Listed 100 (total found 213) sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "SYRIA Country MIDDLE EAST" .
SERGIUPOLIS (Ancient city) SYRIA
SYRIA (Country) MIDDLE EAST
SYRIA (Country) MIDDLE EAST
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ANTARADOS (Ancient city) SYRIA
Antaradus (Antarados, Ptol. v. 15. § 16; Hierocles, p. 716: Tartus),
a town of Phoenicia, situated at its northern extremity, and on the mainland over
against the island of Aradus, whence its name. According to the Antonine Itinerary
and Peutinger Table, it was 24 M. P. from Balanea, and 50 M. P. from Tripolis.
The writer in Ersch and Groer's Encyclopadie (s. v.) places Antaradus on the coast
about 2 miles to the N. of Aradus, and identifies it with Carne (Steph. B. s.
v.) or Carnos, the port of Aradus, according to Strabo (xvi. p. 753; comp. Plin.
v. 18). It was rebuilt by the emperor Constantius, A.D. 346, who gave it the name
of Constantia. (Cedren. Hist. Comp. p. 246.) It retained, however, its former
name, as we find its bishops under both titles in some councils after the reign
of Constantius. In the crusades it was a populous and well fortified town (Guil.
Tyr. vii. 15), and was known under the name of Tortosa (Tasso, Gerusalem. Liberata,
i. 6; Wilken, Die Kreuzz, vol. i. p. 255, ii. p. 200, vii. p. 340, 713). By Maundrell
and others the modern Tartus has been confounded with Arethusa, but incorrectly.
It is now a mean village of 241 taxable Moslems and 44 Greeks, according to the
American missionaries. (Bibliotheca Sacra, vol. v. p. 247.) The walls, built of
heavy bevelled stones, are still remaining the most imposing specimen of Phoenician
fortification in Syria. (Memoires sur les Pheniciens par l' Abbe Mignot, Acad.
des Belles Lettres, vol. xxxiv. p. 239; Edrisi, par Jaulert, p. 129, 130.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
APAMIA (Ancient city) SYRIA
Apameia -ea, or -ia (Apameia: Eth. Apameus, Apameensis, Apamensis,
Apamenus, Apameus). (Kulat el-Mudik), a large city of Syria, situated in the valley
of the Orontes, and capital of the province of Apamene. (Steph. B. s. v.; Strab.
xvi. p. 752; Ptol. v. 15. § 19; Festus Avienus, v. 1083; Anton. Itin.; Hierocles.)
It was fortified and enlarged by Seleucus Nicator, who gave it its name after
his wife Apama (not his mother, as Steph. B. asserts; comp. Strab. p. 578). In
pursuance of his policy of Hellenizing Syria, it bore the Macedonian name of Pella.
The fortress (see Groskurd's note on Strabo, p. 752) was placed upon a hill; the
windings of the Orontes, with the lake and marshes, gave it a peninsular form,
whence its other name of Cherrhonesos. Seleucus had his commissariat there, 500
elephants, with 30,000 mares, and 300 stallions. The pretender, Tryphon Diodotus,
made Apamea the basis of his operations. Josephus (Ant. xiv. 3. § 2) relates,
that Pompeius marching south from his winter quarters, probably at or near Antioch,
razed the fortress of Apamea. In the revolt of Syria under Q. Caecilius Bassus,
it held out for three years till the arrival of Cassius, B.C. 46. (Dion. Cass.
xlvii. 26-28; Joseph. B. J. i. 10. § 10.)
In the Crusades it was still a flourishing and important place under
the Arabic name of Famieh, and was occupied by Tancred. (Wilken, Gesch. der Ks.
vol. ii. p. 474; Abulfeda, Tab. Syr. pp. 114, 157.) This name and site have been
long forgotten in the country. Niebuhr heard that Famieh was now called Kulat
el-Mudik. (Reise, vol. iii. p. 97.) And Burckhardt (Travels, p. 138) found the
castle of this name not far from the lake El Takah; and fixes upon it as the site
of Apamea.
Ruins of a highly ornamental character, and of an enormous extent,
are still standing, the remains, probably, of the temples of which Sozomen speaks
(vii. 15); part of the town is enclosed in an ancient castle situated on a hill;
the remainder is to be found in the plain. In the adjacent lake are the celebrated
black fish, the source of much wealth.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ARADOS (Island) SYRIA
Aradus (he Arados: Eth. Aradios, Aradius: O. T. Arvad, Arvadite,
Gen. x. 18, 1 Chron. i. 16; Aradioi LXX.: Ruad), an island off the N. coast
of Phoenicia, at a distance of 20 stadia from the mainland. (Strab. p. 753.)
Pliny (v. 17), in estimating this distance at only 200 paces, falls short of
the true measurement (perhaps we should read 2,200 paces; see Tzschucke, ad
Pomp. Mel. ii. 7. § 6). Strabo describes it as a rock rising from the midst
of the waves, 7 stadia in circumference. Modern travellers state that it is
of oblong shape, with a slight rise towards the centre and steep on every side.
Though a rock rather than an island, it was extremely populous, and, contrary
to Oriental custom, the houses had many stories. According to Strabo, it owed
its foundation to Sidonian exiles. (Comp. Joseph. Ant. i. 6. § 2.) The city
of Aradus was next in importance after Tyre and Sidon. Like other Phoenician
cities, it was at first independent, and had its own kings; and it would seem
that the strip of land extending from Paltus to Simyra was dependent upon it.
In the time of the prophet Ezekiel (xxvii. 8, 11) it supplied Tyre with soldiers
and sailors. Along with the rest of Phoenicia, it became subject to Persia.
Afterwards, during the campaign of Alexander, Gerostratus, king of Aradus, was
serving in the Persian fleet under Autophradates, when his son Straton submitted
to the conqueror. Gerostratus assisted the Macedonians at the siege of Tyre.
(Arrian, Anab. i. 13, 20.) It fell into the hands; of the family of the Lagidae,
when Ptolemy Soter, B.C. 320, seized on Phoenicia and Coele Syria. Its wealth
and importance was greatly increased by the rights of asylum they obtained from
Seleucus Callinicus, B.C. 242, whom they had supported against Antiochus Hierax;
so much so that it was enabled to enter into an alliance with Antiochus the
Great. (Pol. v. 68.) Whence it may be inferred that it had previously become
independent, probably in the war between Ptolemy Philadelphus and Antiochus
Theos. The fact of its autonomy is certain from coins. (See Eckhel, vol. iii.
p. 393.) All these. advantages were lost under Antiochus Epiphanes, who, on
his return from Aegypt, took possession of the town and district. (Hieronym.
in Dan. xi.) In the war between Antiochus Grypus and Antiochus Cyzicenus it
declared itself in favour of the, latter; and when he was slain by Seleucus,
Antiochus Eusebes, his son, found shelter there, and by its aid, in concert
with other cities, maintained himself with varying success, till Syria submitted
to: Tigranes king of Armenia, and finally came under; the dominion of Rome.
In common with the rest of the province, it was mixed up in the Civil Wars.
(Appian, B.C. iv. 69, v. 1.) Coins of Aradus, ranging from Domitian to Elagabalus,
are enumerated in Eckhel. Under Constans, Mu awiyah, the lieutenant of the khalif
Omar, destroyed the city, and expelled the inhabitants. (Cedren. Hist. p. 355;
Theophan. p. 227.) As the town was. never rebuilt, it is only the island which
is mentioned by the historians of the Crusades. Tarsus was said to be a colony
from Aradus. (Dion Chrys. Orat. Tarsen. ii. p. 20, ed. Reiske.) A maritime population
of about 3,000 souls occupies the seat of this once busy and industrious hive.
Portions of the old double Phoenician walls are still found on the NE. and SE.
of the island, and the rock is perforated by the cisterns of which Strabo speaks.
The same author (see Groskurd's note, p. 754) minutely describes the contrivance
by which the inhabitants drew their water from a submarine source. Though the
tradition has been lost, the boatmen of Ruad still draw fresh water from the
spring Ain Ibrahim in the sea, a few rods from the shore of the opposite coast.
Mr. Walpole (The Ansayrii, vol. iii. p. 391): found two of these springs. A
few Greek inscriptions, taken from columns of black basalt, which, as there
is no trap rock in the island, must have been, brought over from the mainland,
are given (in the. Bibliotheca Sacra, New York, vol. v. p. 252) by the Rev.
W. Thomson. (Mignot, Mem. de l' Acad. des Inscript. vol. xxxiv. p. 229; Winer,
Real Wort. Buch. s. v. Arvad; Rosenmuller, Hand. Bib. Alt. vol. ii. pt. i. p.
7, with the Extracts from Maundrell, Shaw, Pococke, and Volney; Chesney, Exped.
Euphrat. vol. i. p. 451.)
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ARETHOUSA (Ancient city) SYRIA
Arethusa (Arethousa: Eth. Arethousios, Arethusius, Plin. v. 23), a
city of Syria, not far from Apamea, situated between Epiphania and Emesa. (Anton.
