week 3: SYRIA

flag – The colors are traditional Pan-Arab or Arab Liberation colors and are seen in other flags of the region.  The green stars represent Egypt and Syria, both of the former United Arab Republic.  Red represents blood, struggle, and sacrifice for freedom; white represents peace; and black represents mourning, martyrs, and the dark colonial past. 
official name – Syrian Arab Republic

capital – Damascus
largest city – Aleppo
president – Bashar al-Assad
established – 17 April 1946, from French mandate

government – Presidential single party republic under Emergency Law since 1963

language – Arabic, also Kurdish in some regions

wildlife -- lizards, snakes, bugs, animals from the dessert; there used to be other wildlife including lions and wolves, but those have all been driven from the region

people – mainly Sunni

religion – mostly Sunni Muslim, some Druze, Christian, and Jewish

Sunnis and Shias are both Muslim.  The Shia people belived that after Muhammed died, his children should lead the religion.  The Sunni people believed that caliphs should lead. 

The name Syria once referred to the entire region.  It is a place full of deep history and culture.  There are ancient cities, ruins, and architecture from many layers of history, including Sumerian, Assyrian, Nabatean, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman!  Many of the ancient cities are listed as UNESCO sites. 


Syria includes parts of the Fertile Crescent, which includes the Eastern Mediterranean coast and Mesopotamia.  Mesopotamia, meaning "land between the rivers," is the land between the Tigris and Euphrates river systems and includes mostly modern day Iraq but also parts of Syria and Turkey.  This land has been inhabited for centuries.  The Sumer, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian empires were some of the people that lived in these ancient lands.  The University of Chicago has online educational materials about Mesopotamia.

ANCIENT CITIES
Below are some of the ancient cities that can be found in Syria.  There are also hundreds of "dead cities" in Syria, many around Aleppo.

aleppo, also known as Halab, is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, having settlements that date back at least 4000 years.  It was the Ottoman Empire's third largest city (after Constantinople and Cairo).  It is at the end of the Silk Road.  The city began to decline in the 1800s as trade on the coast became more prominent.  The Citadel was built in the first millenium bc.  The Madrasa Faradis ("School of the Paradise"), is the most beautiful of the city's mosques.  The old city gates still exist.  There is a significant Jewish population in Aleppo and the Great Synagogue was built in the 5th century.  The Ain Dara temple dates to between the 10th and 8th century bc and has similarities to Solomon's Temple.  In Aleppo, the women still wear the full-face veil called the niqab.

bosra

Was the first Nabataean city in the 2nd century bc.  The Nabateans were an ancient Semitic people who settled in oases in southern Jordan, Canaan, and northern Arabia until the kingdom was conquered by Trajan in 106.  The Bosra Festival is a musical festival held every September in the well-preserved Roman amphitheatre.  It is significant in Islamic history as the city where the monk Bahira met Muhammad and predicted that he would be a prophet.

damascus, the capital of Syria, was founded around 1000 bc and is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world.  There may even be settlements that date back to around 6300 bc.  In the region settlements are believed to date back to 9000 bc.  It sits at the foothills of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range and the Barada River flows through the city.  It is know as the "City of Jasmin."  President Bashar al-Assad has instructed citizens to plant at least one jasmine plant in their house.  A jasmine festival takes place in April.  The Umayyad Mosque is one of the largest mosques in the world and one of the oldest continuously used.  Azem Palace was built as a residence for the Ottoman governor and is now a museum.  Khan As'ad Pasha is the largest kahn in Old Damascus; a khan was a roadside inn for travelors, mostly travelling for trade and using the Silk Road.  In front of the Citadel of Damascus is an equestrian statue of Saladin and nearby is the Tomb of Saladin.  The walls of the old city still exist and would be worth seeing.  And to emphasize the many layers of architectural history in this city, don't miss the Massar Children's Discovery Centre designed by the Danish firm Henning Larsen Architects.

ebla, modern Tell Mardikh, was an important city during the Bronze Age between 3000 and 2500 bc and again between 1800 and 1650 bc.  It is well known today for the tablets which were found there.  The Ebla Tablets are a collection of thousands of cuneiform clay tablets and fragments.  Elba means "white rock" and is named for the limestone it was built upon.

dura europos was a Hellenistic-Roman walled city built on a cliff high above the Euphrates river in 303 bc.  It was abandoned in the 3rd century ad and then rediscovered in 1920.  It's ruins include the oldest synagogue and oldest church ever found.  It is remarkably preserved and has been called the "Pomeii of the Syrian Desert."  See a gallery of photos here.

