Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/901

SYK-DABYA. 787 SYRIA. small Russian gunboats have ciosspd the bar. It is now little used as an avenue of coninicrce. SYB-DARYA, or SIR-DARIA. A terri- tory in the northwest of Itussian Turkestan. Area, about 195,000 square miles (Map: Asia, F i). The larger part consists of extensive steppes and deserts. The southeastern part be- longs to the region of the Tian-Shan Mountains and rises in some of its snow-covered peaks to an altitude of over 15,000 feet. The flat part of the territory is verv scantily watered by the 8yr-Darya and Anui-Darya (qq.v.). The lakes are mostly salty. The settlements are found largely at the foot of the mountains, whore the streams are utilized for irrigation. Wheat, barley, rice, and cotton are the princiinil products, the cotton crop being valued at over $3,500,000 in IflOO. The nomadic inliabitants have extensive herds of cattle and sheep, and utilize the wool for the manufacturing of woolen products, be- sides exporting large quantities of the raw ma- terial to Russia and other parts of Europe. The Central Asiatic Railway is the principal means of transportation. Population, in 18'.t7, 1,479,- 848, consisting principally of Kirghizes and Sarts, the Russians forming only about 4 per cent, of the total. Capital, Tashkend (q.v.). SYR'IA. Traditionally, the region lying be- tween the Euphrates River and the Syrian Desert on the east and the Mediterranean on the west, and between the Alma Dagh (the ancient Ama- nus) in the north and Egypt in the south. This region now forms a part of Asiatic Turkey (Map: Turkey in Asia, G 6). Mesopotamia, or at least a portion of it, is frequently designated as East Syria. Syria proper is now a distinct part of the Turkish Empire and is divided- into six jH'ovinces — Jerusalem, Lebanon, Beirut, Aleppo, Syria, and Zor. It occupies approxi- mately the area within the above boundaries. It, therefore, includes Palestine. Its area is 100,509 square miles. Syria proper is traversed from north to south by a system of mountains connected with the Taurus in the north and in the south with Mount Sinai as well as with the important mountain chain of Western Arabia. The loftiest section is the Lebanon district, comprising the range of the Lebanon proper, skirting the middle part of the Mediterranean coast, and the parallel Anti-Li- banus. with the valley of Co?le-Syria, between them. The Lebanon reaches an elevation of about 10.000 feet, the highest peak of the Anti-Libanus, Mount Hermon, being about 9000 feet. Syria is in general a plateau of chalk and Tertiary forma- tion, with sandstone in evidence, and varied in places by eruptive stone. The plateau dips steep- ly to the Mediterranean. It is traversed north and south liy the important and remarkable inter-mountain depression which, beginning at the Gulf of Akabah (of the Red Sea) in the south, extends under the name of Waili el-Araba to the Dead Sea, thence north through the region of the Jordan to its sources, and beytmd this through tile Lebanon region, becoming narrower but widening again farther north, and finally reaches the sea at Antioch. This depression is over 400 miles long, and generally averages about 12 miles in width. It divides Syria (except in the north and northeast) into two long comparatively narrow stretches of tableland — the eastern and western. For the full description of the western, adjacent to the Mediterranean, see PalestIiNK. The eastern strip merges into the Syrian desert, and is sandy and bare, its elevated levels being dominated by the basaltic Jebel Hauran (liOOO feet) situated east of Lake Tiberias. The Nahrel-Asi (ancient Orontes), the Litany (Leontes), and many short streams How into the sea on the west. The Jordan is the main feeder of the Dead Sea, whose surface is nearly l;!00 feet below that of the ocean. The [irincipal alllucnts of the Jordan are the Yarniuk and .lahbok. In the east are a number of streams that die in the sands of the desert. There are several lakes besides the Dead Sea. the best known being Lake Tiberias (Geiinesaiet) . The climate is that of the Mediterranean liasin. At Beirut the mean annual temperature is 08° F. ; at Jerusalem, 02.0° F. The rainfall is .scanty, be- ing heaviest in the north and west. The springs are short, the summers long, dry, and hot. Snow falls in winter and there is often almost severe cold. The llora is that of the Mediterranean region, the olive being prominent. Forests of conifers clothe portions of the western slope of the Lebanon. But small remnants survive of the famous cedars of Lebanon. In the cast and south, however, the plant growth jiartakes of the scanty desert species. In the extreme north the date palm thrives. Of the wild fauna the lion has nearly disappeared, hyenas exist in some mountainous regions, and jackals abound. Ga- zelles are still met with. Tlicre are several species of venomous serpents, including the cobra. For- merlj- a land rich and highly productive, Syria is in modern times of very inferior agricultural and industrial significance. Fruits, grain, and vegetables are grown. The principal ports are Beirut and Jaflfa. The Syrian Railroad has afforded an impetus to trade since 1895. The population in 1900 was 3,317,000. It is mainly Semitic in race. Mohammedans predominate,, and Arabic is generally spoken. Bedouins and Arabs roam in the south and east. The Turks are few. The Christian population is consider- able, the Maronites of the Lebanon region alone nvimbering over 100,000. There are many Jews, especially in Palestine, where they form agri- cultural communities. The Mohammedan sect of the Druses (in the Lebanon region and the Hauran) has been prominent through its fierce hatred of the Maronites. The chief towns are Damascus, Aleppo, Beirut, and Jerusalem. Hlstory. About B.C. 1500 the kings of Egypt brought the greater part of Syria under their dominion. Their advance was opposed by the Hittites (q.v.), who were long dominant in northern Syria, and who spread also into the southern part of the country. The non-Semitic people were gradually amalgamated with the Semites among whom they dwelt, their siieech be- coming Semitic. About n.c. 1000 the Phienicians were at the height of their power and prosperity and the Hebrew kingdom was firmly estalilisheil. By this time the Hittites, whose State had be- come disintegrated into a numlier of principali- ties, had begun to feel the power of Assyria. Un- der David and Solomon the Israelites extended their sway over a great part of Syria, subduing the southern Hittites, the Amorites. and other peoples and subjecting Damascus and other im- portant cities. On the southern part of the