Itin.; Hierocles.) Seleucus Nicator, in pursuance of his usual policy, Hellenized
the name. (Appian, Syr. 57.) It supported Caecilius Bassus in his revolt (Strab.
p. 753), and is mentioned by Zosimus (i. 52) as receiving Aurelian in his campaign
against Zenobia. (For Marcus, the well-known bishop of Arethusa, see Dict. of
Biog. s. v.) It afterwards took the name of Rastan (Abulf. Tab. Syr. p. 22), under
which name it is mentioned by the same author (An. Mus. ii. 213, iv. 429). Irby
and Mangles visited this place, and found some remains.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
CHALKIS (Ancient city) SYRIA
Chalcis Ad Belum. Pliny (v. 23. § 19) speaks of a city of this name
in the district Chalcidene, which he describes as the most fertile of all Syria.
The Chalcis, Chalkis of Strabo (xvi. p. 753), was a city and district subject
to Ptolemy, son of Mennaeus, who held besides the city of Heliopolis (Baalbec),
the plain of Marsyas, and the mountain region of Ituraea. Josephus expressly describes
it as under Mount Lebanon (Antiq. xiv. 7. § 4, B. J. i. 9. § 2). It has
been confounded with the Chalcis S. of Aleppo, but the statement of Josephus (comp.
Antiq. xiv. 3. § 2; Reland, Palaest. p. 315) shows that its
position must be sought for elsewhere. Ptolemy was succeeded by his son the first
Lysanias; whose possessions after his murder by Antony were farmed by Zenodorus.
(Joseph. Antiq. xv. 10. § 1, B. J. i. 20. § 4.) In A.D. 41 Claudius bestowed
Chalcis on Herod, a brother of the elder Herod Agrippa. On his death in A.D. 48
his kingdom went to his nephew, the younger Herod Agrippa (B. J. ii.
12. § 1). He held it four years, and was then transferred with the title of king
to the provinces of Batanaea, Trachonitis, Abilene, and others (Antiq.
xx. 7. § 1). Afterwards Aristobulus, son of Herod, king of Chaletis, obtained
his father's kingdom which had been taken from his cousin Agrippa II., and in
A.D. 73 was still dynast of the district (B. J. vii. 7. § 1). During
the reign of Domitian it appears to have become incorporated in the Roman province,
and the city to have received the additional name of Flavia. (Eckhel, vol. iii.
p. 263; Marquardt, Handbuch der Rom. Alter. p. 181; Noris. de
Epoch. Syro.-Mac. (c. ix. § 3.)
The town of Chaletis was therefore situated somewhere in the Bukaa,
probably S. of Baalbec. The valley has not yet been examined with reference
to the site of this city. It has been suggested that its position may be at or
near Zahle, in the neighbourhood of which at the village of Heusn
Nieha, are some remarkable remains (comp. Chesney, Exped. Euphrat.
vol. i. p. 472). Or perhaps at Majdel Anjar, where Abu-l-feda (Tab.
Syr. p. 20) speaks of great ruins of hewn stones. (Robinson, Biblioth.
Sacr. vol. v. p. 90).
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DAMASKOS (Ancient city) SYRIA
Damascus (Damaskos: Eth. Damaskenos: the territory he Damaskene),
the capital city of Syria, both in ancient and modern times, though its preeminence
was disputed during the classical period by Antioch. It is an exceedingly ancient
city, being mentioned first in the history of Abraham's pursuit of the defeated
kings (Gen. xiv. 15); and his steward Eliezer was a native of Damascus (xv. 2).
Josephus ascribes its foundation to Uz, a grandson of Shem (Ant. i. 6. § 3). During
the period of the Hebrew monarchy it was the head or capital of Syria (Isaiah,
vii. 8), and the Syrian king is called the king of Damascus (2 Chron. xxiv. 23).
But during the struggles between these neighbouring kingdoms it occasionally fell
into the hands of the Israelites. Thus David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus,
and the Syrians became servants to David (2 Sam. viii. 6; 1 Chron. xviii. 6),
after he had defeated Hadarezer, king of Zobah, to whom the Syrians of Damascus
had allied themselves. The fact that Tadmor in the wilderness was built by Solomon
(2 Chron. viii. 4), which further gives countenance to the very ancient and consistent
tradition of his connection with Baalbek, proves that David's son and successor
retained possession of southern Syria; but Damascus was during this time subject
to Rezon, a vassal of Hadarezer. (1 Kings, xi. 23-25.) Subsequently to the division
of the Hebrew kingdom, cir. B.C. 900, we find a Hebrew quarter in Damascus ceded
by treaty to Ahab by Benhadad (1 Kings, xx. 34), and the city was at length recovered
to Israel by Jeroboam, son of Joash, king of Israel (cir. B.C. 822). (2 Kings,
xiv. 28.) The alliance of Syria with Israel against Judah led Ahaz to call in
the aid of Tiglathpileser, king of Assyria, who, in consequence, went up against
Damascus and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir (cir. B.C. 740),
according to the prophecy of Amos, delivered about fifty years before the event.
(2 Kings, xvi. 9; Amos, i. 5.) From this time it followed the fortunes of the
Assyrian empire, but does not appear at any time to have had much importance in
a military view. Besides which, its political and commercial importance after
the time of Alexander the Great was eclipsed by Antioch and other cities founded
by the Seleucidae; which may further account for the scanty notices of it that
occur in classical authors. Strabo describes it as polis axiologos, schedon ti
kai epiphanestate ton tautni kata ta Persika (xvi. p. 756). Pliny says that according
to some it was reckoned as one of the cities of the Dccapolis (v. 18). He only
further mentions it for its alabaster (xxxvi. 18). It is, however, strange that
so renowned a city, the subject of such extravagant eulogy in the poems and romances
of the Orientals, should be almost unnoticed in the classical poets; the ventosa
Damascus of Lucan - certainly not a well-chosen epithet - being the sum of their
tribute to this most remarkable and beautiful city (iii. 215).
In the annals of the church it is noted for the conversion and first
preaching of the apostle St. Paul, which synchronised with the occupation of the
city by the ethnarch of Aretas, the king apparently of Arabia or Petra. (2 Cor.
xi. 32.) As the event is not chronicled by any historian, the circumstances under
which this petty king had come into possession of so important a place are very
doubtful; but it is certain that it was subject to the Roman rule until the reign
of Heraclius, when it was taken by the Saracens in the 13th year of the Hejira
(A.D. 634), from which time, as if to compensate for its temporary eclipse, it
has been the delight and glory of the East, and celebrated by the Arabian poets
as the terrestrial Paradise.
Damascus, now called Es-Sham, is situated at the distance of two days'
journey, or about 60 miles from the coast of the Mediterranean, not far from the
eastern base of the range of Antilibanus, and at the western extremity of the
great desert of El-Hauran (Auranitis), which extends westward to the Euphrates,
and southward to the Arabian peninsula. It presents the peculiar phenomenon of
a city in the midst of gardens, watered by numerous streams. It is surrounded
by a wall, which is however in a state of ruinous decay, and scarcely defines
the limits between the city and its suburbs. In 1843, the population of Damascus
was stated at 111.552, of which number about 12.000 were Christians, and 5000
Jews. It is governed by a pasha, whose rule extends from the Euphrates to the
Jordan, and from the vicinity of Aleppo to the confines of Arabia.
The Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, are of Scripture celebrity
(2 Kings, v. 12), and both Strabo and Pliny mention the Chrysorroa, to which the
latter ascribes the fertility of the soil ( Damascum ex epoto riguis amne Chrysoroa
fertilem); and Strabo remarks that its waters are almost entirely consumed in
irrigation, for that it waters a large extent of deep soil. There are, in fact,
as the writer ascertained, two copious sources in the eastern roots of Antilibanus,
the Barada and the Phege. Of these, the Barada is far the most copious, and being
divided into numerous rivulets on emerging from the mountains above the city,
waters its innumerable gardens. The water, however, is not good for drinking,
and the inhabitants of the villages along its course in the Wady Barada are subject
to goitre. Even the poor of Damascus do not ordinarily drink this water. This
is probably the Abana of Scripture. The Pharpar is represented by the Phege, a
smaller stream of delicious water, whose source was explored by Pocock. It emerges
from the mountain range through the same valley as the Barada, and is conducted
by aqueducts and pipes to all parts of the city for the purpose of supplying the
inhabitants with drinking water. The scanty surplus of the two streams forms a
small lake below the city, called Bahr-el-Merj.
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EMESA (Ancient city) SYRIA
Emesa or Emissa (Emissa: Eth. Emisenoi), a city of Syria, reckoned
by Ptolemy to that part of the district of Apamene, on the right or eastern bank
of the Orontes (v. 15. § 19), to which Pliny assigns a desert district beyond
Palmyra (v. 26). It is chiefly celebrated in ancient times for its magnificent
temple of the Sun; and the appointment of its young priest Bassianus, otherwise
called Elagabalus or Heliogabalus, to the imperial dignity, in his fourteenth
year, by the Roman legionaries of Syria (A.D. 218; Dict. of Biogr. s. v. Elagabalus).
