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I. Name: The name Syria is an abbreviation of Assyria, even as " Syrians " is shortened from " Assyrians," the ultimate source being the name of the Assyrian god Asshur (see A68YRIA, IV., § 1, VIL, § 2). In their earlier period the Greeks applied the designation Assyrians or Syrians in a purely political sense to all subjects of the king of Assyria; and in their view this empire, with which they came in contact after the eighth and seventh centuries, stretched from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. When, however, the Greeks became better acquainted with Asia after the fall of the Assyrian empire, they reserved the name Assyria for the original center of Assyrian power, and termed the western provinces of the former empire Syria. This usage corresponds in general to that of the Old Testament, where Asshur generally connotes Assyria proper, exclusive of the conquered lands. By the time of Alexander the Great the Greeks had come to restrict the designation Syrians to the Semites in the western portions of the former empire of Assyria, and thus " Syrians," now an ethnographical term, became identical with " Arameans." In the Old Testament there is no mention of either Syria or Syrians, the designation there being Aram (q. v.) ; but in the Talmud and in Syriac, under Greek influence, the term " Syria " is found. The Arabs call the land al-Sham, " the left " (in contradistinction to South Arabia, to the right of Syria), and the Turks designate it Suristan or Arabistan (" Syrian Land " or " Arab Land ").

II. Geography: Modern Syria is practically coterminous with the land so designated from the time of Alexander, its approximate boundaries being Cilicia and the Alma Dagh on the north, the Euphrates and Syrian Desert on the east, Arabia and Egypt on the south, and the Mediterranean on the west, while a considerable portion of this territory of 108,000 square miles is occupied by Palestine

(q.v.). Syria forms part of Turkey in i. Divisions. Asia, and comprises the vilayet of

Aleppo with the livas (" districts ") of Aleppo, Mar'ash, and Urfa (Edessa); the independent liva of Zor; the vilayet of Beirut with the livas of Ladikiyah, Tarabulus, Beirut, `Akka, and Nablus; the independent liva of Lebanon; the vilayet of Suria (" Syria ") with the livas of Hama, Damascus, Hauran, and Ma'an and the independent liva of Jerusalem. For population and ethnology see below, IV.

The mountain ranges run from north to south. The northern portion of the narrow coastal highland is formed by a range from the Gulf of Iskan-

The Crusades and Turkish Ascendency (§ 2).

VI. Modern Protestant Missions in Syria.

1. American Presbyterian.

3. Irish Presbyterian Mission in Damascus.

4. The Church of England Missions.

5. The German Evangelical Missions.

6. The British Syrian Mission.

7. The Society of Friends (English).

8. Other Enterprises.

derun (or Alexandretta Bay) to the Nahr al-Kabir (the classical Eleutherus). South of the Nahr alKabir are Lebanon (q.v.) and Anti-Lebanon, the highest peak of the latter range being the Biblical Hermon (q.v.). The highland east of

2. Physical the plateau of al-Bika`, which separates Geography. Lebanon from Anti-Lebanon and finds its continuation in the Jordan valley, falls away toward the Euphrates or to the northern Syrian desert, agreeably interrupted by the oases of Damascus, Aleppo, and Palmyra. In the southeast the plateau extends over the Lejjah and Jabal Hauran to the Syro-Arabic desert proper. Syria has but few rivers. From the valleys of the AntiLibanus the Nahr Barada (the Chrysorrhoas of the Greeks and the Abana or Amana of II Kings v: 12) flows to the Bahrat al-`Ataibah, six hours east of Damascus; and from Hermon the Nahr al-`Awaj (the Pharpar of II Kings v. 12) flows into the Bahrat Hijanah. On the plateau of al-Bika` rises the Nahr al-`Azi (the classical Orontes), which flows north to Antioch, where, augmented by the discharge of the Ak-Daniz, it turns to the west and empties into the Mediterranean. The Litany (the classical Leontes) rises near the source of Nahr al`A,zi, flows first to the 'south and then to the west, and empties into the Mediterranean north of Tyre. Besides the Balirat al-`Ataibah, Bahrat Hijanah, and Al-Daniz, mention may be made of the morass of al-Matkh near the ruins of Kinnasrin (the Chalcis founded by Seleucus Nicator), where the Nahr guwail~ debouches, and of. the salt Bahrat Jabbul and the Bahrat Iioms (the ancient Emesa). The year is divided into the dry season or summer (MayOctober), and the rainy season or winter (November-April). Rain is rare by the middle of May (I Sam. xii. 17-18), but dew is plentiful in summer, except in the desert. The early rains begin in November (cf. Deut. xi. 14; Joel ii. 23), the heavy rains fall in the middle of December, and the late rains in March and April. The heat is most intense on the coast, though the sea breezes cause some moderation. In Damascus and Aleppo, where the climate is more extreme both in heat and cold, the west winds alone bring relief. The fertility of Syria is much inferior to what it was in ancient times, largely because of Assyrian and Turkish misrule. Recently, however, a marked amelioration has begun; the Hauran plateau, anciently one of the chief granaries of the East, is regaining its former renown; grapes are cultivated on Lebanon; the cultivation of the olive is reviving; there is an increasing trade in apricots in Damascus; and in northern Syria