View source for Syria (region)

{{Short description|Region east of the Mediterranean Sea}}
{{About|the region of Syria also called "Greater Syria" or "Syria-Palestine"|the modern country|Syria|other uses|Syria (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect|Shaam}}
{{pp-move-indef}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Syria
| other_name         = Greater Syria<ref name="Abu Sway 2011"/> <br /> Levant
| native_name        = {{lang|ar|ٱلشَّام}}<br />{{small|''Ash-Shām''}}<ref name="Abu Sway 2011"/>
| native_name_lang   = ar
| caption            = 
| image_map          = File:1851 Henry Warren Map of Syria (cropped).jpg
| map_caption        = Map of [[Ottoman Syria]] in 1851, by Henry Warren
| coordinates        = {{coord|33|N|36|E|display=title,inline}}
| parts_type         = [[Country|Countries]]
| parts              = * {{flag|Jordan}}
* {{flag|Israel}}
* {{flag|Lebanon}}
* {{flag|Palestine}}
* {{flag|Syria|revolution}}
| official_name      = 
}}
'''Syria''',{{efn|{{langx|ar|ٱلشَّام|Ash-Shām|rtl=yes}}}} also known as '''Greater Syria''' or '''Syria-Palestine''',<ref name="Pfoh2016">{{cite book |last=Pfoh |first=Emanuel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g2KaCwAAQBAJ |title=Syria-Palestine in The Late Bronze Age: An Anthropology of Politics and Power |date=22 February 2016 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-3173-9230-9}}</ref> is a [[historical region]] located east of the [[Mediterranean Sea]] in [[West Asia]], broadly synonymous with the '''[[Levant]]'''.<ref name="KillebrewSteiner2014">{{cite book |author1=Killebrew, A. E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5H4fAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT25 |title=The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant: C. 8000–332 BCE |author2=Steiner, M. L. |publisher=OUP Oxford |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-921297-2 |page=2 |quote=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.}}</ref> The region boundaries have changed throughout history. However, in modern times, the term "Syria" alone is used to refer to the [[Syria|Syrian Arab Republic]].

The term is originally derived from [[Assyria]], an [[Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples|ancient Semitic-speaking]] civilization centered in northern [[Mesopotamia]], modern-day [[Iraq]].<ref name=":1">{{cite journal |last1=Rollinger |first1=Robert |year=2006 |title=The terms "Assyria" and "Syria" again |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies |volume=65 |issue=4 |pages=284–287 |doi=10.1086/511103 |s2cid=162760021}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite journal |last1=Frye |first1=R. N. |year=1992 |title=Assyria and Syria: Synonyms |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies |volume=51 |issue=4 |pages=281–285 |doi=10.1086/373570 |s2cid=161323237}}</ref> During the [[Hellenistic period]], the term Syria was applied to the entire Levant as [[Coele-Syria]]. Under [[Roman Empire|Roman rule]], the term was used to refer to the [[Roman Syria|province of Syria]], later divided into [[Phoenice (Roman province)|Syria Phoenicia]] and [[Coele-Syria|Coele Syria]], and to the province of [[Syria Palaestina]]. Under the [[Byzantine Empire|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 Caliphate|Rashidun]], [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]], [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]], and [[Fatimid Caliphate|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.<ref name="Salibi2003" />

After [[World War I]], the boundaries of the region were last defined in modern times by the proclamation of and subsequent definition by [[French colonial empire|French]] and [[British Empire|British]] mandatory agreement, as laid out in the [[Sykes–Picot Agreement]]. Following the [[Arab Revolt]] and [[Franco-Syrian War]], the area was divided and passed to French and British [[League of Nations mandate|League of Nations mandates]]. The French established [[Greater Lebanon]], the [[State of Damascus]], the [[State of Aleppo]], the [[Alawite State|State of Alawites]], and the [[Jabal Druze State|State of Jabal Druze]], while the British controlled [[Mandatory Palestine]] and the [[Emirate of Transjordan]]. The term Syria itself was applied to several mandate states under French rule and the contemporaneous but short-lived [[Arab Kingdom of Syria]]. The Syrian-mandate states were gradually unified as the [[State of Syria]] and finally became the [[First Syrian Republic|independent Syrian Republic]] in 1946. Throughout this period, [[Syrian nationalism|pan-Syrian nationalists]] advocated for the creation of a Greater Syria as a step toward achieving a broader [[Pan-Arabism|pan-Arab state]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yonker |first=Carl C. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1248759109 |title=The Rise and Fall of Greater Syria: A Political History of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party |date=19 April 2021 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |isbn=978-3-11-072909-2 |oclc=1248759109}}</ref>

==Etymology and evolution of the term==
{{main|Name of Syria}}
Several sources indicate that the name ''Syria'' itself is derived from [[Luwian]] term "Sura/i", and the derivative [[ancient Greek]] name: {{lang|el|Σύριοι}}, ''{{transliteration|grc|Sýrioi}}'', or {{lang|el|Σύροι}}, ''{{transliteration|grc|Sýroi}}'', both of which originally derived from Aššūrāyu ([[Assyria]]) in northern [[Mesopotamia]], modern-day [[Iraq|Iraq and greater Syria]]<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Herodotus |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/History_of_Herodotus/Book_7 |title=The History of Herodotus (Rawlinson)}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{cite web |last=Joseph |first=John |year=2008 |title=Assyria and Syria: Synonyms? |url=http://www.jaas.org/edocs/v11n2/JohnJoseph.pdf}}</ref> 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. For [[Pliny the Elder]] and [[Pomponius Mela]], Syria covered the entire [[Fertile Crescent]].