It was in the neighbourhood of Emesa that Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, was defeated
by the emperor Aurelian, A.D. 272. (Vopisc. Aurel. 25.) It was originally governed
by independent chiefs, of whom the names of Sampsiceramus and lamblichus are preserved.
(Strab. xvi. p. 753.) It was made a colony with the Jus Italicum by Caracalla
(Ulpian, ap. Dig. 50. tit. 15. s. 1), and afterwards became the capital of Phoenicia
Libanesia. (Hierocl.; Malal. xii. p. 296, ed. Bonn.) There are still extant coins
of Caracalla and Elagabalus, in which it is called a metropolis. On the coins
of Caracalla it is called a colony, and on those of Elagabalus a metropolis, to
which dignity it was no doubt elevated by the latter emperor. The annexed coin
of Caracalla represents on the reverse the temple of the Sun. (Eckhel, vol. iii.
p. 311.). The present name of Emesa is Hems.
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EPIFANIA (Ancient city) SYRIA
Epiphaneia (Epiphaneia: Eth. EpiphaneWs), a city of Syria, placed
by Ptolemy in 69° 36', 30° 26', in the district of Cassiotis, in which also Antioch
and Larissa were situated. The Itinerary of Antoninus places it 16 miles from
Larissa, 32 from Emesa (Arethusa lying half way between it and the latter), and
so 101 from Antioch of Syria. It was situated on the western bank of the Orontes,
lower down the stream than Emesa (i. e. to the north), and is supposed to be identical
with the ancient Hamath (2 Sam. viii. 9; 1 Kings, viii. 65; Is. x. 9), called
also Hamath the Great (Amos, vi. 2). St. Jerome states that both Antioch and Epiphaneia
were formerly named Hamath. and mentions that the first station on the road to
Mesopotamia (qy. from Antioch) was in his day named Emmas, probably the modern
Hems Emesa. Eusebius (Onomast. s. v. Emath) does not think it to be Epiphaneia
near Emesa; but St. Jerome, in the same place, maintains their identity, and says
that Epiphaneia was still called Hamath by the native Syrians. (Comp. Onomast.
s. v. Aemath.) Aquila also rendered Emath, gen Epiphaneian ges Surias. (Theodoret.
Quaest. 22 in 2 King.); and Theodoret, in common with St. Jerome, mentions both
Epiphaneia and Emesa as Hamath, and says that the former was still so called.
(Comment. in Jerem. xlvi. and iv.) Reland, however (Palaest. pp. 119, 120, 317),
doubts the identity, and is disposed to place the Hamath of Scripture further
south, and nearer to the confines of the land of Israel, as indeed Numb. xiii.
21 and other passages above referred to seem to require. This, however, would
not disprove the assertion that Epiphaneia was formerly called Hamath, the proof
of which rests on independent ground, and is greatly confirmed by the fact of
its retaining that name among the natives in St. Jerome's time, as indeed it does
to this day. being still called Hamah, which is described by Irby and Mangles
as delightfully situated in a hollow, between and on the sides of two hills, near
the west bank of the Orontes, but in itself presents nothing worthy of notice
at this day. (Travels, p. 244.)
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IERAPOLIS (Ancient city) SYRIA
Hierapolis (Hiera polis), the Sacred City of Cyrrhestica in Syria,
situated on the high road from Antioch to Mesopotamia, 24 M. P. to the W. of the
Euphrates and 36 M. P. to the SW. of Zeugma (Pent. Tab.), 2 1/2 days' journey
from Beroea, and 5 days' from Antioch (Zosim. iii. 12).
Hierapolis, or Hieropolis as it is called always on coins and in Stephanus
of Byzantium, obtained its Hellenic name from Seleucus Nicator (Aelian, H. A.
xii. 2), owing to the circumstance of Bambyce (Bambuke), as it was called by the
natives, being the chief seat of the worship of the Syrian goddess Astarte, or
personification of the passive powers of Nature. (Lucian, de Dea Syr. c. i.)
Bambycen quae alio nomine Hierapolis vocatur; Syris vero Magog. Ibi
prodigiosa Atargatis, Graecis autem Deeceto dicta, colitur, Plin. v. 19. Sillig
(ad loc.) has in his text Mabog, which is the correct reading, and appears in
the Oriental forms Munbedj (Jaubert, Geog. d'Edrise, vol. ii. pp. 138, 155), Manbesja,
Manbesjum (Schultens, Vita Salad.), Menba, Manba (Schultens, Index Geogr.), Manbegj
(Abu-l-feda, Tab. Syr. p. 128), and the modern name Kara Bambuche, or Buguk Munbedj.
Under the Seleucidae, from its central position be-tween Antioch and Seleuceia
on the delta of the Tigris, it became a great emporium. Strabo (xvi. p. 748) has
given an interesting account of the passage of the caravans from Syria to Seleuceia
and Babylon; the confusion of Edessa and Hierapolis is an error probably of the
transcriber (comp. Groskurd, ad loc.). Crassus plundered the rich temple of the
goddess, who presided over the elements of nature and the productive seeds of
things, and seized upon the treasures, which it took several days to weigh and
examine. And it was here that an ill omen befel him. (Plut. Crass. 17.)
Under Constantine, Hierapolis became the capital of the new province
Euphratensis. (Malal. Chron. xiii. p. 317.) Julian, in his Persian campaign, appointed
Hierapolis as the rendezvous for the Roman troops before their passage of the
Euphrates. He has given an account of his march to it, which took up five days,
in a letter to Libanius (Ep. xxvii.), and remained there three days, at the house
of Sopater, a distinguished pupil of Iamblichus. At Hierapolis one of those unlucky
signs which Ammianus (xxiii. 2. § 6) has so carefully recorded, took place at
his entrance into the town. (Comp. Gibbon, c. xxiv; Le Beau, Bas Empire, vol.
iii. p. 58.)
With the establishment of Christianity, Hierapolis recovered its ancient,
indigenous Syrian name, but lost its splendour and magnificence by the downfall.
of the old worship (A.D. 540). Buzes, who commanded during the absence of Belisarius
in the East, concentrated his forces at Hierapolis, but it only escaped being
pillaged by Chosroes by the payment of tribute. (Procop. B. P. ii. 6; Gibbon,
c. xlii.; Le Beau, vol. ix. p. 12.)
A.D. 1068 it was captured by the emperor Romanus Diogenes, in his
valiant efforts to resist the progress of the Turks. (Zonar. vol. ii. p. 279;
Le Beau, vol. xiv. p. 472.)
It does not fall within the province of this article to trace the
connection between Bambyce = Bombycina urbs, Bombyciis copiis gaudens, and the
introduction of the silk-worm from the East; much curious information on this
point will be found in Ritter (Erdkunde, vol. x. pp. 1056-1062).
The ruins of this city were first discovered and described by Maundrell
(Journal, p. 204) and by Pococke (Trav. vol. ii. pt. i. p. 166). But it was not
till the period of Colonel Chesney's Expedition. that the position was accurately
fixed.
At a distance of 16 miles W. by S. of the passage of Kal‘--at-en-ejm,
at about 600 feet above the Euphrates, the ruins of Hierapolis occupy the centre
of a rocky plain, where, by its isolated position, the city must not only have
been deprived of running water, but likewise of every advantage which was likely
to create and preserve a place of importance.
Some ruined mosques and square Saracenic towers, with the remains
of its surrounding walls and ditches, mark the limits of the Muslim city, within
which are four large cisterns, a fine sarcophagus, and, among other ancient remains,
the scattered ruins of an acropolis and two temples.
Of the smaller, the inclosure and portions of seven columns remain;
but it seems to possess little interest compared with the larger, which may have
been that of the Syrian Queen of Heaven. Among the remains of the latter are some
fragments of massive architecture, not unlike the Aegyptian, and 11 arches form
one side of a square paved court, over which are scattered the shafts of columns
and capitals displaying the lotus.
A little way to the W. of the walls there is an extensive necropolis,
which contains many Turkish, with some Pagan, Seljukian, and Syriac tombs; the
last having some almost illegible inscriptions in the ancient character. (Chesney,
Exped. Euphrat. vol. i. p. 516.) Hierapolis was the ecclesiastical metropolis
of the province Euphratensis. (Neale, Hist. of East. Church, vol. i. p. 134.)
Eckhel (vol. iii. p. 261) has noticed the fact, that the coins of
Hierapolis copy the type of those of Antioch: they are Seleucid, autonomous, and
imperial, ranging from Trajan to the elder and younger Philip.
