SYRIA
(Heb. «’Aram», Gr. «Syria»).
Asian country. Its limits have varied according to different historical circumstances. At the time of the OT Syria included most of the regions that in ancient times bore the name of Aram and Canaan.
The name Syria is sometimes given as a synonym for the ancient term Aram, which is inaccurate, because Syria has a broader meaning. Short for the term Assyria, the term Syria became common after the conquests of Alexander the Great.
Herodotus confuses Assyria with Syria, while for the Hebrews, Syria seemed to begin at the northern limit of Palestine, reaching in the north to the foothills of the Taurus, in the west to the Mediterranean, and to the east probably to the Khabur, a tributary of the Euphrates. , It distinguished:
(a) The Syria of Damascus (2 Sam. 8:5-6).
(b) The Syria of Soba.
(c) That of Beth-rehob (2 Sam. 10:6-8).
(d) Aram-naharaim, or “Mesopotamia” (Gen. 24:10).
Syrians from beyond the Euphrates are mentioned (2 Sam. 10:16-19). The authors gr. They used the term Syria even more extensively than the Hebrews used the term Aram.
In the LXX and the NT a distinction is made between Syria and Phenicia on the one hand, and Samaria, Judea and Idumea on the other. In a restricted sense, which is the one used in this article, the territory of Syria measured about 500 km from north to south, and ranged between 80 and 240 km in width.
The country is mountainous in general. To the west, two mountain ranges, close together, run parallel to the coast from the region of Tire to Antioch.
They are Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, which join near Antioch to the Amanus chain, which in turn connects with the Taurus Mountains. With the Damascus region, the most fertile area of Syria is the 360 km long valley located between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, Celesyria (or concave Syria).
The mountainous area in the north is also fertile, but the soil in the plains around Aleppo is poor. To the east, the Syrian Desert forms a plateau that is difficult to cross and has not been exhaustively explored by man.
Its most notable oasis is Palmira. The main waterways are the Orontes, the Litani, the Barada, which passes through Damascus, the Koweik, through Aleppo, and the Sakhur, a tributary of the Euphrates.
History.
The first occupants of the country seem to have been of Hamite origin (Gen. 10:6, 15-18); While they were still largely nomadic, Semites from the southeast flocked there. At that time, the only city mentioned in the Bible is Damascus (Gen. 14:15; 15:2); The name of Hamath appears next (Num. 13:21; 34:8).
However, recent archaeological excavations shed much light on this period of Syrian history, establishing the existence of a commercial and political empire centered on Ebla, and already flourishing centuries before Abraham (see MARDIKH [TELL]).
Based on these discoveries, it has been possible to document the existence, even then, of Byblos, Ashdod, Jafa, Aco, Sidon, Beirut, Alalakh and Homs, among others.
Israel first came into conflict with the Syrians in the time of David, who defeated Hadadezer, king of Zobah, the Syrians of Damascus (2 Sam. 8:3-13), those of Beth-rehob (2 S. 10:6), as well as those who came from beyond the Euphrates (2 Sam. 10:16-19).
Solomon maintained this dominion over Israel until the Euphrates (1 Kings 4:21; cf. Gen. 15:18), with the exception of Damascus, an independent state ruled by Rezon (1 Kings 11:23-25).
After the separation of Israel and Judah, the kings of Syria established in Damascus (Ben-hadad, Hazael, Ben-hadad II, Rezin) frequently warred against the rulers of the northern kingdom (Ahab, Joram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, Joash , Jeroboam II).
In the time of Ahaz, king of Judah, the Syrian king Rezin captured Elat and attacked Jerusalem, allied with Pekah, king of Israel. Ahaz called Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, to his aid; He attacked Damascus, taking it, killing Rezin, and taking its inhabitants into captivity (2 Kings 16:5-9).
Syria was since then annexed to the Assyrian empire; It later passed into the hands of the Babylonians, and then the Persians. In the year 333 B.C. He submitted without a fight to Alexander.
Upon the death of the latter, Syria found itself for the first time heading a great kingdom. Among Alexander’s generals who divided up the empire in 321 BC, Seleucus Nicator received Mesopotamia and Syria.
From a commercial and military point of view, Syria was the most important province of the new State, whose capital was Babylon. It soon became evident that Western Asia should have its own government, more in accordance with the Hellenic mentality than the political system of the Easterners.
Around 300 BC, Seleucus Nicator I built Antioch, which he made his capital (cf. 1 Mac. 3:37). His reign was brilliant; But after him, the adversaries of the Seleucid reign gradually cut into their territories.
At the end of the 2nd century BC, this entire kingdom was limited to Syria proper. The Roman conquest, in the year 64 BC, transformed this State into a province of Syria, which was administered by a Roman governor residing in Antioch.
The name Syria was then only applied to this province, which encompassed the region west of the Euphrates, the Taurus Mountains, and to the borders of Egypt. From the time of Augustus, Syria was ruled by a legate appointed by the emperor.
In 70 AD, the Romans separated Syria from Judea, which became a distinct province, administered by an imperial legate.
Shortly before, in the year 47 AD, the penetration of the Gospel into Syria began, at first through those who had been dispersed by the persecution that occurred after the death of Stephen (Acts 11:19-24), and later through the efforts of the apostle Paul (Gal. 1:21).
Antioch, the capital of Syria, soon became the seat of a bishopric, which soon became recognized as one of the patriarchs of the Church of the East.