In [[Late Antiquity]], "Syria" meant a region located to the east of the [[Mediterranean Sea]], west of the [[Euphrates River]], north of the [[Arabian Desert]] and south of the [[Taurus Mountains]],<ref name=":0">{{cite book |author=Taylor & Francis Group |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pP315Mw3S9EC&pg=PA1015 |title=The Middle East and North Africa 2004 |publisher=Psychology Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-85743-184-1 |page=1015}}</ref> thereby including modern [[Syria]], [[Lebanon]], [[Jordan]], [[Israel]], [[State of Palestine|Palestine]], and parts of Southern Turkey, namely the [[Hatay Province]] and the western half of the [[Southeastern Anatolia Region]]. This late definition is equivalent to the region known in [[Classical Arabic]] by the name ''{{lang|ar-Latn|ash-Shām}}'' ({{langx|ar|ٱَلشَّام}} {{IPA|/ʔaʃ-ʃaːm/}},<ref name="Volume 9 1997 page 261">Article "AL-SHĀM" by [[C.E. Bosworth]], ''[[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]'', Volume 9 (1997), page 261.</ref> which means ''the north [country]''<ref name="Volume 9 1997 page 261" /> (from the root ''{{lang|ar-Latn|šʔm}}'' {{langx|ar|شَأْم}} "left, north")). After the [[Muslim conquest of the Levant|Arab conquest of Byzantine Syria]] in the 7th century [[Common Era|CE]], the name ''Syria'' fell out of primary use in the region itself, being superseded by the Arabic equivalent ''Shām'', but survived in its original sense in Byzantine and Western European usage, and in Syriac Christian literature.<ref name="Salibi2003" /> In the 19th century the name Syria was revived in its modern 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.<ref name="Salibi2003" /> After [[World War I]], the name Syria was applied to the [[French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon]] and the contemporaneous but short-lived [[Arab Kingdom of Syria]].

==Geography==
{{Further|Canaan|Levant}}
[[File:J-m-dent-and-sons atlas-of-ancient-and-classical-geography 1912 syria-mesopotamia-assyria-etc-northern-middle-east 3296 2114 600.jpg|thumb|Map depicting Syria as the land ranging from the [[Taurus Mountains]] to the [[Sinai Peninsula]] to the [[Euphrates]], but not including [[Upper Mesopotamia]]]]
In the most common historical sense, 'Syria' refers to the entire northern [[Levant]], including [[Alexandretta]] and the Ancient City of [[Antioch]] or in an extended sense the entire Levant as far south as [[Roman Egypt]], including [[Mesopotamia]]. The area of "Greater Syria" ({{langx|ar|سُوْرِيَّة ٱلْكُبْرَىٰ|link=no}}, ''{{transliteration|ar|Sūrīyah al-Kubrā}}''); also called "Natural Syria" ({{langx|ar|سُوْرِيَّة ٱلطَّبِيْعِيَّة|link=no}}, ''{{transliteration|ar|Sūrīyah aṭ-Ṭabīʿīyah}}'') or "Northern Land" ({{langx|ar|بِلَاد ٱلشَّام|link=no}}, ''{{transliteration|ar|Bilād ash-Shām}}''),<ref name="Abu Sway 2011">{{cite news |author=Mustafa Abu Sway |title=The Holy Land, Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Qur'an, Sunnah and other Islamic Literary Source |publisher=[[Central Conference of American Rabbis]] |url=http://www.wcfia.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Abusway_0.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728001911/http://www.wcfia.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Abusway_0.pdf |archive-date=28 July 2011 }}</ref> extends roughly over the [[Bilad al-Sham]] province of the medieval Arab [[caliphate]]s, encompassing the [[Eastern Mediterranean]] (or Levant) and Western Mesopotamia. The [[Muslim conquest of the Levant]] in the seventh century gave rise to this province, which encompassed much of the region of Syria, and came to largely overlap with this concept. Other sources indicate that the term Greater Syria was coined during [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman rule]], after 1516, to designate the approximate area included in present-day [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], Syria, Jordan, Lebanon.<ref>Thomas Collelo, ed. [http://countrystudies.us/lebanon/15.htm Lebanon: A Country Study] Washington, Library of Congress, 1987.</ref>

The uncertainty in the definition of the extent of "Syria" is aggravated by the etymological confusion of the similar-sounding names [[Syria (name)|Syria]] and [[Assyria (name)|Assyria]]. The question of the etymological identity of the two names remains open today. Regardless of etymology, both were thought of as interchangeable around the time of Herodotus.<ref name="Herodotus VII.63"/> However, by the time of the [[Roman Empire]], 'Syria' and 'Assyria' began to refer to two separate entities, [[Roman Syria]] and [[Roman Assyria]].

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.<ref name="KillebrewSteiner2014"/> The Muslim geographer [[Muhammad al-Idrisi]] visited the region in 1150 and assigned the northern regions of ''Bilad al-Sham'' as the following:<blockquote>
In the Levantine sea are two islands: [[Rhodes]] and Cyprus; and in Levantine lands: Antarsus, [[Latakia|Laodice]], [[Antakya|Antioch]], [[Mopsuestia|Mopsuhestia]], [[Adana]], [[Anazarbus]], [[Tarsus, Mersin|Tarsus]], [[Circesium]], Ḥamrtash, [[Antalya]], al-Batira, al-Mira, [[Kayaköy|Macri]], Astroboli; and in the interior lands: [[Apamea, Syria|Apamea]], [[Salamiya]], [[Qinnasrin]], al-Castel, [[Aleppo]], [[Resafa]], [[Raqqa]], Rafeqa, al-Jisr, [[Manbij]], [[kahramanmaraş|Mar'ash]], [[Suruç|Saruj]], [[Harran|Ḥarran]], [[Edessa]], [[Hadath|Al-Ḥadath]], [[Samosata]], [[Malatya|Malatiya]], Ḥusn Mansur, Zabatra, Jersoon, al-Leen, al-Bedandour, Cirra and Touleb.</blockquote>