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KESSARIA PHILIPPI (Ancient city) SYRIA
Paneas, Panias, or Paneias (Paneas, Panias, Paneias, Hierocl. p. 716),
more usually called either Caesareia Paneas (Kaisareia Paneas or Panias, Joseph.
Ant. xviii. 2. § 3, B. Jud. ii. 9. §1; Ptol. v. 15. § 21; Plin. v. 15. s. 15;
Sozom. v. 21; on coins, K. hupo Paneioi and pros Paneioi; in Steph. B. incorrectly
pros pei Paneadi) or Caesareia Philippi (K. he Philippou, Matth. xvi. 13; Mark,
viii. 27; Joseph. Ant. xx. 8. § 4, B. J. iii. 8. § 7, 2. § 1; Euseb. H. E. vii.
17), a city in the north of Palestine, called by Ptolemy and Hierocles (ll. cc.)
a city of Phoenicia, situated upon one of the sources of the Jordan, at the foot
of Mt. Panium, one of the branches of Lebanon. Mt Panium contained a cave sacred
to Pan, whence it derived its name. (Philostorg. vii. 7.) At this spot Herod erected
a temple in honour of Augustus. (Joseph. Ant. xv. 10. § 3, B. J. i. 21. § 3.)
Paneas was supposed by many to have been the town of Laish, afterwards called
Dan; but Eusebius and Jerome state that they were separate cities, distant 4 miles
from each other. (Reland, Palaestina, p. 918, seq.) Paneas was rebuilt by Philip
the Tetrarch, who called it Caesareia in honour of the Roman emperor, and gave
it the surname of Philippi to distinguish it from the other Caesareia in Palestine.
(Joseph. Ant. xviii. 2. § 3, B. J. ii. 9. § 1.) It was subsequently called Neronias
by Herod Agrippa in honour of the emperor Nero. (Joseph. Ant. xx. 8. § 4; Coins.)
According to ecclesiastical tradition it was the residence of the women diseased
with an issue of blood. (Matth. ix. 20; Euseb. H. E. vii. 18; Sozom. v. 21; Theoph.
Chronogr. 41 ; Phot. cod. 271.) Under the Christians Paneas became a bishopric.
It is still called Banias, and contains now only 150 houses. On the NE. side of
the village the river, supposed to be the principal source of the Jordan, issues
from a spacious cavern under a wall of rock. Around this source are many hewn
stones. In the face of the perpendicular rock, directly over the cavern and in
other parts, several niches have been cut, apparently to receive statues. Each
of these niches had once an inscription; and one of them, copied by Burckhardt,
appears to have been a dedication by a priest of Pan. There can be no doubt that
this cavern is the cave of Pan mentioned above; and the hewn stones around the
spring may have belonged perhaps to the temple of Augustus. This spring was considered
by Josephus to be the outlet of a small lake called Phiala, situated 120 stadia
from Paneas towards Trachonitis or the NE. Respecting this lake see Vol. II. p.
519, b.
(Reland, Palaestina, p. 918, seq.; Eckhel, vol. iii. p. 339, seq.; Burckhardt,
Syria, p. 37, seq.; Robinson, Bibl. Res. vol. iii. p. 347, seq.)
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KILI SYRIA (Ancient province) SYRIA
Marsyas (Marsums), a river of Coelesyria, mentioned only by Pliny
(v. 23) as dividing Apameia from the tetrarchy of the Nazerini. It was probably
the river mentioned-without its name--by Abulfeda as a tributary of the Orontes,
which, rising below Apameia, falls into the lake synonymous with that city, and
so joins the Orontes. The modern name Yarmuk is given by Pococke, who places it
in his map on the east of the Orontes. (Abulfeda, Tabula Syriae, ed. Koehler,
pp. 151, 152; Pococke, Description of the East, vol. ii. p. 79.) It doubtless
gave its name to Marsyas, a district of Syria, mentioned by Strabo, who joins
it with Ituraea, and defines its situation by the following notes:-It adjoined
the Macra Campus, on its east, and had its commencement at Laodiceia ad Libanum.
Chalcis was, as it were, an acropolis of the district. This Chalcis is joined
with Heliopolis, as under the power of Ptolemy, son of Mennaeus, who ruled over
Marsyas and Ituraea. (Strab. xvi. pp. 753, 755.) The same geographer speaks of
Chalcidice apo tou Marsuou kathekousa (p., 153), and extends it to the sources
of the Orontes, above which was the Aulon basilikos (p. 155), now the Bekaa. From
these various notices it is evident that the Marsyas comprehended the valley of
the Orontes from its rise to Apameia, where it was bounded on the north probably
by the river of the same name. But it extended westward to the Macra Campus, which
bordered on the Mediterranean. (Mannert, Geographic von Syrien, pp. 326, 363.)
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KOMMAGINI (Ancient country) SYRIA
Commagene (Kommagene, Ptol. v. 15; Strab. xi. p. 521, xii. pp. 533,
535, xvi. p. 749; Plin. v. 12. s. 24; Tac. Ann. ii. 42), a district of Syria,
lying to the N., bounded on the E. by the Euphrates, on the W. by Cilicia, and
on the N. by Amanus. It was celebrated for its rich and fertile country (Strab.
xii. p. 535; Tac. Ann. xv. 12), and was attached to the Syrian kingdom in the
flourishing period of the Seleucidae. But in the civil wars of Grypus and his
brothers, and in the disorders which followed, Commagene gradually acquired independence,
and had its own sovereigns connected with the Seleucid family. It remained an
independent kingdom for upwards of a century. It is only necessary to give here
a list of the kings of Commagene; since a full account of them will be found in
the Dictionary of Biography under each name: Antiochus I.; Mithridates I.; Antiochus
II.; Mithridates II.; Antiochus III. After the death of Antiochus III. in A.D.
17, Commagene became for a short time a Roman province, but was afterwards given
in A.D. 38 to the son of the late king Antiochus IV. In A.D. 73, it was again
reduced to the condition of a province, and its capital Samosata received the
additional name of Flavia, and a new aera which commences with the year A.D. 71.
(Eckhel, vol. iii. p. 252; Clinton, F.R. vol. i. p. 60; Suet. Vesp. 8; Eutrop.
viii. 19; Oros. vii. 9.)
In later time this district, united with that of Cyrrhestica, received
the name of Euphratensis (Amm. Marc. xiv. 8. § 7, xxiii. 6. § 21; Procop. Aed.
ii. 8, B. P. i. 17, ii. 20), or Augusto-phratensis (Aurel. Vict. Epit. ix. 13),
and was placed under a praeses. Constantine made Hierapolis the capital instead
of Samosata (Malal. Chron. xiii. p. 317). In A.D. 543 the Persians under Chosroes
made an inroad upon Euphratensis, intending to advance by that route upon Jerusalem,
but were compelled to retreat by Belisarius. (Le Beau, Bas Empire, vol. ix. p.
68; Norisius, de Epoch. Syro-Mac. Diss. ii. c. 4; Clinton, F. H. vol. iii. p.
343; St. Martin, Mem. sur l'Armenie, vol. i. p. 193; Ritter, Erdkzunde, vol. x.
p. 929.)
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LAODIKIA (Ancient city) SYRIA
The modern city is named Ladikiyeh, and still exhibits faint traces
of its former importance, notwithstanding the frequent earthquakes with which
it has been visited. Irby and Mangles noticed that the Marina is built upon foundations
of ancient columns, and there are in the town, an old gateway and other antiquities,
as also sarcophagi and sepulchral caves in the neighbourhood. (Travels, p. 223.)
This gateway has been more fully described by Shaw and Pococke, as a remarkable
triumphal arch, at the SE. corner of the town, almost entire: it is built with
four entrances, like the Forum Jani at Rome. It is conjectured that this arch
was built in honour of Lucius Verus, or of Septimius Severus. (Description of
the East, vol. ii. p. 197.) Shaw noticed several fragments of Greek and Latin
inscriptions, dispersed all over the ruins, but entirely defaced. Pococke states
that it was a very inconsiderable place till within fifty years of his visit,
when it opened a tobacco trade with Damietta, and it has now an enormous traffic
in that article, for which it is far more celebrated than ever it was for its
wine. The port is half an hour distant from the town, very small, but better sheltered
than any on the coast. Shaw noticed, a furlong to the west of the town, the ruins
of a beautiful cothon, in figure like an amphitheatre, and capacious enough to
receive the whole British navy. The mouth of it opens to the westward, and is
about 40 feet wide.
