910 



SYRIA, OR EGYPTIAN ASIA. 



death, the powerful kingdom of the Seleucidse embraced most of the Ottoman provinces ol 

 Asia. Antiochus, in turn, yielded to the star of Rome, and the empire of that warlike repub- 

 lic was extended to the Euphrates. In die 7tli century the Arab tribe of Saracens burst 

 forth from their deserts, and proclaimed a new religion, and the empire of the caliphs once 

 more restored the seat of dominion to Mesopotamia. This in turn crumbled and fell to pieces, 

 and, in the 15lh century, all this part of Asia was subjected to the degrading yoke of the Otto- 

 mans.* 



CHAPTER CXLII. SYRIA, OR EGYPTIAN ASIA. 



1. Boundaries and Extent. This region, which has recently been ceded by the Porte to 

 Egypt, is bounded on the north and east by the Ottoman dominions ; on the south by Arabia, 

 and on the west by that part of the Mediterranean often called the Levant. It extends from 

 latitude 31° to 37° N., and from longitude 35° to 41° E., having an area of about 50,000 

 ,quare miles, with 1,500,000 inhabitants. 



2. Mountains. The Libanus traverses the country from north to south in 2 distinct chains ; 



the principal chain near the coast 



forms the Lebanon Mountains ; 

 the highest summit, near Balbec, 

 has an elevation of upwards of 

 11,000 feet. The Jlnli-Libanus 

 or interior chain rises to a greater 

 height, some of its summits being 

 upwards of 16,000 feet high. 

 Mount Carmcl and Mount Tabor 

 are of historical celebrity. The 

 latter is generally supposed to have 

 been the scene of the transfigura- 

 tion, but if it was not it derives in- 

 terest from the striking features of 

 the prospect afforded from its top ; 

 the hills and the Sea of Galilee, 



Muurit Tabor. 



* In history, tHe interesllng transactions connected 

 with Asia Minor have been so numerous and varied, that 

 wc can alteinpt only a very rapid enumeration. The first 

 picture IS that of its nations when arrayed against Greece 

 in the Trojan war. Troy, in that great contest, drew aux- 

 iharies fiom Caria, Lycia, Ass3'ria, Phrygia, and Mironia, 

 BO that it became ahnost a contest of Greece against Asia. 

 Even the G:'eeli pencil of Homer seems to dehneate on 

 the Asiatic side a people more polisiied and humane, 

 though les.^ energetic and warlike, llian their invaders. 

 Afterwards in the republics of the refined and effeminate 

 lonin, we find an early perfection of the sciences, poetry, 

 music, and sculpture then unknown to Greece, though 

 that country, in arts as well as in arms, soon eclipsed the 

 glory of its masters. Here, too, the kingdom of Lydia 

 was early famous, first fir power, but much more after- 

 wards for wealth and luxurious elfeminacy. These un- 

 warlike states soon yielded to the arms of Persia, were in- 

 cluded within iLs empire, and their arts and resources serv- 

 ed only to swell the pomp of its satraps. \n this humili- 

 ating condition, they lost all their former high attainments ; 

 and it became of little importance, that they passed some- 

 times under the sway of Athens, and were ruled by Greeks 

 instead of barbarians. After the conquest of Alexander, 

 however, and when his rapidly formed empire fell as sud- 

 denly to pieces, some of the most conspicuous among the 

 fragments were kingdoms established by his successors in 

 Asia Minor. It was there that Antigonus and Demetrius 

 collected a great portion of the resources, with which they 

 made such a mighty struggle for supremacy among the Ma- 

 cedonian chiefs. After their fall, the kingdom of Pergamus 

 was founded, whose princes, by their own ability, and the 

 alliance of the llornans, became for some time the most 

 powerful in Asia. Their glory, however, was surpassed 



by that of a kingdom formed in the opposite quarter of the 

 peninsula, that of Pontus, by the powerful character and 

 liigh exploits of Mithridates, under whom the last great 

 stand was made for the independence of the world. Asia 

 Minor was next reduced completely into a Roman Pro- 

 vince, and n)ade few and feeble attempts to shake off the 



'■ It was chiefly distinguished in ecclesiastical histor; 

 by the formation of apostolic churches and the assemblage 

 of general councils ; of which those of Nice and Chalce- 

 don, in particular, had an important influence on the belief 

 and worship of the Cliiistian world. Protected by its dis- 

 tance from Arabia, and by tlie mountain chains of Taurus, 

 this peninsula escaped in a great measure the tide of Sara- 

 cen invasion. That great succession of hordes, however, 

 who, under the name of Turks, poured down from the 

 northeast of Asia, after conquering Persia, crossed the Eu- 

 phrates and established a powerful kingdom in Caramania. 

 Being divided, and crushed under the first successes of the 

 crusaders, the Turkish (Seljukian) power sank into a lan- 

 guishing stale. Suddenly, however, from its ashes, rose 

 the family of Othman, who, collecting the Turkish rem- 

 nant, and combining it with the neighboring warlike tribes, 

 formed the whole into a vast military mass, which there 

 was no longer anything adequate to oppose. This power 

 continued to have its principal seat in Asia Minor, until 

 Mahomet the Second transferred to the Ottoman Porte the 

 dominion of the Cesars, and made Constantinople the ca- 

 pital of his empire. Asia Minor has always conthmed 

 more entirely Turkish than any other part of'the empire j 

 and it is thence, chiefly, that the Porte draws those vast 

 bodies of irregular cavalry, which form the chief masa of 

 its armies." Encyclopedia of Geography. 



