Syria: (Heb. Aram), the name in the Old Testament given to the whole country
which lay to the north-east of Phoenicia, extending to beyond the
Euphrates and the Tigris. Mesopotamia is called
(Genesis 24:10; Deuteronomy 23:4)
Aram-naharain (=Syria of the two rivers), also Padan-aram
(Genesis 25:20)
Other portions of Syria were also known by separate names, as
Aram-maahah
(1 Chronicles 19:6) Aram-beth-rehob
(2 Samuel 10:6) Aram-zobah
(2 Samuel 10:6,8) All these separate little kingdoms afterwards became
subject to Damascus. In the time of the Romans, Syria included also a
part of Palestine and Asia Minor. "From the historic annals now
accessible to us, the history of Syria may be divided into three
periods:1. The first, the period when the power of the Pharaohs was dominant
over the fertile fields or plains of Syria and the merchant cities
of Tyre and Sidon, and when such mighty conquerors as Thothmes III.
and Rameses II. could claim dominion and levy tribute from the
nations from the banks of the Euphrates to the borders of the
Libyan desert.
2. Second, this was followed by a short period of independence, when
the Jewish nation in the south was growing in power, until it
reached its early zenith in the golden days of Solomon; and when
Tyre and Sidon were rich cities, sending their traders far and
wide, over land and sea, as missionaries of civilization, while in
the north the confederate tribes of the Hittites held back the
armies of the kings of Assyria.
3. The third, and to us most interesting, period is that during which
the kings of Assyria were dominant over the plains of Syria; when
Tyre, Sidon, Ashdod, and Jerusalem bowed beneath the conquering
armies of Shalmaneser, Sargon, and Sennacherib; and when at last
Memphis and Thebes yielded to the power of the rulers of Nineveh
and Babylon, and the kings of Assyria completed with terrible
fulness the bruising of the reed of Egypt so clearly foretold by
the Hebrew prophets.", Boscawen.