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MARATHOS (Ancient city) SYRIA
Marathus (Marathos: Eth. Marathenaios al. Marathenos), a city on the
coast of Syria, north of Aradus, placed by Ptolemy in the district of Cassiotis,
which extended as far north as Antioch. It is joined with Enydra, and was a ruin
in Strabo's time. It was on the confines of Phoenice, and the district was then
under the dominion of the Aradians (Strab. xvi. p. 753; comp. Plin. v. 20), who
had been foiled in a former attempt to reduce it to their power. The story, as
given in a fragment of Diodorus (lib. xxxii. vol.x. p.76-78, ed. Bipont; vol.
ii. p. 593, ed. Wess.), is as follows. The people of Aradus having seized what
they considered a favourable opportunity for the destruction of the people of
Marathus, sent privately to Ammonius, prime minister of Alexander Balas, the king
of Syria, and bribed him with the offer of 300 talents to deliver up Marathus
to them. The unfortunate inhabitants of the devoted city attempted in vain to
appease their enemies. The Aradians violated the common laws of suppliants, broke
the very ancient images of the local deities,- which the Maratheni had brought
to add solemnity to their embassy, - stoned the ambassadors, and cast them into
prison: according to another account, they murdered some, and forged letters in
their names, which they sealed with their seals, promising succour to Marathus,
with a view of introducing their troops into the city under this pretence. But
discovering that the citizens of Marathus were informed of their design, they
desisted from the attempt. The facts of its final subjugation to Aradus are not
preserved. Pliny (v. 20) places Marathus opposite to the island of Aradus, which
he says was 200 passus (=1000 Roman feet) from the coast. Diodorus (l. c.) states
the distance between Aradus and Marathus to be 8 stadia; which need not be inconsistent
with the statement of Pliny, as the latter may be supposed to measure to the point
on the mainland nearest to Aradus, the former the distance between that island
and the town of Marathus. The fact, however, is, that even the statement of Diodorus
is too short for the nearest point on the coast; for this island is, according
to Maundrell (March 7, p. 19), about a league distant from the shore. And Pococke,
who crossed the strait, says it is reckoned to be about two miles from the continent.
(Observations on Syria, p. 201.) The 20 stadia of Strabo is therefore much more
correct than either of the other authorities. He says that the island lay off
an exposed coast (rhachiodous kai alimenou), between its port (Caranus lege Carnos)
and Marathus: and what was the respective situation of these towns he intimates
in another passage, where, reckoning from the north, he enumerates Balanaea, Carnos,
Enydra, Marathus. Pococke takes Tortosa to be without doubt Caranus (Carnos) the
port of Aradus on the continent; and as this is two miles north of Aradus, he
properly looks for Marathus to the south,--identifying Enydra with Ein-el-Hye
(the Serpent's Fountain), directly opposite to Aradus (p. 203), and suggesting
that some ruins which he observed on a raised ground, at the northern extremity
of a plain, about 7 miles south of Tortosa, might possibly be Marathus (p. 204).
These conjectures may be admitted with some slight modifications. Thus, e. g.,
instead of identifying Tortosa with Carnos, this naval arsenal of the Arvadites
must be placed about 2 1/2 miles north of Tortosa, where a late traveller has
discovered extensive ruins, called by the Arab peasants Carnoon,- the site, doubtless,
of the Carnos or Caranus of the ancients. The people from Arvad still quarry stones
from these ruins; and below it, on the north, is a small harbour, which appears
to have been fortified like that of Tortosa. (Thompson, in Bibliotheca Sacra,
vol. v. p. 254.) A fresh-water spring in the sea, is mentioned by Strabo; and
a mile to the south, between Carnoos and Tortosa, a few rods from the shore, an
immense fountain, called ‘Ain Ibrahim (Abraham's fountain), boils up from the
bottom. Tortosa, then, will be, as many mediaeval writers maintained, Antaradus,
which Arabic geographers write Antartus and Antarsus; whence the common Arabic
name Tartus, in Italian Tortosa (l.c. p.247, n. 1). ‘Ain-el-Hiyeh, written by
Pococke Ein-el-Hye, is certainly the Enydra of Strabo; the geographer, or his
informant, having in this, as in so many other instances, retained the first half
of the native name, and translated the latter half,- En being the usual Greek
and Latin equivalent for the Semetic ‘Ayn =fountain, and the hydra a sufficiently
close representative of the Semetic Hiyeh = serpent. South of this fountain are
very extensive quarries, five or six miles to the south of Tortosa. This neighbourhood
is called by the Arabs Amreed or Maabed Amreet ` the fane of Amreet.' This name
the Greeks probably changed into Marathus, and the old vaults, foundations, sarcophagi,
&c., near ‘Ain-el-Hiyeh (Serpent's Fountain), may mark the precise locality of
ancient Marathus. (Thompson, l. c. p. 250.) Pococke describes here a rock-hewn
temple, and monolithic house and chambers; besides a kind of semicircle, which
he thinks might serve for some sports to divert the people of Aradus and Antaradus,
or of the ancient Marathus, if that was near. It was probably a circus (p. 203).
It was the more necessary to identify these sites, as D'Anville placed
the ancient Marathus at the modern Marakiah, which is, doubtless, the representative
of Mutatio Maraccas of the Jerusalem Itinerary, on the confines of Syria and Phoenice,
13 M. P. south of Balaneas (now Baneas), and 10 M. P. north of Antaradus: and
this error is perpetuated in Arrowsmith's map.
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NIKIFORION (Ancient city) SYRIA
Nicephorium (Nikephorion, Strab. xvi. p. 747; Ptol. v. 18. § 6; Steph.
B. s. v.), a place of considerable importance in Mesopotamia, on the river Euphrates.
According to Isidorus (Mans. Parth. i. ed. Muller) and Pliny (v. 24. s. 21, vi.
26. s. 30), it owed its foundation to Alexander the Great; according, however,
to Appian, to Seleucus I., which is much more likely (Syriac. c. 57). It is mentioned
by Dion Cassius (xl. 13) and by Tacitus (Ann. vi. 40), but simply as one of many
towns founded by the Macedonians. Strabo calls it a town of the Mygdonians in
Mesopotamia (xvi. p. 747). Nothing is known of its intermediate history; but Justinian
erected a fortress here (Procop. de Aedif. ii. 7); and the emperor Leo, who probably
added several new works to it, is said to have changed its name to Leontopolis.
(Cf. Hierocl. p. 715; and Chron. Edess. ap. Assemani, i. p. 405.)
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ORONTES (River) SYRIA
The most renowned river of Syria, used by the poet Juvenal for the
country, in Tiberim defluxit Orontes. (Juv. iii.) Its original name, according
to Strabo, was Typhon (Tuphon), and his account both of its earlier and later
names, follows his description of Antioch. The river Orontes flows near the city.
This river rising in Coele-Syria, then sinking beneath the earth, again issues
forth, and, passing through the district of Apamea to Antiocheia, after approaching
the city, runs off to the sea towards Seleuceia. It received its name from one
Orontes, who built a bridge over it, having been formerly called Typhon, from
a mythic dragon, who being struck with lightning, fled in quest of a hiding-place,
and after marking out the course of the stream with its trail, plunged into the
earth, from whence forthwith issued the fountain. He places its embouchure 40
stadia from Seleuceia (xvi. p. 750). He elsewhere places the source of the river
more definitely near to Libanus and the Paradise, and the Egyptian wall, by the
country of Apamea (p. 756). Its sources have been visited and described in later
times by Mr. Barker in 1835. The river is called by the people El-‘A' si, ‘the
rebel,’ from its refusal to water the fields without the compulsion of water-wheels,
according to Abulfeda (Tab. Syr. p. 149), but according to Mr. Barker, from its
occasional violence and windings, during a course of about 200 miles in a northerly
direction, passing through Hems and Hamah, and finally discharging itself into
the sea at Suweidiah near Antioch. (Journal of the Geog. Soc. vol. vii. p. 99.)
The most remote of these sources is only a few miles north of Baalbek, near a
village called Labweh, at the foot of the range of Anti-libanus on the top of
a hillock, near which passes a small stream, which has its source in the adjoining
mountains, and after flowing for several hours through the plain, falls into the
basin from which springs the Orontes. These fountains are about 12 hours north
of Labweh, near the village Kurmul, where is a remarkable monument, square, and
solid, terminating above in a pyramid from 60 to 70 feet high. On the four sides
hunting scenes are sculptured in relief, of which the drawing borders on the grotesque.
(Robinson, Journal of Geog. Soc. vol. xxiv. p. 32.) There can be no difficulty
in connecting this monument with the Paradise or hunting park mentioned by Strabo
near the source of the Orontes, similar, no doubt, in origin and character, to
those with which the narrative of Xenophon abounds, within the territories of
the Persian monarchs. The rise and course of this river and its various tributaries
has been detailed by Col. Chesney (Expedition, vol. i. pp. 394-398), and the extreme
beauty of its lower course between Antioch and the sea has been described in glowing
terms by Captains Irby and Mangles. (Travels, pp. 225, 226.)
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PALMYRA (Ancient city) SYRIA
Palmyra (Palmura, Ptol. v. 15. § § 19, 24, viii. 20. § 10; Appian,
B.C. v. 9: Palmira, Joseph. Ant. viii. 2; and Palmira, Plin. v. 25. s. 21: Eth.