For [[Pliny the Elder]] and [[Pomponius Mela]], Syria covered the entire [[Fertile Crescent]]. In [[Late Antiquity]], "Syria" meant a region located to the east of the [[Mediterranean Sea]], west of the [[Euphrates River]], north of the [[Arabian Desert]], and south of the [[Taurus Mountains]],<ref name=":0" /> thereby including modern Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, the State of Palestine, and the [[Hatay Province]] and the western half of the [[Southeastern Anatolia Region]] of southern Turkey. This late definition is equivalent to the region known in [[Classical Arabic]] by the name ''{{lang|ar-Latn|ash-Shām}}'' ({{lang|ar|ٱلشَّام}} {{IPA|/ʔaʃ-ʃaːm/}}),<ref name="Volume 9 1997 page 261"/> which means ''the north [country]''<ref name="Volume 9 1997 page 261"/> (from the root ''{{lang|ar-Latn|šʔm}}'' {{lang|ar|شَأْم}} "left, north"). After the [[Muslim conquest of the Levant|Islamic conquest of Byzantine Syria]] in the seventh century, the name ''Syria'' fell out of primary use in the region itself, being superseded by the Arabic equivalent ''Bilād ash-Shām'' ("Northern Land'"), but survived in its original sense in Byzantine and Western European usage, and in [[Syriac Christian]] literature. In the 19th century, the name Syria was revived in its modern 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.<ref name="Salibi2003">{{cite book |first=Kamal S. |last=Salibi |author-link=Kamal Salibi |title=A House of Many Mansions: The History of Lebanon Reconsidered |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t_amYLJq4SQC |year=2003 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |isbn=978-1-86064-912-7 |pages=61–62 |quote=To the [[Arabs]], this same territory, which the Roman Empire considered Arabian, formed part of what they called Bilad al-Sham, which was their own name for Syria. From the classical perspective, however, Syria, including Palestine, formed no more than the western fringes of what was reckoned to be Arabia between the first line of cities and the coast. Since there is no clear dividing line between what is called today the [[Syrian Desert|Syrian]] and [[Arabian desert]]s, which actually form one stretch of arid tableland, the classical concept of what actually constituted Syria had more to its credit geographically than the vaguer Arab concept of Syria as Bilad al-Sham. Under the Romans, there was actually a province of Syria, with its capital at Antioch, which carried the name of the territory. Otherwise, down the centuries, Syria, like Arabia and Mesopotamia, was no more than a geographic expression. In Islamic times, the Arab geographers used the name arabicized as Suriyah, to denote one special region of Bilad al-Sham, which was the middle section of the valley of the Orontes River, in the vicinity of the towns of [[Homs]] and [[Hama]]. They also noted that it was an old name for the whole of Bilad al-Sham which had gone out of use. As a geographic expression, however, the name Syria survived in its original classical sense in [[Byzantine]] and Western European usage, and also in the [[Syriac literature]] of some of the [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern Christian churches]], from which it occasionally found its way into [[Christian Arab]]ic usage. It was only in the nineteenth century that the use of the name was revived in its modern Arabic form, frequently as Suriyya rather than the older Suriyah, to denote the whole of Bilad al-Sham: first of all in the Christian Arabic literature of the period, and under the influence of Western Europe. By the end of that century it had already replaced the name of Bilad al-Sham even in [[Muslim]] Arabic usage.}}</ref> After [[World War I]], the name 'Syria' was applied to the [[French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon]], and the contemporaneous but short-lived [[Arab Kingdom of Syria]].

Today, the [[List of largest metropolitan areas of the Middle East|largest metropolitan areas in the region]] are [[Amman]], [[Tel Aviv]], [[Damascus]], [[Beirut]], [[Aleppo]] and [[Gaza City]].

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Rank
! style="text-align:center;" | City
! Country
! Metropolitan<br />Population
! City<br />Population
! class="unsortable" | Image
|-
| style="text-align:center;" | 1
| [[Amman]]
| [[Jordan]]
| style="text-align:center;" | {{nts|4,642,000}}
| style="text-align:center;" | {{nts|4,061,150}}
| [[File:View of Abdali project 2018.jpg|200px]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;" | 2
| [[Tel Aviv]]
| [[Israel]]
| style="text-align:center;" | {{nts|3,954,500}}
| style="text-align:center;" | {{nts|438,818}}
| [[File:Skyline of Tel Aviv (34324506705).jpg|200px]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| [[Damascus]]
| [[Syria]]
| style="text-align:center;" | {{nts|2,900,000}}
| style="text-align:center;" | {{nts|2,078,000}}
| [[File:Barada River and Four Seasons Hotel in Damascus.jpg|200px]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
| [[Beirut]]
| [[Lebanon]]
| style="text-align:center;" | {{nts|2,200,000}}
| style="text-align:center;" | {{nts|361,366}}
| [[File:Zaitunay Bay, Downtown Beirut, Lebanon.jpg|200px]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;" | 5
| [[Aleppo]]
| [[Syria]]
| style="text-align:center;" | {{nts|2,098,210}}
| style="text-align:center;" | {{nts|2,098,210}}
| [[File:Aleppo at night11.jpg|200px]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;" | 6
| [[Gaza City]]
| [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]]
| style="text-align:center;" | {{nts|2,047,969}}
| style="text-align:center;" | {{nts|590,481}}
| [[File:Gaza City.JPG|200x200px]]
|-
|}

==Etymology==
{{main|Name of Syria}}
===Syria===
Several sources indicate that the name ''Syria'' itself is derived from [[Luwian]] term "Sura/i", and the derivative [[ancient Greek]] name: {{lang|el|Σύριοι}}, ''{{transliteration|grc|Sýrioi}}'', or {{lang|el|Σύροι}}, ''{{transliteration|grc|Sýroi}}'', both of which originally derived from Aššūrāyu ([[Assyria]]) in northern [[Mesopotamia]], modern-day [[Iraq]]<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> However, during the [[Seleucid Empire]], this term was also applied to [[The Levant]], and henceforth the Greeks applied the term without distinction between the [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] of Mesopotamia and [[Arameans]] of the Levant.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" />

The oldest attestation of the name 'Syria' is from the 8th century BC in a bilingual inscription in [[Hieroglyphic Luwian]] and [[Phoenician language|Phoenician]]. In this inscription, the Luwian word ''Sura/i'' was translated to Phoenician ''ʔšr'' "[[Assyria]]."<ref name=":1" /> 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, {{langx|el|Σύριοι}} ''{{transliteration|grc|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 {{langx|el|Ἀσσυρία}}, ''{{transliteration|grc|[[Assyria]]}}.<ref>First proposed by [[Theodor Nöldeke]] in 1881; cf. {{cite web|last=Harper|first=Douglas|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Syria|title=Syria|work=Online Etymology Dictionary|date=November 2001|access-date=22 January 2013}}.</ref>''

The classical Arabic pronunciation of Syria is ''{{lang|ar-Latn|Sūriya}}'' (as opposed to the [[Modern Standard Arabic]] pronunciation ''{{lang|ar-Latn|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|date=April 2018}} In English, "Syrian" historically meant a [[Syriac Christianity|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" (''{{lang|ar-Latn|suryāni}}'' {{lang|ar|سُرْيَانِي}}) has come into common use since as an [[ethnonym]] to avoid the ambiguity of "Syrian".

