a 
182 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [apR. 30, 
Roman conquest only followed up the Greek, and intensified its 
results. 
The temporary triumphs of the Persian dynasty of the Sas- 
sanides impressed themselves but feebly on Syria and Palestine. 
The unfinished edifice of Meshitta, in Moab, and a few other in- 
complete monuments, alone remain to testify their short-lived 
and ineffective contact with the Holy Land. 
The Arabian conquest, from 638 A. D., has not only infused a 
large Arabic element into the body politic of the land, but has 
brought to the surface the old Aramaic instincts of the people. 
The Arabic language has indeed replaced all other dialects, 
except in the four villages before alluded to, but the people of 
Palestine speak it in a form largely adulterated with Aramaic 
idioms and peculiarities. 
The Crusades left permanent traces in the physical aspect of 
the people. In some towns, as Antioch, Tripoli, Sidon, and 
Bethlehem, these traits are very pronounced. The Turks have 
simply encamped, as a ruling caste, in the strategic and political 
centres, and have not mingled their blood much with that of the - 
natives. 
It will simplify inquiry into the races of this land, to say at the 
outset that it will be as impossible to trace and define them with 
accuracy as to separate the English into their component ele- 
ments. All that follows must be considered approximative 
only. 
The present races traceable in Syria are, 1. The Arabic. This 
is not the most numerous, though the most important, of all. It 
is divided into two branches, the nomadic or Bedawin, and the 
civilized or Hadhar. The number of Bedouin varies according 
to the season of the year, as they migrate in search of pasture 
and water. The Anazi are computed at 300,000, but they range 
all the way to the Euphrates. ‘They occupy the northern por- 
tions of the Syrian desert. The Beni Sakhr and ’Adwan occupy 
the regions of Gilead and Moab. The Jehalin, Azazimah, and 
other minor tribes, are found in the neighborhood of the Dead 
Sea and the northern borders of the Tih, while the Tayyahah 
and the Towarah claim the Sinaitic peninsula. Of the religion 
of the Bedawin we will speak more presently. 
The civilized Arabs are strongest in the great cities, as Damas- 
cus, Aleppo, Hamath, Hems, Tripoli, Beirfit, Sidon, and Jeru- 
salem. ‘They are not a pure Arabian stock, being largely inter- 
mixed with the conquered Aramexans, Jews, Greeks, Romans, 
and other races, who were incorporated by conversion into the 
body-politic of Islam. 
The religion of the civilized portion of the Arabs is of a strict, 
orthodox, but not ultra-fanatical type. Where they are in con- 