Palmyrenus, or Palmirenus, Id. l. c.), a city of Syria, situated in 34° 24? N.
lat., and 38° 20' E. long. Its Hebrew name, Tadmor, or Thadmor, denotes, like
its Greek one, a city of palms; and this appellation is preserved by the Arabs,
who still call it Tedmor. Tadmor was built, or more probably enlarged, by Solomon
in the tenth century B.C. (1 Kings, ix. 18; 2 Chron. viii. 4), and its identity
with Palmyra is shown in the passage of Josephus before cited. It is seated in
a pleasant and fruitful oasis of the great Syrian desert, and is well watered
by several small streams; but the river mentioned by Ptolemy is nowhere to be
found. Its situation is fine, under a ridge of hills towards the W., and a little
above the level of an extensive plain, which it commands on the E. (Wood, Ruins
of Parlmyra, p. 5), at a distance of about 140 miles ENE. of Damascus. It is not
mentioned by Xenophon, who must have passed near it, nor in the accounts of the
conquests of Alexander the Great. The first historical notice that we find of
it is in Appian, who tells us that M. Antony, under pretence of punishing its
equivocal conduct, but in reality to enrich his troops with the plunder of a thriving
commercial city, directed his march towards it, but was frustrated of his object
by the inhabitants removing their goods to the other side of the Euphrates. (B.
Civ. v. c. 9.) This account shows that it must have been a town of considerable
wealth; and indeed its advantageous situation must have long rendered it an entrepot
for the traffic between the east and Damascus and the Phoenician cities on the
Mediterranean. Yet its name is not mentioned either by Strabo or Mela. Under the
first Roman emperors it was an independent city; and its situation on the borders
of the Roman and Parthian empires gave it a political importance, which it seems
to have preserved by a well-judged course of policy, though naturally exposed
to much danger in the quarrels of two such formidable neighbours. ( Inter duo
imperia summa, et prima--in discordia semper utrinque cura, Plin. l. c.) It is
called a colonia on the coins of Caracalla, and Ulpian mentioned it in his first
book de Censibus as having the Jus Italicum. It appears, from an inscription,
to have assisted the emperor Alexander Severus in his wars against the Persians.
(Wood, Inscr. xix.) It is not, however, till the reign of Gallienus that we find
Palmyra playing any important part in history; and at this period we have notices
of it in the works of Zosimus, Vopiscus, and Trebellius Pollio. Odenathus, a noble
of Palmyra, and according to Procopius (B. Pers. ii. c. 5) prince of the Saracens
who inhabited the banks of the Euphrates, for his great and splendid services
against the Persians, received from Gallienus the title of Augustus, and was acknowledged
by him as his colleague in the empire. After the assassination of Odenathus by
his nephew Maeonius, the celebrated Zenobia, the wife of the former, whose prudence
and courage had been of great assistance to Odenathus in his former successes,
ascended the vacant throne, and, assuming the magnificent title of Queen of the
East, ruled with a manly vigour during a period of five years. Under this extraordinary
woman, whose talents and accomplishments were equalled by her beauty, and whose
love of literature is shown by her patronage of Longinus, Palmyra attained the
highest pitch of its prosperity. She claimed to be descended from the Macedonian
kings of Egypt, and her achievements would not have disgraced her ancestry; though,
according to other accounts, she was a Jewess. (Milman, Hist. of the Jews, iii.
p. 175.) Besides the sovereignty of Syria and Mesopotamia, she is said to have
extended her sway over Egypt (Zosim. i. c. 44); but by some critics this fact
has been questioned. Claudius, the successor of Gallienus, being engaged in the
Gothic War, tacitly acknowledged her authority. But after the termination of the
short reign of that emperor, the progress of Zenobia in Asia Minor was regarded
by Aurelian with jealousy and alarm. Her arms and intrigues already menaced the
security of Bithynia (IB.C. 50), when Aurelian marched against her, and defeated
her in two great battles near Antioch and Emesa, at both of which she commanded
in person. Zenobia now retreated to Palmyra, and prepared to defend her capital
with vigour. The difficulties of the siege are described by Aurelian himself in
an original letter preserved by Vopiscus. (Aurel. c. 26.) After defying for a
long time the arms of the Roman emperor, Zenobia, being disappointed of the succour
which she expected to receive from the Persians, was ultimately compelled to fly,
but was. overtaken on the banks of the Euphrates by the light horse of Aurelian,
and brought back a prisoner. Shortly after this event her capital surrendered,
and was treated with clemency by the conqueror, who, however, sullied his fame
by the cruel execution of Longinus and some of the principal citizens, whom Zenobia
had denounced to him. The personal adventures of Zenobia we need not pursue, as
they will be found related in the Dictionary of Biography and Mythology. No sooner
had Aurelian crossed the Hellespont than he was recalled by the intelligence that
the Palmyrenians had risen against and massacred the small garrison which he had
left in their city. The emperor immediately marched again to Palmyra, which now
paid the full penalty of its rebellion. In an original letter Aurelian has himself
recorded the unsparing execution, which extended even to old men, women, and children.
(Vopisc. Aur. c. 31.) To the remnant of the Palmyrenians, [p. 537] indeed, he
granted a pardon, with permission to repair and inhabit their ruined city, and
especially discovered much solicitude for the restoration of the Temple of the
Sun. But the effects of the blow were too heavy to be retrieved. From this period
(A.D. 273) Palmyra gradually dwindled into an insignificant town, and at length
became only a place of refuge for a few families of wandering Arabs. It served
indeed for some years as a Roman military station; and Diocletian partially restored
some of its buildings, as appears from an inscription preserved by Wood. About
the year 400 the first Illyrian legion was quartered there (Not. Imp.); and Procopius
tells us that it was fortified by Justinian (de Aed. ii. 2). But this is the last
that we hear of Palmyra under the Romans; and the sinking for-tunes of their empire
probably soon led them to abandon it.
The remains of the buildings of Palmyra are chiefly of the Corinthian
order, which was the favourite style of architecture during the two or three centuries
which preceded Diocletian; whence we may infer that the splendour which it once
exhibited was chiefly owing to Odenathus and Zenobia. For many centuries even
the site of Palhyra remained totally unknown except to the roving Arabs of the
desert, whose magnificent accounts of its ruins at length excited the curiosity
of the English merchants settled at Aleppo. Under the auspices of the Levant Company,
an expedition started in 1678 for the purpose of exploring them; but the persons
who composed it were robbed and ill-treated by the Arabs, and compelled to return
without having accomplished their object. In 1691 the expedition was renewed with
better success, and an account of the discoveries then made was published in the
transactions of the Royal Society. (Sellers, Antiquities of Palmyra, Pref.) Subsequently
Palmyra was visited in 1751 by Wood and Dawkins, who published the results of
their journey in a large folio volume with magnificent engravings. The account
in Volney (vol. ii.) is chiefly taken from this work. Among the more recent descriptions
may be mentioned that of Irby and Mangles (Travels, ch. v.), who visited Palmyra
in 1816. According to these travellers the plates of Wood and Dawkins have done
more than justice to the subject; and although the view of the ruins from a distance,
with their line of dazzling white columns extending between one and two miles,
and relieved by the contrast of the yellow sand of the desert, is very striking,
yet, when examined in detail, they excite but little interest. Taken separately,
not a single column or architectural member is worthy of admiration. None of the
former exceed 40 feet in height and 4 feet in diameter, and in the boasted avenue
they are little more than 30 feet high. The remains of the Ternmple of the Sun
form the most magnificent object, and being of the Ionic order, relieve the monotony
of the prevailing Corinthian style. These columns, which are 40 feet high and
4 feet in diameter, are fluted, and formed of only three or four pieces of stone;
and in former times were surmounted by brazen Ionic capitals. The facade of the
portico consists of 12 columns, like that of the temple of Baalbec, besides which
there are other points of resemblance. On the whole, however, the ruins are far
inferior to those at Baalbec. At the time of Messrs. Irby and Mangles' visit the
peristyle court of the Temple of the Sun was occupied by the Arabian village of
Tadmor; but with this exception, and the Turkish burial ground, the space was
unencumbered, and there was nothing to obstruct the researches of the antiquary.
