II. Extent and Boundaries. — L Ancient geographers do not agree as to the extent of Syria. Herodotus makes it reach to the Hlack Sea on the north (i, G) ; to Paphlagonia and the jNIediterranean on the west (i, 72; ii, 12, IIG); to Egypt on the south (ii, 158, 159); and to Media and Persia on the east (vii, G3). He con- founded Syria and Assyria, and hence arose the error into which he fell re- garding the extent of the former. The same view is taken by Xenophon {A nab. i, 4, 11-19). Even Strabo states in one place that "the name Syria seems to extend from Babylonia as far as the bay of Issus, and anciently from this hay to the Euxine. IJoth tribes of the C'ap- padocians — those near the Taurus, and those near the Pontus — are called to this day I^euco- Syrians." It is clear, however, from a subsequent sentence, that he in this place fell into the error of Herodotus; for he thus remarks, " When the historians of the Syrian empire say that the Medes were con- quered by the Persians, and the Syrians by the Medes, they mean no other Syri- ans than those who built the royal pal- aces of Babylon and Nineveh ; and Ni- nus who built Nineveh in Atnria was one of these Syrians" (xvi. 737). It is evident that for Syrians the n;ime ,4.<;- syrians should here be sidistitiitcd. The great similarity of the names, no doubt, tended to create this confusion.
When writing directly of the country of Syria, Strabo is more accurate. He describes its extent, boundaries, and di- visions with great minuteness. " Syria is boimded on tlic north by Cilicia [comp. Acts XV, 23] and Blount Ainanus; on the east by the Euphrates and the Arabian Scenitffi, who live on this side [west] of the Eu])hrates; on the south by Arabia Felix and Egypt ; on the west by the Egyptian and Syrian seas, as far as Is- sus" (xvi, 749). Pliny gives substan- tially the same boundaries. He says, however, that some geographers di- vide the country into four provinces — Idumsea, Judaja, Phoenicia, and Syria (//. A'. V, 13; comp. Josephus, Ant. x, 6,1).
SYRIA
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SYRIA
Ptolemy confines Syria within the same limits on the north, west, and east; but he marks its southern bound- ary by a line running from Dor, at the base of Carmel, bj' Scythopolis and Philadelphia, to Alsadanuis jNIons (Jebel Hauran). He thus includes Phoenicia, Galilee, and a portion of Persea, but excludes Judaea and Idu- iua\i (v, 15).
'i. In this article the name Syria is confined to what appears to be its more strict New-Test, signification. Its boundaries may be given as follows : Palestine on the south; the Mediterranean on the west; Cilicia and Mount Amanus on the north ; and the Euphrates and desert of Palmyra on the east. Its length, from the mouth of the Litany on the south to the bay of Iskan- derun on the north, is 250 miles, and its breadth aver- ages about 130 miles. Its area may thus be estimated at 32,500 square miles. It lies between lat. 33° 13' and '6G° 42' N., and long. 35° 45' and 38° E.
III. Physical Gtoyrajjhy. — Syria, like Palestine, is di- vided into a series of belts, extending in parallel lines from north to south. (1.) A narrow belt of plain along the seaboard. It embraces the plain of Issus, now Is- kanderun, on the north, extending as far as the bold promontory of Ras el-Khanzlr. South of the promon- tory is the fertile plain of Seleucia, now Suweidiyeh, at the mouth of the Orontes. Then follows the peak of Casius, which dips into the sea; and from its southern base down to the mouth of the Litany stretches the jilain of Phoenicia, varying in breadth from ten miles at Ladikiyeh to half a mile at Sidon. It is nearly all fertile ; and some portions of it at Sidon, Beiriit, and Tripoli are among the richest and most beautiful in Syria. (2.) A belt of mountains, the backbone of the country. It commences with the ridge of Amanus on the north; then follows Bargylus in the centre, and Lebanon on the south. (3.) The great valley of Cade- Syria, and its northern extension the valley of the Oron- tes, form the next belt, and constitute one of the most re- markable features of the country. (4.) The mountain- chain of Antilebanon, though broken by the plain of Hamath, finds a natural prolongation in the ridge which rises in the parallel of the city of Hamath and runs northward bej'ond Aleppo. (5.) Along the whole east- ern border from north to south extends an arid plateau, bleak and desolate, the home of the roving Bedawin.
1. Plains. — The plains of Phoenicia have already been noticed under that head.
By far the most important part of Syria, and, on the whole, its most striking feature, is the great valley which reaches from the plain of Umk, near Antioch, to the narrow gorge on which the Litany enters in about lat. 33^ 30'. This valley, which runs nearly parallel with the Syrian coast, extends the length of 230 miles, and has a width varying from 6 or 8 to 15 or 20 miles. The more southern portion of it was known to the ancients as Coele-Syria, or " the Hollow S}'ria," and has already been described. See Ccele-Syria. In length this por- tion is rather more than 100 miles, terminating with a screen of hills a little south of Hums, at which point the north-eastern direction of the valley also ceases, and it begins to bend to the north-west.