Currently, the Arabic term ''{{lang|ar-Latn|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 ({{lang|ar|اَلْيَمَن}} {{transliteration|ar|al-Yaman}}), correspondingly meaning "the right-hand side" or "the south". The variation {{lang|ar|ش ء م}} (''{{transliteration|ar|š-ʾ-m}}''), of the more typical {{lang|ar|ش م ل}} (''{{transliteration|ar|š-m-l}})'', is also attested in [[Old South Arabian]], {{lang|srb|𐩦𐩱𐩣}} ({{transliteration|srb|s²ʾm}}), with the same semantic development.<ref name="Volume 9 1997 page 261"/><ref>{{cite book | last = Younger| first = K. Lawson Jr.| title = A Political History of the Arameans: From Their Origins to the End of Their Polities (Archaeology and Biblical Studies)| publisher = SBL Press| date = 7 October 2016| location = Atlanta, GA| pages = 551| language = en| isbn =978-1589831285}}</ref>

The root of ''Shaam'', {{lang|ar|ش ء م}} (''{{transliteration|ar|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|date=June 2020|reason=Unsourced etymology}}

The Shaam region is sometimes defined as the area dominated by [[Damascus]], long an important regional center.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}} ''Ash-Sām'' on its own can refer to the city of Damascus.<ref name="CBC2017Syria">{{cite news |author=Tardif, P. |title='I won't give up': Syrian woman creates doll to help kids raised in conflict |publisher=[[CBC News]] |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/syrian-refugee-sherbrooke-dolls-fundraiser-1.4289512 |date=17 September 2017 |access-date=6 March 2018}}</ref> 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.

[[Quran 106:2]] alludes to this practice of caravans traveling to Syria in the summer to avoid the colder weather and to likewise sell commodities in Yemen in the winter.<ref>{{cite book | last = Ali| first = Maulana Muhammad| author-link = Muhammad Ali (writer) | title = The Holy Quran Arabic Text with English Translation, Commentary and comprehensive Introduction| publisher = The Ahmadiyyah Anjuman Ish'at Islam| date = 2002| pages = 1247 | language = en, ar |isbn = 978-0913321058}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Quran|106|2|t=s|tn=s|q=Their protection during their trading caravans in the winter and the summer.}}</ref>

==Demographics==
{{see also|Demographics of the Middle East}}
{{Historical populations
|title=Historical population of the region of Syria
|align=right
|14|4300000|164|4800000|500|4127000|900|3120000|1200|2700000|1500|1500000|1700|2028000|1897|3231874|1914|3448356|1922|3198951|footnote = Source:<ref>{{cite web|last=Mutlu|first=Servet|title=Late Ottoman population and its ethnic distribution|url=https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/213586|pages=29–31}} Corrected population M8.</ref><ref>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.</ref><ref>{{Setton-A History of the Crusades|last=Russell|first=Josiah C.|chapter=The Population of the Crusader States|pages=295–314|volume=5}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Syria Population - Our World in Data |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/population?time=0..latest&country=~SYR |website=www.ourworldindata.org |language=en}}</ref>
}}
The largest religious group in the Levant are [[Muslim]]s and the largest ethnic group are [[Arabs]]. Levantines predominantly speak [[Levantine Arabic]], who derive their ancestry from the many [[ancient Semitic-speaking peoples]] who inhabited the [[ancient Near East]] during the [[Bronze Age|Bronze]] and [[Iron Age]]s.<ref name="Haber">{{cite journal |title=A Genetic History of the Near East from an aDNA Time Course Sampling Eight Points in the Past 4,000 Years |journal=American Journal of Human Genetics |year=2020 |doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2020.05.008|last1=Haber |first1=Marc |last2=Nassar |first2=Joyce |last3=Almarri |first3=Mohamed A. |last4=Saupe |first4=Tina |last5=Saag |first5=Lehti |last6=Griffith |first6=Samuel J. |last7=Doumet-Serhal |first7=Claude |last8=Chanteau |first8=Julien |last9=Saghieh-Beydoun |first9=Muntaha |last10=Xue |first10=Yali |last11=Scheib |first11=Christiana L. |last12=Tyler-Smith |first12=Chris |volume=107 |issue=1 |pages=149–157 |pmid=32470374 |pmc=7332655 }}</ref> Others such as [[Bedouin]] Arabs inhabit the [[Syrian Desert]] and Naqab, and speak a dialect known as [[Bedouin Arabic]] that originated in [[Arabian Peninsula]]. Other minor ethnic groups in the Levant include [[Circassians]], [[Chechens]], [[Turkic peoples|Turks]], [[Turkmens]], [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]], [[Kurdish people|Kurds]], [[Nawar people|Nawars]] and [[Armenians]].

[[Islam by country|Islam]] became the predominant religion in the region after the [[Muslim conquest of the Levant]] in the 7th century.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Hugh N. |author-link=Hugh N. Kennedy |date=2007 |title=The Great Arab Conquests: How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live In |url=https://archive.org/details/greatarabconques00kenn_0 |url-access=registration |publisher=Da Capo Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/greatarabconques00kenn_0/page/376 376] |isbn=978-0-306-81728-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lapidus |first=Ira M. |author-link=Ira M. Lapidus |date=13 October 2014 |orig-year=1988 |title=A History of Islamic Societies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kFJNBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA70 |edition=3rd |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=70 |isbn=978-0-521-51430-9}}</ref> The majority of Levantine Muslims are [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] with [[Alawites|Alawite]] and [[Shia Islam|Shia]] ([[Twelver Shi'ism|Twelver]] and [[Nizari Isma'ilism|Nizari Ismaili]]) minorities. Alawites and Ismaili Shiites mainly inhabit [[Hatay]] and the [[Syrian Coastal Mountain Range]], while Twelver Shiites are mainly concentrated in parts of [[Lebanon]].

Levantine Christian groups are plenty and include [[Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch|Greek Orthodox]] ([[Antiochian Greek Christians|Antiochian Greek]]), [[Syriac Orthodox]], [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Eastern Catholic]] ([[Syriac Catholic Church|Syriac Catholic]], [[Melkite Greek Catholic Church|Melkite]] and [[Maronite Church|Maronite]]), [[Roman Catholic]] ([[Latin Church|Latin]]), [[Church of the East|Nestorian]], and [[Protestantism|Protestant]]. [[Armenians]] mostly belong to the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]]. There are also [[Levantines (Latin Christians)|Levantines or Franco-Levantines]] who adhere to [[Roman Catholicism]]. There are also [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]]s belonging to the [[Assyrian Church of the East]] and the [[Chaldean Catholic Church]].<ref name=gulf2014>{{cite web |title=Christian Population of Middle East in 2014 |date=2017 |publisher=The Gulf/2000 Project, School of International and Public Affairs of Columbia University |url=http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/images/maps/Christians_Middle_East_2014_lg.png |access-date=2018-08-31}}</ref>