In some places the lines of the streets and the foundations of the houses were
distinctly visible. The sculptures are uniformly coarse and bad; the stone is
of a perishable description, and scarcely deserves the name of marble. The sepulchres
outside the walls formed perhaps the most interesting part of the remains. These
consist of square towers, from three to five stories high, forming sepulchral
chambers, with recesses for the reception of the bodies. In these tombs mummies
and mummy cloths are found, prepared very much after the Egyptian manner; but
there are no paintings, and on the whole they are far from being so interesting
as the Egyptian sepulchres. There was a sculptured tablet in bas-relief, with
seven or eight figures standing and clothed in long robes, supposed to represent
priests. Several Greek and Palmyrene inscriptions, and two or three in Latin and
Hebrew, have been discovered at Palmyra. They will be found in Wood's Ruins of
Palmyra, and the following works may also be consulted: Bernard and Smith, Inscriptiones
Graecae Palmyrenorum, Utrecht, 1698; Giorgi, De Inscriptionibus Palmyrenis quae
in Musaeo Capitolino adservantur interpretandis Fpistola, Rome, 1782; Barthelemy,
in Mem de l'Academie des Inscr. tom. xxiv.; and Swinton, in the Philosophical
Transactions, vol. xlviii.(...)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
SURA (Ancient city) SYRIA
Sura (ta Soura: Eth. Sourenos), a city of Syria, situated on the Euphrates,
in the district of Palmyrene, long. 72° 40', lat. 35° 40' of Ptolemy, who places
it between Alalis and Alamata (v. 15. § 25); apparently the Sure of the Peutinger
Table, according to which it was 105 M.P. distant from Palmyra. It is called in
the Notitiae Imperil ( § 24) Flavia Turina Sura (ap. Mannert, p. 408). It is probably
identical with the Ura of Pliny, where, according to him, the Euphrates turns
to the east from the deserts of Palmyra (v. 24. s. 87). lie, however, mentions
Sura (26. s. 89) as the nearest town to Philiscum, a town of the Parthians on
the Euphrates. It was 126 stadia distant from Heliopolis, which was situated in
what was called Barbaricus campus. It was a Roman garrison of some importance
in the Persian campaigns of Belisarius; and a full account is given of the circumstances
under which it was taken and burned by Chosroes I. (A.D. 532), who, having marched
three long days' journey from Circesium to Zenobia, along the course of the Euphrates,
thence proceeded an equal distance up the river to Sura. Incidental mention of
the bishop proves that it was then an episcopal see. (Procop. Bell. Pers. i. 18,
ii. 5.) Its walls were so weak that it did not hold out more than half an hour;
but it was afterwards more substantially fortified, by order of the emperor Justinian.
(Id. de Aedificiis Justiniani, ii. 9.) About 36 miles below Balls (the Alalis
of Ptolemy), following the course of the river, are the ruins of Sura; and about
6 miles lower is the ford of El-Hammam, which Col. Chesney identifies with the
Zeugma of Thapsacus, where, according to local tradition, the army of Alexander
crossed the Euphrates (Expedition for Survey, &c. vol. i. p. 416). In the Chart
(iii.) it is called Sooreah, and marked as brick ruins, and it is probable that
the extensive brick ruins a little below this site, between it and Phunsa (Thapsacus),
may be the remains of Alamata, mentioned in connection with Sura by Ptolemy. Ainsworth
is certainly wrong in identifying the modern Suriyeh with the ancient Thapsacus
(p. 72).
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
AMPHIPOLIS (Ancient city) SYRIA
Old Test. Thipsach. An Aramean word, signified "a ford";
now Dibsi. A city of Syria, in the province of Chalybonitis, on the left bank
of the Euphrates, 2000 stadia south of Zeugma, and fifteen parasangs from the
mouth of the river Chaboras, the Araxes of Xenophon.
APAMIA (Ancient city) SYRIA
Apamea ad Orontem, a city of Syria built by Seleucus Nicator on the site of the older city Pella on the river Orontes, and named in honour of his wife Apama.
ARADOS (Island) SYRIA
An island off the coast of Phoenicia, with a flourishing city, reputed to have been founded by exiles from Sidon. Its harbour, on the mainland, was called Antaradus.
BEROEA (Ancient city) SYRIA
A town of Syria, now Aleppo or Haleb, near Antioch, and enlarged by Seleucus Nicator, who named it Beroea after the town in Macedon. In the Old Testament it is called Chelbon.
CAESAREA PHILIPPI (Ancient city) SYRIA
Caesarea Philippi, a town on the northern confines of Palestine,
in the district of Trachonitis, at the foot of Mount Paneus, and near the springs
of the Jordan. It was also called Leshem, Laish, Dan, and Paneas. The name Paneas
is supposed to have been given it by the Phoenicians. The appellation of Dan was
given to it by the tribe of that name, because the portion assigued to them was
"too little for them," and they therefore "went up to fight against
Leshem, and took it," calling it "Dan, after the name of Dan, their
father". Eusebius and Jerome distinguish Dan from Paneas as if they were
different places, though near each other; but most writers consider them as one
place, and even Jerome himself, on Ezek. xlviii., says that Dan or Leshem was
afterwards called Paneas. Philip, the tetrarch, rebuilt it, or at least embellished
and enlarged it, and named it Caesarea, in honour of the emperor Tiberius; and
afterwards Agrippa, in compliment to Nero, called it Neronias.
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CHALKIS (Ancient city) SYRIA
A city of Syria, in a fruitful plain, near the termination of the river Chalus; the chief city of the district of Chalcidice, which lay to the east of the Orontes.
DAMASKOS (Ancient city) SYRIA
Damaskos; in Hebrew, Dammesek; in Arabic, Dimeshk-es-Sham).
One of the principal cities of Syria, in what was called Coele-Syria, a few miles
to the east of Antilibanus, where the chain begins to turn off to the southeast,
under the name of Carmel. It is beautifully situated in an extensive and pleasant
plain, and watered by a river called by the Greeks Bardine or Chrysorrhoas, "the
golden stream," now Barada. The Biblical name of this stream was Abana. Damascus
is supposed to have been founded by Uz, the eldest son of Aram. However this may
be, it existed in the time of Abraham, and may be reckoned one of the most ancient
cities of Syria. It was conquered by David, but freed itself from the Jewish yoke
in the time of Solomon, and became the seat of a new principality, which often
harassed the kingdoms of both Judah and Israel. It afterwards fell, in succession,
under the power of the Assyrians and the Persians, and came from the latter into
the hands of the Seleucidae. Damascus, however, did not flourish much under the
Greek dynasty, as it had while held by the Persians. The Seleucidae neglected
the place, and bestowed all their favour on the new cities erected by them in
the northern parts of Syria; and here, no doubt, lies the reason why the later
Greek and Roman writers say so little of the city itself, though they are all
loud in their praises of the adjacent country. Damascus was seized by the Romans
in the war of Pompey with Tigranes, B.C. 65, but still continued, as under the
Greek dynasty, a comparatively unimportant place until the time of Diocletian.
This emperor, feeling the necessity of a strongly fortified city in this quarter,
as a depot for munitions of war and a military post against the frequent inroads
of the Saracens, selected Damascus for the purpose. Everything was done, accordingly,
to strengthen the place; extensive magazines were also established, and likewise
numerous workshops for the preparation of weapons of war. It is not unlikely that
the high reputation to which Damascus afterwards attained for its manufacture
of sword-blades and other works in steel, may have had its first foundations laid
by this arrangement on the part of Diocletian. The city continued from this time
to be a flourishing place. In the seventh century it fell into the hands of the
Saracens, and was for some time after this the seat of the califs. Its prosperity,
too, remained unimpaired, since the route of the principal caravans to Mecca lay
through it. It was sacked by Tamerlane, and finally became subject to the Turks.
The Great Mosque of Damascus still shows traces of the Graeco-Roman
architecture.
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DOURA EVROPOS (Ancient city) SYRIA
A town in Mesopotamia on the Euphrates, founded by the Macedonians. It was also styled Nicanoris and Europus.
EKVATANA (Ancient city) SYRIA
A town of Syria, in Galilaea Inferior, at the foot of Mount Carmel. Here Cambyses gave himself a mortal wound as he was mounting his horse, and thus fulfilled the oracle which had warned him to beware of Ecbatana.
EMESA (Ancient city) SYRIA
or Emissa (Emissa). A city of Syria on the east bank of the Orontes, the native city of Iulia Domna, Elagabalus (q.v.), and of Alexan [p. 590]
der Severus. It was the scene of the decisive battle between Aurelian and Zenobia (A.D. 273).
EPIFANIA (Ancient city) SYRIA
A city of Syria, on the Orontes, below Apamea. Its Oriental
and true name was Hamath, and it was reckoned by the people of the East one of
the most magnificent cities in the world, having been founded, as they imagined,
by Hamath, one of the sons of Canaan. Allusion is frequently made to Hamath in
the Old Testament. Its name was changed to Epiphanea, in honour of Antiochus Epiphanes.
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IERAPOLIS (Ancient city) SYRIA
Formerly Bambyce (Bambuke), a city in the northeast of Syria, one of the chief seats of the worship of Astarte.
KILI SYRIA (Ancient province) SYRIA
Koile Suria, "Hollow Syria". The name given to the
great valley between the two ranges of Mount Lebanon (Libanus and Anti-Libanus),
in the south of Syria, bordering upon Phoenicia on the west and Palestine on the
south. In the wars between the Ptolemies and the Seleucidae, the name was applied
to the whole of the southern portion of Syria, which became subject for some time
to the kings of Egypt.
