SYRIA, Asiatic Turkey, bounded by Euphrates and Syrian Desert on the east, by the Mediterranean on the west, by Alma Dagh mountains, north, and Egypt, south. Area, 114,530. Pop. be fore the World War about 3,500,000. The physical conformation of Syria is throughout simple and uniform. A range of mountains, split in the N. into two parallel chains—Libanus and Anti-Liba nus—fronts the Mediterranean, ranging in height from 6,000 feet in the N. up to 10,000 feet in the central parts, but falling again in the S. to 3,500 feet. Behind these mountains lies a table-land, that gradually falls away E. to the des ert. The prevailing winds being W., the slopes of the mountains next the Medi terranean and the valleys ensconced among them, together with the immedi ate seaboard, get a tolerably plentiful supply of moisture during the rainy half of the year (October to May) ; snow even falls on the highest summits of the mountain ranges. The climate on the plateau is generally dry, and in certain localities hot. The valley of the Jordan is remarkably hot. The soil is in many parts possessed of good fertility, and in ancient times, when irrigation was more extensively practiced, yielded a much greater return than it does at the pres ent time. Damascus is noted for its gardens and orchards. Hauran produces excellent wheat. Northern Syria is the home of the olive. The vine grows in nearly all parts of the country. Fruit (oranges, figs, etc.) is cultivated on the coast plains. Sheep and goats are the most important of the domestic animals. The principal exports are silk, cereals, wool, olive oil, lemons and oranges, soap, sponges, sesame, licorice, cottons, and to bacco. Manchester (England) goods constitute the chief item in the imports. Besides these there are woolens, rice, copper and iron, sacking, timber, and hides. The chief port is Beyrout, and to it must be added Acre, Caiffa (Haifa), Tyre, and Tripoli. The pop. is esti mated at 3,675,000. The bulk of the in habitants are Mohammedans, but do not all profess the orthodox Sunnite creed: for instance, there are the Druses, cer tain sects of Shiites, and others. The
Christians make up about one-fifth of the total. The principal ethnic elements in the population are descendants of the ancient Syrians (Aramans) and Arabs, these last both settled and no mad; besides there are Jews, Turks, and Europeans.
The earliest historical records that treat of Syria are those that relate the histories of the Hittites, the Phcenicians, and the Hebrews. The first named were for several centuries supreme in north ern Syria, and at times stretched their authority S. as far as the hills of south ern Palestine. Yet they had most for midable rivals on both sides of them in Assyria and Egypt, from both of which countries their subjects derived no small share of their skill in manufacturing in dustry, and in the arts and manners of life. The other two peoples mentioned occupied the most prominent place in southern Syria. Nevertheless at differ ent periods we read of flourishing Ara man (Semitic) principalities, such as Damascus, Hamath, Zobah, and similar petty states. These, as well as most of northern Syria, were conquered during the 8th century B. C. by the kings of Assyria; the Jewish kingdoms experi enced the same fate at the hands of the Babylonian kings in the ith and 6th cen turies. As previous to the 9th century B. C. Syria had been the battle ground of the Egyptian and Hittite armies, so af ter that period it was, as a province of Assyria (Babylonia), involved in the struggle between that great empire and Egypt. (The Greeks first knew this re gion as a province of Assyria; hence the contracted name Syria.) Toward the end of the 6th century B. C. Syria fell under the dominion of the Persian em pire; and two centuries later it was conquered by Alexander of Macedon. When his empire broke to pieces the Sel eucid made Antioch the capital of their empire of Syria. From the Seleucida it passed, through the hands of Tigranes of Armenia, to the Romans, for whom it was won by Pompey in 64 B. C. Under these new masters the country flourished and became celebrated for its thriving industries, its commercial prosperity, and its architectural magnificence (see