Other religious groups in the Levant include [[Jews]], [[Samaritans]], [[Yazidi]]s and [[Druze]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPBfnT_E1mgC&pg=PA16 |title=Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East: An Encyclopedia|access-date=26 May 2014|isbn=978-1-59884-362-0|last1=Shoup|first1=John A|date=2011-10-31|publisher=Abc-Clio }}</ref>

==History==
{{History of Syria}}
{{Further|Syro-Hittite states|History of the ancient Levant}}
[[File:Apamea 02.jpg|thumb|The ancient city of [[Apamea, Syria]] was an important trading center, and a prosperous city in [[Hellenistic]] and [[Roman times]]]]
===Ancient Syria===
[[Herodotus]] uses {{langx|grc|Συρία}} to refer to the stretch of land from the Halys river, including [[Cappadocia]] (The Histories, I.6) in today's Turkey to the Mount Casius (The Histories II.158), which Herodotus says is located just south of Lake Serbonis (The Histories III.5). According to Herodotus various remarks in different locations, he describes Syria to include the entire stretch of Phoenician coastal line as well as cities such Cadytis (Jerusalem) (The Histories III.159).<ref name="Herodotus VII.63">{{cite web |author-link=Herodotus |author=Herodotus |title=Herodotus VII.63 |url=http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/greek-babylon.html |publisher=[[Fordham University]] |quote=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. |access-date=28 May 2013 |archive-date=20 February 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990220150108/http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/greek-babylon.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Hellenistic Syria===
In Greek usage, ''Syria'' and ''Assyria'' were used almost interchangeably, but in the [[Roman Empire]], [[Syria (Roman province)|Syria]] and [[Assyria (Roman province)|Assyria]] came to be used as distinct geographical terms. "Syria" in the Roman Empire period referred to "those parts of the Empire situated between Asia Minor and Egypt", i.e. the western [[Levant]], while "Assyria" was part of the [[Parthian Empire|Persian Empire]], and only very briefly came under Roman control (116–118 AD, marking the historical peak of [[Roman expansion]]).

===Roman Syria===
{{Further|Roman Syria|Assyria (Roman province)|Coele-Syria}}
[[File:A28 Sergiopolis-Martirion 562.jpg|thumb|Ruins at [[Sergiopolis]]]]
In the Roman era, the term Syria is used to comprise the entire northern Levant and has an uncertain border to the northeast that [[Pliny the Elder]] describes as including, from west to east, the [[Kingdom of Commagene]], [[Sophene]], and [[Adiabene]], "formerly known as Assyria".<ref>{{cite book |author=Pliny (AD 77) |author-link=Pliny the Elder |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Pliny_the_Elder/5*.html |title=Natural History |chapter=Book 5 Section 66 |date=March 1998 |publisher=University of Chicago |isbn=84-249-1901-7}}</ref>

[[File:The Scene of the Theater in Palmyra.JPG|thumb|[[Palmyra]], one of ancient Syria's wealthiest cities]]
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.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/commentarybible00peakuoft#page/n51/mode/1up 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)".</ref>

In 64 BC, [[Roman Syria|Syria]] became a province of the Roman Empire, following the conquest by [[Pompey]]. Roman Syria bordered [[Judea (Roman province)|Judea]] to the south, Anatolian Greek domains to the north, Phoenicia to the West, and was in constant struggle with Parthians to the East. In 135 AD, Syria-Palaestina became to incorporate the entire Levant and Western Mesopotamia. In 193, the province was divided into Syria proper ([[Coele-Syria]]) and [[Phoenice (Roman province)|Phoenice]]. Sometime between 330 and 350 (likely c. 341), the province of ''[[Euphratensis]]'' was created out of the territory of Syria Coele and the former realm of Commagene, with [[Hierapolis]] as its capital.<ref>{{cite book | editor-first = Alexander | editor-last = Kazhdan | title = [[Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium]] | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1991 | isbn = 978-0-19-504652-6 | page=748}}</ref>

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, Syria|Apamea]] on the [[Orontes River]]. In 528, [[Justinian I]] carved out the small coastal province [[Theodorias (province)|Theodorias]] out of territory from both provinces.<ref name="ODB1999">{{cite book | editor-first = Alexander | editor-last = Kazhdan | title = [[Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium]] | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1991 | isbn = 978-0-19-504652-6 | page=1999}}</ref>

===Bilad al-Sham===
{{main|Bilad al-Sham}}
The [[Muslim conquest of the Levant|region was annexed]] to the [[Rashidun Caliphate]] after the Muslim victory over the [[Byzantine Empire]] at the [[Battle of Yarmouk]], and became known as the province of ''[[Bilad al-Sham]]''. During the [[Umayyad Caliphate]], the Shām was divided into five ''[[jund]]s'' or military districts. They were ''[[Jund Dimashq]]'' (for the area of Damascus), ''[[Jund Hims|Jund Ḥimṣ]]'' (for the area of [[Homs]]), ''[[Jund Filastin|Jund Filasṭīn]]'' (for the area of [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]]) and ''[[Jund al-Urdunn]]'' (for the area of Jordan). Later ''[[Jund Qinnasrin|Jund Qinnasrîn]]'' was created out of part of Jund Hims. The city of Damascus was the capital of the Islamic Caliphate, until the rise of the [[Abbasid Caliphate]].<ref name="LeStrange1890">{{cite book |title=Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500 |url=https://archive.org/details/palestineundermo00lestuoft |author=Le Strange, G. |author-link=Guy Le Strange |publisher=Committee of the [[Palestine Exploration Fund]] |location=London |year=1890 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/palestineundermo00lestuoft/page/30 30]–234 |oclc=1004386 }}</ref><ref name="Blankinship1994">{{cite book |last=Blankinship |first=Khalid Yahya |author-link=Khalid Yahya Blankinship |title=The End of the Jihâd State: The Reign of Hishām ibn ʻAbd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads |location=Albany, New York |publisher=State University of New York Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jz0Yy053WS4C |pages=47–50 |isbn=0-7914-1827-8 |year=1994 }}</ref><ref name="Cobb2001">{{cite book |title=White Banners: Contention in 'Abbāsid Syria, 750–880 |first=Paul M. |last=Cobb |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2C6KIBw4F9YC |location=Albany, NY |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=2001 |pages=12–182 |isbn=0-7914-4880-0 }}</ref>

===Ottoman Syria===
{{main|Ottoman Syria|Damascus Eyalet|Syria Vilayet}}
In the later ages of the [[Ottoman Syria|Ottoman]] times, it was divided into [[wilayah]]s 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 [[Arabah|Wadi Arabah]].

