SYRIA of the Jews under the Asmonean fam- ily against Antiochus Epiphanes, after a strug- gle of 25 years, ended in their independence (142). (See ANTIOCHUS, DEMETBIUS SOTEE, HE- BKEWS, and SELEUCCS.) About 63 B. C. Syria became a Roman province, and subsequent- ly was divided into several provinces; the Herodian family ruled over Judea and some adjoining districts, while northern Syria and the coast were under Roman proconsuls. Af- ter the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus (A. D. 70), the whole of Syria, including Judea, was ruled by a Roman prefect, and Antioch was the capital. It continued under the Ro- man and Byzantine empire till its conquest by Chosroes II. in the beginning of the 7th cen- tury, followed by that of the Mohammedans in 632-'8. In 654 Damascus again became the capital of Syria, and in 661 of the great Mo- hammedan empire. The capital was removed to Cufah in 750, and afterward to Bagdad, and Syria thenceforth became only a province of the empire of the caliphs. About the mid- dle of the 10th century the rival Mohammedan dynasty of the Fatiinites in Egypt conquered it, and in the latter part of the llth the Seljuk Turks made it a part of their empire. The cru- elties perpetrated by these fanatics on Chris- tian pilgrims visiting the Holy Land led to the crusades. Jerusalem was taken by assault (1099), and the whole of Syria except Damas- cus and a part of Mesopotamia conquered by the Christian princes, and divided into prin- cipalities. Godfrey was chosen ruler of Jeru- salem, Bohemond reigned at Antioch, Baldwin at Edessa, and the count of Toulouse at Tri- poli. Their rule was of short duration ; after repeated attacks by Noureddin and his suc- cessors, it was overthrown by Saladin in 1187. The crusades which followed resulted only in their regaining a few points, in the temporary acquisition of Jerusalem by treaty in 1229, and the final occupation of the whole country by the Mamelukes in 1291. (See EGYPT.) For a long period the country was the prey of the two contending Tartar powers, Tamerlane and his successors and the Mameluke sovereigns of Egypt. In 1517 it was conquered by Sultan Selim L, and from that time to our own it has formed a part of the Ottoman empire. In 1832 Ibrahim Pasha conquered Syria for his father Mehemet Ali, pasha of Egypt; but in 1841, after the armed intervention of England and her allies, it was restored to the sultan. In the summer of 1860 an insurrection oc- curred on the part of the Mohammedans at Da- mascus, in which many Christians were slain, the Dutch consul killed, and the American con- sul wounded. At the same time sanguinary disturbances, such as had frequently occurred before, broke out in Ml Lebanon, between the Druses and Maronites, and a predatory conflict of several months' duration followed, in which nearly 150 villages were destroyed. France and England finally interfered, the outbreak was suppressed, and the prime movers were SYRIAC LANGUAGE, &c. 547 brought to punishment, but not until more than 15,000 men had been killed, and tens of thousands of people were homeless and desti- tute, and compelled to take refuge in the cities of the coast. SVRIAC LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. The Syriac language belongs to the northern branch of the Semitic family. (See SEMITIC RACE AND LANGUAGES.) It is an Aramaic dialect, which rose to a literary language under the name of Syriac in the Christian schools of northern Mesopotamia. In writing it various forms of character are used, all of them of kindred ori- gin, and coming from the same source whence are derived the other Semitic alphabets. The oldest character is the Palmyrene, represented by sundry inscriptions dating from the time of Christ. Next in age is the Estranghelo alphabet, commonly employed by the Syri- ans till the 8th or 9th century. The common Syriac names of characters. Estranerhelo of M8S. ll'.fltf TOM -Si gS'B S-S" 2 Kb Arabic names of characters. Approxi- mate sounds. Olaph . . . rC. i
Elif. . . Spiritus lenis. Beth ^=3 o ^ Be.... B Gomal.. . ^
5 Jim.. . G Dolatfa... T| ?
- >
Dal... D He CTJ 01 v He H Vau O ^ Waw.. W or V Zain s 1 J> Ze Z Cheth . . . X iM 5 Kha.. Kh Teth....
t i. Tha... Th Yud j ^ <5 Ye.... Y Kopfa....
o 4 Qef.... K Lomad . .
1 3 Lam. . L Mim .... J~l So 1 / Mim.. M Xun.. . . .
j o Nun.. y Semkath. OP D LT Sin ... s Ee . ^ i t Ain..*. . Indefinite. Pe Oy ^) Phe... Ph Tsode... _ s U^ Dhad.. Ts Kuph . . . X3
j Kaf .. . K Rish.... t J j Re.... R Shin 3C
& %^ Shin.. Sh Thau V I ^ Te.... T