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KOMMAGINI (Ancient country) SYRIA
Kommagene. The northeasternmost district of Syria, lying between
the Taurus and the Euphrates. It formed a part of the kingdom of Syria, after
the fall of which it maintained its independence under a race of kings, the family
of the Seleucidae, and was not united to the Roman Empire until the reign of Vespasian.
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MARATHOS (Ancient city) SYRIA
(Marathos). An important city on the coast of Phoenicia, opposite to Aradus and near Antaradus.
NIKIFORION (Ancient city) SYRIA
(Nikephorion). A fortified town of Mesopotamia, on the Euphrates, and due south of Edessa, built by order of Alexander the Great, and probably completed under Seleucus. It is identical with Callinicus. Still later it was called Leontopolis.
ORONTES (River) SYRIA
The largest river of Syria, rising in the Anti-Libanus, flowing past Antioch, and falling into the sea at the foot of Mount Pieria. Its earlier name was Typhon.
PALMYRA (Ancient city) SYRIA
Palmyra (Palmura; the O. T. Tadmor). A celebrated city of Syria, standing
in an oasis of the great Syrian Desert, which from its position was a halting-place
for the caravans between Syria and Mesopotamia. Here Solomon built a city, which
was called in Hebrew Tadmor--that is, "a city of palm-trees." Of this
name the Greek Palmyra is a translation. Under Hadrian and the Antonines it was
highly favoured, and reached its greatest splendour. The history of its temporary
elevation to the rank of a capital, in the third century of the Christian era,
is related under Odenathus and Zenobia. After its capture by Aurelian in A.D.
270 it was partly destroyed, but was made a frontier fortress, and under Justinian
was strongly fortified. When the Arabs overran the country it was taken by them,
and in the year 1400 was plundered by the Tartars under Tamerlane. Its splendid
ruins, which form a most striking object in the midst of the desert, are of the
Roman period. They resemble those of Heliopolis, though less fine. Among them
are the remains of a temple of the Sun (or Baal), a great colonnade which originally
consisted of some 1500 columns of the Corinthian order, and was nearly a mile
in length. There are also a number of square sepulchral towers of much interest;
and the streets can still be traced. Several inscriptions in Greek, Latin, Hebrew,
and the Palmyrean dialect are still extant.
SYRIA (Ancient country) SYRIA
(he Suria, in Aramaean Surja; now Soristan, EshArab. -Sham,
i. e. "the land on the left," Syria), a country of western Asia, lying
along the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, between Asia Minor and Egypt.
In a wider sense the word was used for the whole tract of country bounded by the
Tigris on the east, the mountains of Armenia and Cilicia on the north, the Mediterranean
on the west, and the Arabian Desert on the south; the whole of which was peopled
by the Aramaean branch of the great Semitic (or SyroArabian) race, and is included
in the Old Testament under the name of Aram. The people were of the same races,
and those of the north of the Taurus in Cappadocia and Pontus are called White
Syrians (Leukosuroi), in contradistinction to the people of darker complexion
in Syria Proper, who are sometimes even called Black Syrians (Suroi melanes).
Even when the name of Syria is used in its ordinary narrower sense, it is often
confounded with Assyria, which only differs from Syria by having the definite
article prefixed. Again, in the narrower sense of the name, Syria still includes
two districts which are often considered as not belonging to it, namely, Phoenice
and Palaestina, and a third which is likewise often considered separate, namely,
Coele-syria; but this last is generally reckoned a part of Syria. In this narrower
sense, then, Syria was bounded on the west (beginning from the south) by Mount
Hermon, at the southern end of Antilibanus, which separated it from Palestine,
by the range of Libanus, dividing it from Phoenice, by the Mediterranean, and
by Mount Amanus, which divided it from Cilicia; on the north (where it bordered
on Cappadocia) by the main chain of Mount Taurus, and striking the Euphrates just
below Iuliopolis, and considerably above Samosata; hence the Euphrates forms the
eastern boundary. The western part of the country was intersected by a series
of mountains, running south from the Taurus, under the names of Amanus, Pieria,
Casius, Bargylus, and Libanus and Antilibanus; and the northern part, between
the Amanus and the Euphrates, was also mountainous. The chief river of Syria was
the Orontes, and the smaller rivers Chalus and Chrysorrhoas were also of importance.
The valleys among the mountains were fertile, especially in the northern part;
even the east, which is now merged in the great desert of Arabia, appears to have
had more numerous and more extensive spaces capable of cultivation, and supported
great cities, the ruins of which now stand in the midst of sandy wastes. In
the earliest historical period Syria contained a number of independent kingdoms,
of which Damascus was the most powerful. These were subdued by David , but became
again independent at the end of Solomon's reign; from which time we find the kings
of Damascus sometimes at war with the kings of Israel, and sometimes in alliance
with them against the kings of Judah, till the reign of Tiglath-Pileser, king
of Assyria, who, having been invited by Ahaz, king of Judah, to assist him against
the united forces of Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, took Damascus,
and probably conquered all Syria, about B.C. 740. Having been a part successively
of the Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and Macedonian Empires, it fell, after the
battle of Ipsus (B.C. 301), to the share of Seleucus Nicator, and formed a part
of the great kingdom of the Seleucidae, whose history is given in the articles
Antiochus; Demetrius; Seleucus. In this partition, however, Coelesyria and Palestine
went, not to Syria, but to Egypt, and the possession of those provinces became
the great source of contention between the Ptolemies and the Seleucids. By the
irruptions of the Parthians on the east, and the unsuccessful war of Antiochus
the Great with the Romans on the west, the GreekSyrian kingdom was reduced to
the limits of Syria itself, and became weaker and weaker, until it was overthrown
by Tigranes, king of Armenia, B.C. 79. Soon afterwards, when the Romans had conquered
Tigranes as well as Mithridates, Syria was quietly added by Pompey to the empire
of the Republic, and was constituted a province B.C. 54; but its northern district,
Commagene, was not included in this arrangement. As the eastern province of the
Roman Empire, and with its great desert frontier, Syria was constantly exposed
to the irruptions of the Parthians, and, after them, of the Persians; but it long
remained one of the most flourishing of the provinces. The attempt of Zenobia
to make it the seat of empire is noticed under Zenobia. While the Roman emperors
defended this precious possession against the attacks of the Persian kings with
various success, a new danger arose, as early as the fourth century, from the
Arabians of the Desert, who began to be known under the name of Saracens; and,
when the rise of Mohammed had given to the Arabs that great religious impulse
which revolutionized the Eastern world, Syria was the first great conquest that
they made from the Eastern Empire, A.D. 632-638. In the time immediately succeeding
the Macedonian conquest, Syria was regarded as consisting of two parts--the north,
including the whole country down to the beginning of the Lebanon range, and the
south, consisting of Coelesyria in its more extended sense. The former, which
was called Syria Proper, or Upper Syria (he ano Suria, Syria Superior), was divided
into four districts or tetrarchies, which were named after their respective capitals,
Seleucis, Antiochene, Laodicene, and Apamene.
The Roman province of Syria, as originally constituted by Pompey
in B.C. 64, was by no means a single homogeneous region. Owing to the different
nationalities and interests which Syria properly so called comprised, it was at
first parcelled out between the Roman jurisdiction and a number of independent
territories which were allowed to remain within it. Under the Roman proconsul
of Syria were at first Upper Syria (with the chief towns Antioch, Seleucia, Apamea,
Laodicea, Cyrrhus, Hieropolis, and Beroea), and the land of Phoenicia, including
Tripolis, Byblus, Tyre, and Sidon; but Iudea was left for a time nominally independent,
except for a short time when Gabinius broke it up into five districts. Caesar
made Iudea a client State under its own princes, and it did not become a Roman
province (of the second rank, under a procurator) until A.D. 6. Similarly Commagene
was left under its own princes until A.D. 17, and again from 38 till 72, when
it was finally joined to the province of Syria; Chalcis retained its own princes
till 92, when Domitian added it to the province; Abilene till 49; Arethusa and
Emesa till 78; Damascus was not included in the province of Syria till 106. The
province of Syria under the Empire was governed by an imperial legate residing
at Antioch: it was eventually divided into ten districts, named (mostly after
their capital cities) Commagene, Cyrrhestice, Pieria, Seleucis, Chalcidice, Chalybonitis,
Palmyrene, Apamene, Cassiotis, and Laodicene; but the last is sometimes included
under Cassiotis. From A.D. 66 Iudea or Syria Palaestina was recognized as a separate
province, and at the end of the second century Syria was divided into two provinces,
Syria Magna or Coelesyria, and Syria Phoenice. Constantine the Great separated
the two northern districts--namely, Commagene and Cyrrhestice--and erected them
into a distinct province, called Euphratensis or Euphratesia; and the rest of
Syria was afterwards divided by Theodosius II. into the two provinces of Syria
Prima, including the sea-coast and the country north of Antioch, and having that
city for its capital; and Syria Secunda, the district along the Orontes, with
Apamea for its capital; while the eastern districts were now a part of Persia.
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