Although the region's population was dominated by [[Sunni Islam|Sunni Muslims]], it also contained sizable populations of [[Shi'ite]], [[Alawism|Alawite]] and [[Ismaili]] Muslims, [[Syriac Orthodox]], [[Maronite]], [[Greek Orthodox]], [[Roman Catholics]] and [[Melkite]] Christians, [[Jews]] and [[Druze]].

<gallery class="center" heights="225" mode="packed-overlay" style="font-size:smaller;">
Cedid Atlas (Syria) 1803.jpg|1803 [[Cedid Atlas]], showing Ottoman Syria in yellow
Bowen, Frances. Turkey in Asia. 1810.jpg|An 1810 map of the Ottoman Empire in Asia, showing the region of Ottoman Syria
Maunsell's map, Pre-World War I British Ethnographical Map of eastern Turkey in Asia, Syria and western Persia 01.jpg|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)"
</gallery>

===Arab Kingdom and French occupation===
{{main|Occupied Enemy Territory Administration|Arab Kingdom of Syria|Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon}}
[[File:Book of the Independence of Syria (ذكرى استقلال سوريا).jpg|thumb|left|150px|Book of the Independence of Syria ({{langx|ar|ذِكْرَى اِسْتِقْلَال سُوْرِيَا|Dhikrā Istiqlāl Sūriyā}}), showing the declared borders of the [[Arab Kingdom of Syria|Kingdom of Syria]], states the date of the Declaration of Independence on 8 March 1920]]
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 [[Battle of Maysalun|defeated]] the newly proclaimed kingdom and [[Capture of Damascus (1920)|captured]] Damascus, aborting the Arab state.<ref>[[Itamar Rabinovich]], Symposium: The Greater-Syria Plan and the Palestine Problem in The Jerusalem Cathedra (1982), p. 262.</ref>

Thereafter, the French general [[Henri Gouraud (general)|Henri Gouraud]], in breach of the conditions of the mandate, subdivided the [[Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon|French Mandate of Syria]] into six states. They were the states of [[State of Damascus|Damascus]] (1920), [[State of Aleppo|Aleppo]] (1920), [[Alawite State]] (1920), [[Jabal Druze State|Jabal Druze]] (1921), the autonomous [[Sanjak of Alexandretta]] (1921) (modern-day [[Hatay Province|Hatay]] in Turkey), and [[Greater Lebanon]] (1920) which later became the modern country of Lebanon.

===In pan-Syrian nationalism===
{{See also|Ba'athism|Fertile Crescent Plan|Arab Kingdom of Syria}}
[[File:Greater_Syria_Map.png|thumb|[[Antoun Saadeh]]'s [[Syrian Social Nationalist Party|SSNP]] map of a "Natural Syria", based on the [[Name of Syria|etymological connection between the name "Syria" and "Assyria"]]]]
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 (1925–1930)|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 [[Name of Syria|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 [[Cilicia|Kilikia]]n region of Turkey.<ref name="Genesis">{{cite book |last=Sa'adeh |first=Antoun |author-link=Antoun Saadeh |title=The Genesis of Nations |location=[[Beirut]] |year=2004}} Translated and Reprinted</ref><ref name="TheAtlantic1987">{{cite web |last=Ya'ari |first=Ehud |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1987/06/behind-the-terror/376326/ |title=Behind the Terror |website=[[The Atlantic]]|date=June 1987 }}</ref>

==Religious significance==
{{See also|Religious significance of Jerusalem}}
The region has sites that are significant to [[Abrahamic religions]]:<ref name="Abu Sway 2011"/><ref name="Unesco2007">{{cite web |author=World Heritage Committee |title=Convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage |page=34 |url=https://whc.unesco.org/archive/2007/whc07-31com-8be.pdf |date=2 July 2007 |access-date=8 July 2008}}</ref><ref name="O'Connor1998">{{cite book |last=O'Connor |first=J. M. |author-link=Jerome Murphy-O'Connor |title=The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1998 |page=369 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSuErBFmykQC |isbn=978-0-1915-2867-5}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! Place !! Description !! Image

|-
|[[Acre, Israel|Acre]]
||Acre is home to the [[Shrine of Baháʼu'lláh]], which is the holiest site for the [[Baháʼí Faith]].<ref name="BN1966">{{cite journal |author=National Spiritual Assembly of the United States |title=Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh |journal=Baháʼí News |issue=418 |page=4 |url=https://bahai.bwc.org/pilgrimage/Intro/visit_2.asp |date=January 1966 |access-date=12 August 2006}}</ref><ref name="Unesco2008">{{cite web |author=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |title=Baháʼí Holy Places in Haifa and the Western Galilee |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1220/ |date=8 July 2008 |access-date=8 July 2008}}</ref>
||[[File:Bahá´i Holy Place Bahji near Akká.jpg|thumb|150px]]

|-
|[[Aleppo]]
||Aleppo is home to a [[Great Mosque of Aleppo|Great Mosque]], which is believed to house the remains of [[Zechariah (priest)|Zechariah]],<ref name="MuslimHeritage">{{Cite web |url=http://www.muslimheritage.com/article/great-mosque-aleppo |title=The Great Mosque of Aleppo {{!}} Muslim Heritage |website=www.muslimheritage.com |date=24 March 2005 |access-date=30 June 2016}}</ref> who is revered in both [[Christianity]]<ref name="Cite luke|1:5–79">[[Gospel of Luke]], {{bibleref2|Luke|1:5–79|KJV|1:5–79}}</ref> and [[Islam]].<ref name="Cite quran|19|2|e=15|s=ns">{{cite quran|19|2|e=15|s=ns}}</ref><ref name="YusufAliN905">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)."</ref>
||[[File:Aleppo. Great Mosque (1265181739).jpg|thumb|150px]]