palmyra is an ancient city located in an oasis, not far from Damascus.  Caravans crossing the Syrian desert stopped here.  It is mentioned in the Old Testament as being fortified by Solomon and it flourished in Roman times.  Palmyra was the greek name for the city and Tadmor was the original name, meaning "palm tree."  The small city near the ruins is called Tadmor today.  The Old Testament refers to Solomon building "Tadmor in the wilderness."  It was mentioned in tablets that are as old as 19th century bc when it was a trade city between Mesopotamia and northern Syria.  In the 3rd century bc a road was built through it, causing it to gain more prominence.  In 129, Hadrian was so impressed by the city that he proclaimed it free and renamed it Palmyra Hadriana.  It flourished in the 2nd and 3rd centeries.  The god of the Aramaeans at Palmyra was Bol (probably Baal) or Bel.  Ruins of the Temple of Bel can be seen today.  Odaenathus, the governor of Syria Phoenice, based in Palmyra, was assassinated in 266.  The power fell to his infant son, but Odaenathus' wife Zenobia became the regent ruler.  She may have been the assassin.  She was ambitious and ruled until she was captured in 272.  She continued to be successful as she was able to marry her daughters to noble Romans and was granted an elegant villa in Tibur, modern Tivoli.  An earthquake destroyed much of Palmyra.  It was rediscovered in 1678.  In 1924 excavations began and the ancient city was designated a UNESCO site in 1980.  There are many architectural influences evident in the city:  Corinthian order, Mesopotamia and Iran, and Roman and Persian empires.  The Grand Colonnade, the principal street, still stands and once once almost a mile long with 1500 Corinthian columns.  See a gallery of photos here.

solomon's temple

Excavations in 1970-76 at Lake el-Assad, in which 7 temples unearthed, confirm that King Solomon's Temple was built to a Phoenician pattern conforming to the traditions of a religious system that had been followed for 2000 yrs or more.  These temples were elongated about 3:1 in plan, had single entrance at the narrower eastern end, and were subdivided into compartments that provided a progressive transition from the profane outside world to the inner and most holy sancturary. 

crusaders

The Crusaes were a series of nine religiously sanctioned military campaigns led by Western Europe, mainly the Franks and the Roman Empire between 1095 and 1291.  Their original goal was to recapture Jerusalem.  Many of their castles or fortresses can be found in Syria.  One of the most important Crusader fortress was Krac des Chevaliers.  T.E. Lawrence called it "perhaps the best preserved and most wholly admirable castle in the world."

It was originally built in 1031 for the emir of Aleppo.  It was abandoned in 1099 and then reoccupied again in 1110.  In 1142 it was given to the Hospitallers, contemporaries of the Crusaders.  Saladin unsuccessfully besieged the castle in 1188.  It is one of the few sites where Crusader frescoes have been preserved.

saladin
Saladin, or Salah al-Din Yusuf, lived in the 1100s and was one of the greatest rulers of the Muslim world.   He was a Kurdish sultan of Egypt, Syria, Yemen, and Palestine; first sultan of the Ayyubid dynasty.  He began his military career when he served with his uncle Asad al-Din Shirkuh, a military commander under Nur al-Din.  His uncle became vizier to the Fatimid caliph in Egypt and when he died two months later, Saladin became the new vizier and therefore was know as al-Malik al-Nasir, "the prince defender."  He put an end to the last Shiite Fatimid caliph in Egypt by reestablishing a Sunni regime.  As sultan of Egypt, he returned to Syria and captured Damascus, Aleppo, and Mosul.  This strong Syrian base allowed him to turn against the Crusaders.  In 1187 he captured Jerusalem which had been controlled by the Christians for 88 years.  Saladin and his troops were courteous and civilized, allowing those he conquered to leave in peace.  It is said that the crusader knights learned a great deal about chivalry from him.  He met against the crusaders and Richard the Lionheart in his Third Crusade and was able to limit them to taking just a small strip of land along the coast.  When Richard was wounded in their battle, Saladin offered the services of his personal physician.  Saladin was succeeded by his brother al Adil.  [This story helped me to understood that from the perspective of medieval Syrians, the crusaders were considered terrorists.  I can better see now why they are a people that dislike Christians.  However, I wish that modern Muslims could learn to be more chivalrous and forgiving as Saladin was.]

modern history bits Syria gained its independence in 1946 when the UN was formed and the French were no longer allowed to occupy the country.  Their indepence day is called Evacuation Day.  Syria has been governed by the Ba'ath Party since 1963.  Syria has occupied the Golan Heights since 1967.  Bahar al-Assad, the current leader, is the son of Hafez al Assad who held office from 1970 to 2000.

souks

Like many middle-eastern cities, the cities of Syria have extensive souks, or shopping centers.  They are often like markets and sometimes like mazes and so extensive you can get lost.  Many of the Syrian souks are very modern architecturally.  The Aleppo souks, unlike Moroccan souks, won't try to hard sell, they are not tourist souks but most Syrians shop there, haggling is required.

cuisine

The Syrians use seasonal ingredients.  They use za’atar, a special spice blend of thyme, sumac, fennel, aniseed, and chickpeas.  A big part of Syrian cuisine is the mezze or appetizers.  Typical Syrian foods include helawat al jibn, kibbe, cherry kebabs (traditional Aleppine meatballs), stuffed veggies (Persian influence), kubbeh, yabrak, and baklava.  Of the Jewish Syrians, a common appetizer is sambusak, a type of dumpling made with semolina and filled with meat or cheese.  The preparation of sambusak is considered a measure of how good a cook a woman is and once she masters sambusak is “chartre.”