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Syria

History

General History

Syria, located in the Levant region of the Middle East, is one of the world's oldest inhabited areas, with evidence of human settlement as early as 700,000 years ago. Its modern capital city of Damascus is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and has witnessed the rise and fall of Sumerian, Egyptian, Hittite, Assyrian, and many subsequent civilizations. Historically, the term Syria was applied to much of the Levant region of the Middle East, encompassing modern Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, and Jordan.

In the medieval period, Syria became a pivotal region in the Islamic world when Damascus became the capital of the Muslim Umayyad Caliphate in 637 AD. The region experienced various periods of stability and turmoil under subsequent Islamic dynasties, including the Abbasids, Fatimids, and Seljuks. The Ottoman Empire conquered Syria in 1516, ushering in a relatively stable period that lasted until the early 20th century.

In 1918, British-backed Arab rebels successfully liberated Damascus from Ottoman control and, in 1920, declared the short-lived Arab Kingdom of Syria under the leadership of King Faisal. That same year the kingdom was defeated by French troops, and France controlled Syria and Lebanon as mandates until 1946, when Syria gained independence as the Syrian Arab Republic.

The decades following Syria's independence were marked by political flux, with the country witnessing a number of coup d'états and even a brief union with Egypt from 1958-1961 under the name the United Arab Republic. The Ba'ath Party rose to power in 1963, and after 1970 was under the sole control of the al-Assad family. The Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, leading to the death of hundreds of thousands and the displacement of millions of Syrians. The al-Assad regime collapsed in November 2024 and the political situation in Syria continues to evolve, with several portions of the country remaining fragmented.

Timeline

1516 Ottoman Empire conquers the region of modern Syria.

1920 Proclamation of the Arab Kingdom of Syria. The kingdom is defeated by the French, which form a mandate over the region.

1924 State of Syria established under French Mandate.

1930 Syrian Republic established by merger of States of Jabal Druze, Alawites and Syria.

1946 Syrian Arab Republic gained independent.

1958 Merger of Syria and Egypt into the United Arab Republic.

1961 Secession of Syria from the United Arab Republic.

1963 Syrian Ba'ath Party gains control of the country in a coup d'état.

2011 Armed conflict in Syria begins, with a number of countries in the region and beyond involved militarily or otherwise.

