the earth below was covered by sea-water (yam-mayim).
References
- ^ a b c d Mustafa Abu Sway. "The Holy Land, Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Qur'an, Sunnah and other Islamic Literary Source" (PDF). Central Conference of American Rabbis. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 July 2011.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-3173-9230-9.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-921297-2.
The western coastline and the eastern deserts set the boundaries for the Levant ... The Euphrates and the area around Jebel el-Bishrī mark the eastern boundary of the northern Levant, as does the Syrian Desert beyond the Anti-Lebanon range's eastern hinterland and Mount Hermon. This boundary continues south in the form of the highlands and eastern desert regions of Transjordan.
- ^ S2CID 162760021.
- ^ S2CID 161323237.
- ^ MuslimArabic usage.
- ^ a b Herodotus. The History of Herodotus (Rawlinson).
- ^ a b Joseph, John (2008). "Assyria and Syria: Synonyms?" (PDF).
- ^ ISBN 978-1-85743-184-1.
- ^ C.E. Bosworth, Encyclopaedia of Islam, Volume 9 (1997), page 261.
- ^ Thomas Collelo, ed. Lebanon: A Country Study Washington, Library of Congress, 1987.
- ^ a b Herodotus. "Herodotus VII.63". Fordham University. Archived from the original on 20 February 1999. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
VII.63: The Assyrians went to war with helmets upon their heads made of brass, and plaited in a strange fashion which is not easy to describe. They carried shields, lances, and daggers very like the Egyptian; but in addition they had wooden clubs knotted with iron, and linen corselets. This people, whom the Hellenes call Syrians, are called Assyrians by the barbarians. The Chaldeans served in their ranks, and they had for commander Otaspes, the son of Artachaeus.
- ^ First proposed by Theodor Nöldeke in 1881; cf. Harper, Douglas (November 2001). "Syria". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 22 January 2013..
- ISBN 978-1589831285.
- ^ Tardif, P. (17 September 2017). "'I won't give up': Syrian woman creates doll to help kids raised in conflict". CBC News. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
- ISBN 978-0913321058.
- ^ "Their protection during their trading caravans in the winter and the summer."[Quran 106:2 (Translated by Shakir)]
- ISBN 9781400871391. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
- ISBN 9781858287188. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
- ISBN 978-90-04-11589-7. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ISBN 9789004301481. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
- ISBN 9788876535666. Retrieved 14 August 2017.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Mutlu, Servet. "Late Ottoman population and its ethnic distribution". pp. 29–31. Corrected population M8.
- ^ Frier, Bruce W. "Demography", in Alan K. Bowman, Peter Garnsey, and Dominic Rathbone, eds., The Cambridge Ancient History XI: The High Empire, A.D. 70–192, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 827–54.
- ISBN 0-299-09140-6.
- ^ "Syria Population - Our World in Data". www.ourworldindata.org.
- PMID 32470374.
- ISBN 978-0-306-81728-1.
- ISBN 978-0-521-51430-9.
- ^ "Christian Population of Middle East in 2014". The Gulf/2000 Project, School of International and Public Affairs of Columbia University. 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-59884-362-0. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
- ISBN 84-249-1901-7.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link - ^ A commentary on the Bible, quote "In the time of the Greek predominance it came into use. as it is employed to-day, as the name of the whole western borderland of the Mediterranean, and in the NT it is used several times in that sense (Mt. 4:24, Lk. 2:2, Ac. 15:23,41, 18:18, 21:3, Gal. 1:21)".
- ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.
- ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.
- ^ OCLC 1004386.
- ISBN 0-7914-1827-8.
- ISBN 0-7914-4880-0.
- ^ Itamar Rabinovich, Symposium: The Greater-Syria Plan and the Palestine Problem in The Jerusalem Cathedra (1982), p. 262.
- ^ Sa'adeh, Antoun (2004). The Genesis of Nations. Beirut.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Translated and Reprinted - ^ Ya'ari, Ehud (June 1987). "Behind the Terror". The Atlantic.
- ^ a b World Heritage Committee (2 July 2007). "Convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage" (PDF). p. 34. Retrieved 8 July 2008.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-1915-2867-5.
- ^ National Spiritual Assembly of the United States (January 1966). "Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh". Baháʼí News (418): 4. Retrieved 12 August 2006.
- ^ UNESCO World Heritage Centre (8 July 2008). "Baháʼí Holy Places in Haifa and the Western Galilee". Retrieved 8 July 2008.
