TOPOGRAPHY, RACES, RELIGIONS, LANGUAGES AND CUSTOMS. 51 



Greek Orthodox and Catholic, Armenian Monophysite and 

 CathoHcs. The word Syrian as it is used in Arabic is known 

 in Bibh'cal lands to denote only a religious community and 

 not natives of any country in particular ; for although some 

 modern geographers have tried to define the limits of 

 ^' Syria," yet it is a known fact that neither the Hebrews nor 

 the Greeks knew exactly what constituted the boundary of 

 Syria, and what is really meant by the Syrian language. 

 Indeed in what in Europe is now termed Syiia there were 

 not less than a dozen difi'erent nationalities who formerly 

 occupied that land ; and if the word be taken to mean what 

 was considered in ancient days Aram, there is no such 

 countiy now to represent it save the Pashalic of Damascus, 

 while the other two Arams of Zaba and Macka are 

 now in the Pashalic of Aleppo. The only people that 

 remain who might be considered lineal descendants of the 

 Aramean race are the Droozes and Maronites. The 

 remainder of the different ancient nationalities have been 

 merged into that of the Arab when those lands were over- 

 come by the Arabian hordes in the seventh century. At the 

 same time all Jews and Christians who existed in the three 

 Arabias, viz., Arabia Felix, Arabia Deserta, and Arabia 

 Petrsea, had to embrace Mohammedanism or die martyrs. 



Having produced certain proofs to show that the present 

 Chaldeans are the descendants of that primitive race or 

 Assyrian, I must now refer briefly to certain theories that 

 have been started by some travellers to the contrary. I 

 mamtain that if the Chaldeans of Assyria, Mesopotamia and 

 the Irak are not the progeny of the archaic inhabitants of 

 the land, they cannot ethnologically be reckoned either 

 Armenians, Coords, Syrians, or of any other nationality, — 

 certainly not " Nestorians," as this is not a name of a 

 race but of dogma, like the Wesleyans, Lutherans, and 

 Calvinists. 



The first of the critics who started the quaint idea that 

 the Chaldea7is v^ere ori^inaWy JVestorians, and that the change 

 of name was bestowed on them by a certain Pope when they 

 joined the church of Rome, were Messrs. Smith and Dwight, 

 two American missionaries who in the book they published 

 entitled Researches in Armenia, write thus : — 



"The present Chaldean Christians are of recent origin. 

 It was in 1(381 that the Nestoriau Metropolitan of Diarbekir 

 having quarrelled with his Patriarch was first consecrated 

 by the Pope (Innocent XI), Patriarch of the Chaldeans, 



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