2024 Bashar al-Assad flees Syria and Ba'ath rule ends.

Resources

Online Resources

• Muḥāfaẓat al-Lādhiqīyah by Saadé, Gabriel. Dimashq:Wizārat al-Thaqāfah wa-al-Irshād al-Qawmī, Mudīrīyat al-Taʼlīf wa-al-Tarjamah, 1962?. Online at: New York University; The history and geography of the Latakia Province of Syria.
  • .محافظة اللاذقية .جبرائيل سعادة [دمشق]:وزارة الثقافة والارشاد القومي، مديرية التأليف والترجمة، 1962?
• Tārīkh Ḥamāh by Ṣābūnī, Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm. Ḥamāh, Sūrīyā:Bi-nafaqat Maktabat ʻUnwān al-Najāḥ, 1913. Online at: New York University; The history of the Syrian city of Hama.
  • .تاريخ حماة .أحمد بن ابراهيم الصابوني حماه، سوريا:بنفقة مكتبة عنوان النجاح، 1913
• al- Miṣrīyūn fī Lubnān wa-Sūriyah qabla miʼat sanah by Ghānim, Ibrāhīm Abū Samrā. Bayrūt:al-Maṭbaʻah al-Kāthūlīkīyah, 1932. Online at: New York University; History of Muhammad Ali Pasha's conquest of the Levant.
  • .المصريون في لبنان وسورية قبل مئة سنة .ابراهيم أبو سمرا غانم بيروت:المطبعة الكاثوليكية، 1932
• Jabal al-Durūz by Abī Rāshid, Ḥannā. Miṣr:Maktabat Zīdān al-ʻumūmīyah, 1925. Online at: New York University; An account of the Druze in Syria in the early 20th century.
  • .جبل الدروز .حنا أبي راشد مصر:مكتبة زيدان العمومية، 1925
• Kitāb al-ḥaḍrah al-anīsīyah fī al-riḥlah al-qudsīyah by Nābulusī, ʻAbd al-Ghanī ibn Ismāʻīl. Miṣr:Maṭba‘at Jarīdat al-Ikhlāṣ, 1902. Online at: New York University; Describes holy shrines, mosques, and other ancient sites in Damascus, Jerusalem, and in-between.
  • .كتاب الحضرة الأنيسية في الرحلة القدسية .عبد الغاني ابن اسماعيل نابلسي مصر:مطبعة جريدة الإخلاص، 1902
• Tārīkh al-Shām (1720-1782) by Burayk, Mīkhāʼīl. Ḥarīṣā, Lubnān:Maṭbaʻat al-Qiddīs Būlus, 1930. Online at: New York University; Religious, political, and civil history of the Orthodox church in the Levant region.
  • .تاريخ الشام (1720-1782) .مخائيل بريك حريصا، لبنان:مطبعة القديس بولس، 1930
• Sūrīyah wa Lubnān ḥattá awwal al-qarn al-tāsiʻ ʻashar by Abū al-Naṣr, ʻUmar. Bayrūt:Maṭbaʻat wa-Zinkūghrāf Ṭabbārah, 1927. Online at: New York University; The agricultural, social, and political development of Syria and Lebanon.
  • .سوريا ولبنان حتى أول القرن التاسع عشر .عمر أبو النصر بيروت:مطبعة وزنكوغراف طبارة، 1927
• Lubnān wa-Sūrīyā qabla al-Intidāb wa baʻdahu v.1 by Masʻad, Būlus. Miṣr al-Jadīdah:al-Maṭbaʻah al-Sūrīyah, 1929. Online at: New York University; (1) Hauran and Jabal al-Druze; Its countries, geography, and modern history (2) The French mandate in Lebanon and Syria until the end of the era.
  • .لبنان وسوريا قبل الانتداب وبعده الجزء الأول .بولس مسعد مصر الجديدة:المطبعة السورية، 1929
• Maṣādir tārīkhīyah li-ḥawādith Lubnān wa-Sūrīyā min sanat 1745 ilá sanat 1800 by Karāmah, Rufāʼīl. Bayrūt:al-Maṭba‘ah al-Kāthūlīkīyah lil-Ābā’ al-Yasū‘īyīn, 1929. Online at: New York University; Wars in Lebanon and Syria from 1745-1800.
  • .مصادر تاريخية لحوادث لبنان وسوريا من سنة إلى سنة 1800-1745 .رفائيل كرامة بيروت:المطبعة الكاثوليكية للآباء اليسوعيين، 1929
• Tārīkh al-duwal wa-al-imārāt al-Kurdīyah fī al-ʻahd al-Islāmī by Zakī, Muḥammad Amīn. Miṣr:Maṭbaʻat al-Saʻādah, 1945. Online at: New York University; History of Kurdish states.
  • .تاريخ الدول والإمارات الكردية في العهد الإسلامي .محمد أمين زكي مصر:مطبعة السعادة،‪ 1945
• al- Maḥfūẓāt al-Malakīyah al-Miṣrīyah v.1 by Rustum, Asad. Bayrūt:Maṭbaʻat al-Jamiʻah al-Amrīkīyah, 1940-1943. Online at: New York University; Historic treatise on the Levant under the control of Mohammad Ali Pasha.
  • .المحفوظات الملكية المصرية الجزء الأول .أسد رستم بيروت:مطبعة الجمعة الامريكية، 1943-1940
• al- Maḥfūẓāt al-Malakīyah al-Miṣrīyah v.2 by Rustum, Asad. Bayrūt:Maṭbaʻat al-Jamiʻah al-Amrīkīyah, 1940-1943. Online at: New York University; Historic treatise on the Levant under the control of Mohammad Ali Pasha.
  • .المحفوظات الملكية المصرية الجزء الثاني .أسد رستم بيروت:مطبعة الجمعة الامريكية، 1943-1940
• al- Maḥfūẓāt al-Malakīyah al-Miṣrīyah v.3 by Rustum, Asad. Bayrūt:Maṭbaʻat al-Jamiʻah al-Amrīkīyah, 1940-1943. Online at: New York University; Historic treatise on the Levant under the control of Mohammad Ali Pasha.
  • .المحفوظات الملكية المصرية الجزء الثالث .أسد رستم بيروت:مطبعة الجمعة الامريكية، 1943-1940
• al- Maḥfūẓāt al-Malakīyah al-Miṣrīyah v.4 by Hitti, Philip K. (Philip Khuri). Bayrūt:Maṭbaʻat al-Jamiʻah al-Amrīkīyah, 1940-1943. Online at: New York University; Historic treatise on the Levant under the control of Mohammad Ali Pasha.
  • .المحفوظات الملكية المصرية الجزء الرابع .أسد رستم بيروت:مطبعة الجمعة الامريكية، 1943-1940
• al- Nakabāt by Rihani, Ameen Fares. Bayrūt:al-Maṭbaʻah al-ʻIlmīyah, 1928. Online at: New York University; History of Syria.
  • .النكبات .أمين فارس الريحاني ‏بيروت:المطبعة العلمية،‏ 1928
• Wathāʼiq tārīkhīyah ʻan Ḥalab v.1 by Bakhkhāsh, Naʻʻūm. Bayrūt:al-Maṭbaʻah al-Kāthūlīkīyah, 1940-1964. Online at: New York University; Historical documents from Aleppo.
  • .وثائق تاريخية عن حلب الجزء الأول .نعوم البخاش بيروت:المطبعة الكاثوليكية، 1964-1940
• Wathāʼiq tārīkhīyah ʻan Ḥalab v.2 by Bakhkhāsh, Naʻʻūm. Bayrūt:al-Maṭbaʻah al-Kāthūlīkīyah, 1958-1964. Online at: New York University; Historical documents from Aleppo.
  • .وثائق تاريخية عن حلب الجزء الثاني .نعوم البخاش بيروت:المطبعة الكاثوليكية؛ 1964-1958
• Wathāʼiq tārīkhīyah ʻan Ḥalab v.3 by Bakhkhāsh, Naʻʻūm. Bayrūt:al-Maṭbaʻah al-Kāthūlīkīyah, 1940-1964. Online at: New York University; Historical documents from Aleppo.
  • .وثائق تاريخية عن حلب الجزء الثالث .نعوم البخاش بيروت:المطبعة الكاثوليكية، 1964-1940
• Wathāʼiq tārīkhīyah ʻan Ḥalab v.4 by Bakhkhāsh, Naʻʻūm. Bayrūt:al-Maṭbaʻah al-Kāthūlīkīyah, 1940-1964. Online at: New York University; Historical documents from Aleppo.
  • .وثائق تاريخية عن حلب الجزء الرابع .نعوم البخاش بيروت:المطبعة الكاثوليكية، 1964-1940
• Ḥalab, al-jānib al-lughawī min al-kamilah by Asadī, Khayr al-Dīn. Ḥalab:Maṭbaʻat al-Ḍād, 1951?. Online at: New York University; Aleppo.
  • .حلب، الجانب اللغوي من الكلمة .خير الدين الأسدي حلب:مطبعة الضاد، 1951?