|-
|[[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),<ref name="Strickert2007">{{cite book |title=Rachel weeping: Jews, Christians, and Muslims at the Fortress Tomb |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303181649/https://litpress.org/Products/GetSample/5987/9780814659878 |archive-date=3 March 2020 |url-access=registration |first=Frederick M. |last=Strickert |year=2007 |publisher=[[Liturgical Press]] |isbn=978-0-8146-5987-8 |url=https://litpress.org/Products/GetSample/5987/9780814659878 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/rachelweepingjew0000stri/page/64 64]–84 |access-date=3 March 2020 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> revered by Christians, and nearby, the [[Mosque of Omar (Bethlehem)|Mosque of Omar]], revered by Muslims.<ref name="Guidetti2016">{{cite book |first=Mattia |last=Guidetti |title=In the Shadow of the Church: The Building of Mosques in Early Medieval Syria |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]]; Lam edition |series=Arts and Archaeology of the Islamic World (Book 8) |isbn=978-9-0043-2570-8 |year=2016 |pages=30–31 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3n5yDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA30 |access-date=9 April 2018}}</ref>
||[[File:Bethlehem-Nativity-122.jpg|thumb|150px]]

|-
|[[Damascus]]
||The [[Ancient City of Damascus|Old City]] has a [[Umayyad Mosque|Great Mosque]]<ref name="DumperStanley2007-Damascus">{{cite encyclopedia |editor-last1=Dumper |editor-first1=Michael R. T. |editor-last2=Stanley |editor-first2=Bruce E. |author-last=Abu-Lughod |author-first=Janet L. |author-link=Janet Abu-Lughod |title=Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |chapter=Damascus |pages=119–126 |isbn=978-1-5760-7919-5 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&q=damascus+%22fourth+holiest%22&pg=PA121 |year=2007}}</ref><ref name="Birke2013">{{citation |url=https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2013/08/02/damascus-whats-left/ |title=Damascus: What's Left |first=Sarah |last=Birke |publisher=[[New York Review Books|New York Review of Books]] |date=2 August 2013}}</ref><ref name="Totah2009">{{cite journal |last=Totah |first=Faedah M. |title=Return to the origin: negotiating the modern and unmodern in the old city of Damascus |journal=[[City & Society]] |volume=21 |issue=1 |year=2009 |pages=58–81 |doi=10.1111/j.1548-744X.2009.01015.x}}</ref> which is considered to be one of the largest and best preserved mosques from the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad era]]. It is believed to house the remains of Zechariah's son [[John the Baptist]],<ref name="LeStrange1890"/><ref name="Burns">Burns, 2005, p.88.</ref> who is revered in [[Christianity]]<ref name="Cite luke|1:5–79"/> and [[Islam]], like his father.<ref name="YusufAliN905"/> The city is also home to the [[Sayyidah Zainab Mosque, Damascus|Sayyidah Zainab Mosque]], the shrine of [[Zaynab bint Ali]] the grand-daughter of the [[Prophets and messengers in Islam|Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]], and [[Sayyidah Ruqayya Mosque]], the shrine of [[Ruqayya bint Husayn|Ruqayya]] the daughter of [[Husayn ibn Ali|Husayn]], both sites holy to [[Shia Islam|Shia Muslims]].<ref name="auto">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</ref>
||[[File:Umayyad Mosque- الجامع الأموي.jpg|thumb|150px]]

|-
|[[Haifa]]
||Haifa is where the [[Shrine of the Báb]] is located. It is holy to the Baháʼí Faith.<ref name="Unesco2007"/><ref name="BWNS2011">{{cite news |publisher=Baháʼí World News Service |title=Beauty of restored Shrine set to dazzle visitors and pilgrims |url=http://news.bahai.org/story/816 |date=12 April 2011 |access-date=12 April 2011}}</ref>

Nearby is [[Mount Carmel]]. Being associated with the Biblical figure [[Elijah]], it is important to Christians, [[Druze]], Jews and Muslims.<ref name="Yazbak2009">{{cite book |author1=Breger, M. J. |author2=Hammer, L. |author3=Reiter, Y. |title=Holy Places in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Confrontation and Co-existence |publisher=[[Routledge]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nROPAgAAQBAJ |date=16 December 2009 |pages=231–246 |isbn=978-1-1352-6812-1}}</ref>
||[[File:Shrine of the Bab (highres).jpg|thumb|150px]]

|-
|[[Hebron]]
||The [[Old City of Hebron|Old City]] is home to the [[Cave of the Patriarchs]], where the [[Bible|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.<ref name="Emmett2000">{{cite book |last=Emmett |first=Chad F. |editor1-last=Murphy |editor1-first=Alexander B. |editor2-last=Johnson |editor2-first=Douglas L. |editor3-last=Haarmann |editor3-first=Viola |chapter=Sharing Sacred Space in the Holy Land |title=Cultural encounters with the environment: enduring and evolving geographic themes |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |pages=271–291 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4WLmLRYxRZoC&pg=PA261 |isbn=978-0-7425-0106-5 |year=2000}}</ref><ref name="Gish2018">{{cite book |last=Gish |first=Arthur G. |title=Hebron Journal: Stories of Nonviolent Peacemaking |publisher=[[Wipf and Stock Publishers]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T7qCDwAAQBAJ&q=abraham |isbn=978-1-5326-6213-3 |date=20 December 2018}}</ref>
||[[File:Hebron Grab der Patriarchen (Synagoge) C.JPG|thumb|150px]]

|-
|[[Hittin]]
||Hittin is near what is believed to near the [[Nabi Shu'ayb|shrine]] of [[Shuaib]] (possibly [[Jethro (biblical figure)|Jethro]]). It is holy to Druze and Muslims.<ref name="Union-Tribune">{{cite book |author=Firro, K. M. |title=The Druzes in the Jewish State: A Brief History |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |location=[[Leiden]], The Netherlands |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=owhg2R8Ndy8C |pages=22–240 |year=1999 |isbn=90-04-11251-0}}</ref><ref name="Dana2003">{{cite book |author=Dana, N. |title=The Druze in the Middle East: Their Faith, Leadership, Identity and Status |publisher=Sussex Academic Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2nCWIsyZJxUC&pg=PA28 |pages=28–30 |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-9039-0036-9}}</ref>
||[[File:Nabi-shurayb.jpg|thumb|150px]]

|-
|[[Jericho]] / An-[[Nabi Musa]]
||Near the city of Jericho in the West Bank is the shrine of ''[[Prophets and messengers in Islam|Nabi]] [[Moses in Islam|Musa]]'' (literally: [[Prophet]] Moses), which is considered by Muslims to be the burial place of [[Moses]].<ref name="O'Connor1998" /><ref name="Canaan1927">{{cite book |last=Canaan |first=Tawfiq |author-link=Tawfiq Canaan |url=https://archive.org/details/MohammedanSaintsAndSanctuariesInPalestine |title=Mohammedan Saints and Sanctuaries in Palestine |year=1927 |location=London |publisher=Luzac & Co.}}</ref><ref name="Kupferschmidt">{{cite book |last=Kupferschmidt |first=Uri M. |title=The Supreme Muslim Council: Islam Under the British Mandate for Palestine |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |year=1987 |page=231 |isbn=978-9-0040-7929-8}}</ref>
||[[File:Nabi Musa - panoramio.jpg|thumb|150px]]

