Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1094

 1070 SYEIA. ihe foi-mer passaije, we have the Aramites of Betli- Eohob, and the Aramites of Soba, and the king of Skacah, — in the latter, Aram Naharaim = Jleso- potamia, and Aram Maacah and Zobah; from -ivhich we may infer the identity of Beth-Rehob and Jleso- potamia, and the distinction between this latter and Maacah or Zobah : and again, the alhance between Hadadezer, king of Zobah. and the Aramites of Da- mascus (2 iSam. viii. 3 — 6; 1 Ckron. xx. 3 — 6) would imply the contiguity of the two states ; while the expedition of the former " to recorer his border," or " establish his dominion at the river Euphrates " (ver. 3), during which David attacked him, would suppose a march from west to east, through Syria, rather than in the oppo.^ite direction through Meso- potamia. With regard to the origin of the name Aram, there are two Patriarchs in the early genealogies from whom it has been derived ; one the son of Sbem, the progenitor of the Hebrew race, whose other children Uz, Asshur, Arphaxad, and Lud, represent ancient kingdoms or races contiguous to Syria; while Uz, the firstborn son of Aram, appa- rently gave his name to the native land of Job, at a very early period of the world's history. (^Gen. x. 22, 23.) The other Aram was the grandson of Nahor, the brother of Abraham, by Kemuel, whose brother Huz is by some supposed to have given his name to the country of Job, as it can scarcely admit of a doubt that the third brother, Buz, was the pa- triarch from whom the neighbouring district took its name. (Cera. xxii. 20, 21; Job, i. 1, xxxii. 2.) But as we find the name Aram already applied to describe the country of Bethuel and Laban, the uncle and cousin of the later Aram, it is obvious that the Country must have derived its name from the earlier, not from the later patriarch. (Gere. xxv. 20, xxviii. 5, &c.) The classical name Syria is commonly supposed to be an abbreviation or modification of Assyria, and to date from the period of the Assyrian subjugation of the ancient Aram ; and this account of its origin is confirmed by the fact that the name Syria does not occur in Homer or Hesiod, who speak of the inhabitants of the country under the name of Arimi, (etV 'Apifxois, Hom. II. /3. 783. Hes. T/ieog. v. 304), in connection with the myth of Typhon, recorded by Strabo in describing the Orontes [Orontes]; and this writer informs us that the Syrians wjre called Aramaei or Arimi (i. p. 42, xiii. p. 627, xvi. pp. 784, 785), which name was, however, extended too far to the west or north by other writers, so as to comprehend Cilicia, and the Sacae of Scytliia. (See Bochjirt, Geog. Sac. hb. ii. cap. 6.) Herodotus, the earliest extant writer who distinctly names the Syrians, de- clares the people to be identical with the Assyrians, where he is obviously speaking of the latter, making the former to be the Greek, the latter the barbarian name (vii. 63); and this name he extends as far south as the confines of Egypt, — placing Sidon, Azo- tus, Cadytis, and, in short, the Phoenicians in ge- neral, in Syria (ii. 12, 158, 159), calling the Jews the Syrians in Palestine (ii. 104); and as far west as Asia Minor, for the Cappadocians, he says, are called Syrians by the Greeks (i. 72), and speaks of the Syrians about the Thermodon and Parthenius, rivers of Bithynia (ii. 104). Consistently with this early notice, Strabo, at a much later period, states that the name of Syri formerly extended from Baby- lonia as far as the gulf of Issus, and thence as far as the Euxine (xvi. p. 737); and in this wider sense SYRIA. the name is used by other classical writers, and thus includes a tract of country on the west which was not comprehended within the widest range of the ancient Aram. II. Natural hoimdaries and divisions. — The limits of Syria proper, which is now to be considered, are clearly defined by the JMediterranean on the west, the Euphrates on the east, the range of Ama- nus and Taurus on the north, and the great Desert of Arabia on the south. On the west, however, a long and narrow strip of coast, commencing at Ma- rathus, and running south to Mount Carmel, was reckoned to Phoenice, and has been described under that name. In compensation for this deduction on the south-west, a much more ample space is gained towards the south-east, by the rapid trending away of the Euphrates eastward, between the 36th and 34th degree north lat., from near the 38th to the 41st de- gree of east longitude, thereby increasing its distance from the Mediterranean sea, from about 100 miles at Zeugma {Bir), to 250 miles at the boundary of Syria, south of Circesium (Karkisia^. Commencing at the northern extremity of the Issicus Sinus {Gulf of Iskanderi'in), near Issus itself, the Amanus Mons (Alma Dagli), a branch of the Taurus, runs off first in a northern direction for 18 miles, then north-east for 30 more, until it joins the main chain (Durdt'm DagJi), a little westward of Mar ash, from whence it runs due eastward to the Euphrates. The southern line cannot be accurately described, as being marked only by an imaginary line drawn through an interminable waste of sand. This irre- gular trapezium may now be subdivided. For the purposes of a physical description, the ranges of Lebanon and Antilibanus may be assumed as landmarks towards the south, while the river Orontes affords a convenient division in the geo- graphy of the country towards the north ; for the valley of the Orontes may be regarded as a continu- ation northward of the great crevass of Coelesyria, the watershed being in the vicinity of Baalbek, so that " this depression extends along the whole west- ern side of the country, having on each side, through nearly 6 degrees of latitude, an almost continuous chain of mountains, from which numerous oft'sets strike into the interior in different directions." (Col. Chesney, Expedition for the Survey of the Euphrates and Tigris, vol. i. p. 384.) 1. The western range, — Where the range of Ama- nus meets the coast at the Gidf of Iskanderun, near the river Issus, it leaves only a narrow pass between its base and the sea, formerly occupied by the Ar- menian, Syrian, or Amanidan gates of the various geographers, which will be again referred to below. This range then advances southwards under various names, approaching or receding from the coast, and occasionally throwing out bold headlands into the sea, AS ».i lias Khanzeer, lias Bosyt (Posidium Prom.), Rus-esh-Shalca, &c. The part of the chain north of the Orontes is thus described by Col. Chesney (p. 384): " The base of the chain consists of masses of serpentines and diallage rocks, rising abruptly from plains on each side, and supporting a tertiary formation, terminating with bold rugged peaks and conical summits, having at the crest an elevation of 5387 feet. The sides of this mass are occasionally furrowed by rocky fissures, or broken into valleys, between which there is a succession of rounded shoulders, cither protruding through forests of pines, oaks, and larches, or diversified by the arbutus, the myrtle, oleander, and other shrubs. Some basalt