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229 RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA Syria
gall-nuts promise to be rivaled by the orange as products for export. For the flora and fauna of Syria see PALESTINE.
III. History: The early history of Syria is obscure. About 2000 B.C. Arameans were found east of Syria proper, into which they penetrated about 1200, finding there a population for the most part probably Semitic. The history may most conveniently be divided into six periods: (1) to the conquest of the Aramean states by the Assyrians, or to the capture of Damascus in 732; (2) under Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian dominion (to 605, 539, and 332 respectively); (3) under Greek dominion (to 64 B.C.); (4) under Roman dominion (to 635 A.D.); (5) under Arab dominion (to 1516); and (6) under Turkish dominion (to the present time).
1. To the Assyrian Conquest: About 2800 B.C. the North Babylonian King Sargon I. (see BABYLONIA, VI., 3, § 1) made an expedition to Syria, Palestine, and the Mediterranean, and some 700 years later Hammurabi (q.v.) termed himself king 1. Assyro- of Amurru (Palestine and Syria). The Babylonian Arameans who crossed the Euphrates
Period. from the south found the Mesopota mian kingdom of Mitanni (cf. AssYRIA, VI., 2) to the north and Assyria to the east, and in the fourteenth century the Assyrian King Arik-den ilu (Pudi-Ilu) was warring against Aramean hordes. By 1400 the Hittites (q.v.) were pressing into Syria and Phenicia, their capital being Carchemish (q.v.), and their dominions extending to the northern boundaries of the later Israel. About 1270 Rameses warred against the Syrian Hittites, but was forced to conclude an offensive and defensive alliance with them. Northern Syria was tributary to the Hittites. After destroying the kingdom of Mitanni in the fourteenth century, the Assyrians attacked the kingdom of Hanigalbat (between the Euphrates, Taurus, and Anti-Taurus), defeated the King Shat tuara, who had allied himself with the Hittites and Arameans, and seized the Aramean stronghold of Kasyar (the modern Karaja Dagh), as well as Syria as far south as Carchemish. Shalmaneser I., who had conducted these campaigns, was compelled to lead repeated expeditions against the Arameans in the Kasyar range, but with Hittite and Alaro than inroads in the twelfth century the Arameans, who had reached the Tigris during Shalmanesei s reign, were divided, one portion migrating west ward to Syria and the other eastward to Assyria. Tiglath-Pileser I. kept the Arameans from Assyria proper, and also broke the Hittite power in Syria. The latter people formed a number of petty states, into which the Arameans poured.By the time of the rise of the kingdom of Israel the Old Testament could record the existence of several Aramean states (see ARAM, §§ 1, 9), of which the most important was Damascus.
master of Damascus, " was an adversary to Israel all, the days of Solomon" (I Kings xi. 23-25). I Kings xv. 18 also mentions Hezion, father of Tabrimmon and grandfather of Ben-hadsd, this latter monarch being apparently different from the Benhadad of I Kings xx. In the war between the northern and southern kingdoms after Solomon's death, the latter power invoked the aid of the Arameans. Damascus, situated at the junction of the caravan routes between north and south, as well as between east and west, gladly welcomed this opportunity, and Tabrimmon concluded a treaty with the father of Asa, this being renewed between Asa and Benhadad, and so forcing Baasha (q.v.) to desist from fortifying Ramah (I Kings xv. 18-21). Aramean hostility toward Israel continued during the reigns of Omri and Ahab, and the northern kingdom accordingly made alliance with Phenicia; but since this imperiled the safety of Aramaic caravans to the Mediterranean, the Arameans, during Omri's reign, seized Israelitic cities and made bazaars in Samaria (I Kings xx. 34). It is possible that Omri was a vassal of Aram, and this was certainly the case with Ahab (I Kings xx. 3-4, 9), but I Kings xx. records the complete defeat of the Aramean by the Israelitic king: This struggle.may best be dated before 854, the year in which Shalmaneser II. defeated'Ben-hadad and twelve allied kings, including Ahab (q.v.).
When Tiglath-Pileser I. had overcome the Hittites, the Assyrians laid claim to northern Syria, but the Arameans took advantage of the weakness of Assyria after Tiglath-Pileser's death and founded a series of petty states in Mesopotamia and north of the mouth of the Orontes, these including Hamath, Patin, Arpad, Sam'al, Yaudi, Gurgum, Subi,. Laki, and Bit-Adini. Shalmaneser II., S. Fortunes however, conquered all the states of of the Syr- northern Syria as far as Hamath, but ian,8tates. though in 854, as already noted, he was victorious over the confederation headed by Damascus, it was but a hollow success, as were has three subsequent campaigns in 850 (?), 849, and 846. But soon after 854 war again broke out between Ben-hadad and Ahab, this being continued by Ahab's successors. Finally, however, Ben-hadad suddenly raised the siege of Samaria (II Kings vi. 24-vii. 7) and shortly afterward was murdered by Hazael (II Kings viii. 7-15), who sue-, cessfully defended Ramoth-gilead against Joram and Ahaziah (II Kings viii. 28-29), but in 842 was defeated by Shalmaneser on Hermon and unsuccessfully besieged in Damascus. Ten years later the inhabitants of Patin killed their King Lubarna II. and made Surri his successor, and when he died during the siege of Kunalua by the Assyrians, the latter crowned Sasi king of Patin. After 839 Hazael was unmolested by the Assyrians, and he became the most dreaded enemy of Judah and Israel (cf. II Kings x. 32-33, xii. 17-18, xiii. 3, 7). With Adad-Nirari III. (812-783), however, Assyrian oppression of Aram commenced again, and in one of his expeditions he beleaguered Mari, or Ben-hadad III., in Damascus, exacting from him rich tribute. In 773 Shalmaneser III. made another expedition against Damascus, and in the following year As-