- ^ "The Great Mosque of Aleppo | Muslim Heritage". www.muslimheritage.com. 24 March 2005. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
- ^ a b Gospel of Luke, 1:5–79
- ^ Quran 19:2–15
- ^ a b Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary, Note. 905: "The third group consists not of men of action, but Preachers of Truth, who led solitary lives. Their epithet is: "the Righteous." They form a connected group round Jesus. Zachariah was the father of John the Baptist, who is referenced as "Elias, which was for to come" (Matt 11:14); and John the Baptist is said to have been present and talked to Jesus at the Transfiguration on the Mount (Matt. 17:3)."
- ISBN 978-0-8146-5987-8. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link - ISBN 978-9-0043-2570-8. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-5760-7919-5.
- ^ Birke, Sarah (2 August 2013), Damascus: What's Left, New York Review of Books
- .
- ^ Burns, 2005, p.88.
- ^ Sabrina MERVIN, « Sayyida Zaynab, Banlieue de Damas ou nouvelle ville sainte chiite ? », Cahiers d'Etudes sur la Méditerranée Orientale et le monde Turco-Iranien [Online], 22 | 1996, Online since 01 March 2005, connection on 19 October 2014. URL : http://cemoti.revues.org/138
- ^ "Beauty of restored Shrine set to dazzle visitors and pilgrims". Baháʼí World News Service. 12 April 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
- ISBN 978-1-1352-6812-1.
- ISBN 978-0-7425-0106-5.
- ISBN 978-1-5326-6213-3.
- ISBN 90-04-11251-0.
- ISBN 978-1-9039-0036-9.
- ^ Canaan, Tawfiq (1927). Mohammedan Saints and Sanctuaries in Palestine. London: Luzac & Co.
- ISBN 978-9-0040-7929-8.
- OCLC 1148595286.
To the Jews the Temple Mount is the holiest place on Earth, the place where God manifested himself to King David and where two Jewish temples - Solomon's Temple and the Second Temple – were located.
- OCLC 48940385.
- ISBN 978-0-8146-5987-8. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link - ^ "Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem". Jerusalem: Sacred-destinations.com. 21 February 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
- ^ Frishman, Avraham (2004), Kum Hisalech Be'aretz, Jerusalem
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Since the 10th century BCE:
- "Israel was first forged into a unified nation from Jerusalem some 3,000 years ago, when ISBN 0-520-22092-7
- "The centrality of Jerusalem to Judaism is so strong that even secular Jews express their devotion and attachment to the city, and cannot conceive of a modern State of Israel without it.... For Jews Jerusalem is sacred simply because it exists... Though Jerusalem's sacred character goes back three millennia...". Leslie J. Hoppe. The Holy City: Jerusalem in the theology of the Old Testament, Liturgical Press, 2000, p. 6. ISBN 0-8146-5081-3
- "Ever since King David made Jerusalem the capital of Israel 3,000 years ago, the city has played a central role in Jewish existence." Mitchell Geoffrey Bard, The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Middle East Conflict, Alpha Books, 2002, p. 330. ISBN 0-02-864410-7
- "Jerusalem became the center of the Jewish people some 3,000 years ago" Moshe Maoz, Sari Nusseibeh, Jerusalem: Points of Friction – And Beyond, Brill Academic Publishers, 2000, p. 1. ISBN 90-411-8843-6
- "Israel was first forged into a unified nation from Jerusalem some 3,000 years ago, when
- ^ Third-holiest city in Islam:
- ISBN 0-19-515713-3.
The Night Journey made Jerusalem the third holiest city in Islam
- Brown, Leon Carl (2000). "Setting the Stage: Islam and Muslims". Religion and State: The Muslim Approach to Politics. Columbia University Press. p. 11. ISBN 0-231-12038-9.
The third holiest city of Islam—Jerusalem—is also very much in the center...
- Hoppe, Leslie J. (2000). The Holy City: Jerusalem in the Theology of the Old Testament. Michael Glazier Books. p. 14. ISBN 0-8146-5081-3.
Jerusalem has always enjoyed a prominent place in Islam. Jerusalem is often referred to as the third holiest city in Islam...
- ^ Anderson, Robert T., "Mount Gerizim: Navel of the World", Biblical Archaeologist Vol. 43, No. 4 (Autumn 1980), pp 217–218
- ^ UNESCO World Heritage Centre (11 October 2017). "Mount Gerizim and the Samaritans". Retrieved 24 December 2020.
Citations
- Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic by Hans Wehr(4th edition, 1994).
- Michael Provence, "The Great Syrian Revolt and the Rise of Arab Nationalism", University of Texas Press, 2005.
Further reading
- ISBN 978-0-19-506022-5. pbk.; illustrated with b&w photos and maps; alternative ISBN on back cover: 0-19-506002-4