|-
|[[Jerusalem]]
||The [[Old City (Jerusalem)|Old City]] is home to many sites of seminal [[Religious significance of Jerusalem|religious importance]] for the three major Abrahamic religions—[[Judaism]], [[Christianity]], and [[Islam]]. These sites include the [[Temple Mount]],<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Rivka |first=Gonen |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1148595286 |title=Contested Holiness: Jewish, Muslim, and Christian Perspectives on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem |publisher=KTAV Publishing House, Inc. |year=2003 |isbn=0-88125-798-2 |location=Jersey City, NJ |pages=4 |oclc=1148595286 |quote=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.}}</ref><ref name=":11">{{Cite book |last1=Marshall J. |first1=Breger |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/48940385 |title=Jerusalem: A City and Its Future |last2=Ahimeir |first2=Ora |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=2002 |isbn=0-8156-2912-5 |pages=296 |oclc=48940385}}</ref> [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]],<ref name="Strickert20072">{{cite book |last=Strickert |first=Frederick M. |url=https://litpress.org/Products/GetSample/5987/9780814659878 |title=Rachel weeping: Jews, Christians, and Muslims at the Fortress Tomb |publisher=[[Liturgical Press]] |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-8146-5987-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/rachelweepingjew0000stri/page/64 64]–84 |url-access=registration |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303181649/https://litpress.org/Products/GetSample/5987/9780814659878 |archive-date=3 March 2020 |access-date=3 March 2020 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref><ref name="SacredDestinationsChristianity20102">{{cite web |date=21 February 2010 |title=Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem |url=http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jerusalem-church-of-holy-sepulchre.htm |access-date=7 July 2012 |publisher=Sacred-destinations.com |location=Jerusalem}}</ref> [[Al-Aqsa]] and the [[Western Wall]].<ref name="KHB2">{{citation |last=Frishman |first=Avraham |title=Kum Hisalech Be'aretz |year=2004 |location=Jerusalem}}</ref> It is regarded as the holiest city in Judaism,<ref name="1000BCE">Since the 10th century BCE:
* "Israel was first forged into a unified nation from Jerusalem some 3,000 years ago, when [[David|King David]] seized the crown and united the [[Israelites|twelve tribes]] from this city... For a thousand years Jerusalem was the seat of Jewish sovereignty, the household site of kings, the location of its legislative councils and courts. In exile, the Jewish nation came to be identified with the city that had been the site of its ancient capital. Jews, wherever they were, prayed for its restoration." Roger Friedland, Richard D. Hecht. ''To Rule Jerusalem'', University of California Press, 2000, p. 8. {{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}}</ref> and the third-holiest in Sunni Islam.<ref name="3rd">Third-holiest city in Islam:
* {{Cite book |last=Esposito |first=John L. |url=https://archive.org/details/whateveryoneneed00espo |title=What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2002 |isbn=0-19-515713-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/whateveryoneneed00espo/page/n178 157] |quote=The Night Journey made Jerusalem the third holiest city in Islam |author-link=John Esposito |url-access=limited}}
* {{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Leon Carl |title=Religion and State: The Muslim Approach to Politics |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-231-12038-9 |page=11 |chapter=Setting the Stage: Islam and Muslims |quote=The third holiest city of Islam—Jerusalem—is also very much in the center...}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hoppe |first=Leslie J. |title=The Holy City: Jerusalem in the Theology of the Old Testament |publisher=Michael Glazier Books |year=2000 |isbn=0-8146-5081-3 |page=14 |quote=Jerusalem has always enjoyed a prominent place in Islam. Jerusalem is often referred to as the third holiest city in Islam...}}</ref>
||[[File:JERUSALEM THE OLD CITY & THE TEMPLE MOUNT.JPG|thumb|150x150px]]
|-
|[[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 [[Flood myth|Great Flood]] and providing the first land for [[Noah]]’s disembarkation.<ref>Anderson, Robert T., "Mount Gerizim: Navel of the World", ''Biblical Archaeologist'' Vol. 43, No. 4 (Autumn 1980), pp 217–218</ref> In their belief, it is also the location where [[Binding of Isaac|Abraham almost sacrificed his son Isaac]].<ref name="Centre">{{cite web |author=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |date=11 October 2017 |title=Mount Gerizim and the Samaritans |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5706/ |access-date=24 December 2020}}</ref>
|[[File:רכס הר גריזים.jpg|thumb|150x150px]]
|}

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Cradle of civilization]]
* [[Crusader states]]
* [[Mashriq]]
* [[Middle East]]
* [[Names of the Levant]]
* [[Southern Levant]]
* [[Wildlife of the Levant]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==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==
* {{Cite book |last=Pipes |first=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Pipes |year=1990 |title=Greater Syria: the History of an Ambition |url=https://archive.org/details/greatersyriahist00pipe |url-access=limited |location=New York |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |number=viii |pages=[https://archive.org/details/greatersyriahist00pipe/page/n256 240] |isbn=978-0-19-506022-5}} pbk.; illustrated with b&w photos and maps; alternative ISBN on back cover: 0-19-506002-4

{{Palestine (historical region) topics}}
{{Israel topics}}
{{Jordan topics}}
{{Lebanon topics}}
{{Palestine topics}}
{{Syria topics}}
{{Regions of Turkey}}
{{Arab nationalism}}

[[Category:Syria (region)| ]]
[[Category:Levant]]
[[Category:Geography of Syria]]
[[Category:Geography of Jordan]]
[[Category:Geography of the Middle East]]
[[Category:Historical geography of Syria]]
[[Category:Historical geography of Israel]]
[[Category:History of Palestine (region)]]
[[Category:History of Lebanon]]
[[Category:History of Jordan]]
[[Category:History of Adana Province]]
[[Category:History of Kahramanmaraş Province]]
[[Category:History of Gaziantep Province]]
[[Category:History of Mersin Province]]
[[Category:History of Hatay Province]]
[[Category:History of the Levant]]
[[Category:Historical regions]]