Syria

Syria is an ancient region and modern state, officially known as the Syrian Arab Republic, in the Middle East. It borders Lebanon to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north. The border with Israel is disputed as Israel controls, and claims to have annexed, the Golan Heights. A border dispute with Turkey over Hatay Province has now been resolved. Historically, Syria (or Greater Syria) has often been taken to include the territories of Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, and parts of Jordan, but excluding the Jazira region in the north-east of modern Syria.

Name

The name Syria comes from the ancient Greek name for the land of Aram at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea between Egypt and Arabia to the south and Cilicia to the north, stretching inland to include Mesopotamia, and having an uncertain border to the northeast that Pliny the Elder describes as including from west to east Commagene, Sophene, and Adiabene, "formerly known as Assyria" (N.H. 5.66). By Pliny's time, however, this larger Syria had been divided into a number of provinces under the Roman Empire (but politically independent from each other): Judaea (or "Judea" and later renamed Palestine in 135 AD-the region corresponding to the modern states of Israel and Jordan and the disputed Palestinian territories) in the extreme southwest, Phoenicia corresponding to Lebanon, with Damascena to the inland side of Phoenicia, Coele-Syria (or "Hollow Syria") south of the Eleutheris river, and Mesopotamia

Related Topics:
Ancient Greek - Aram - Mediterranean Sea - Egypt - Arabia - Cilicia - Mesopotamia - Pliny the Elder - Commagene - Sophene - Adiabene - Assyria - N.H. - Judaea - Judea - Palestine - Phoenicia - Coele-Syria - Eleutheris river

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