Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Patricia Crone, God’s Rule (New York: 

Columbia University Press, 2004); Qasim Zaman, Reli-

gion and Politics under the Early ’Abbasids: The Emer-

gence of the Proto-Sunni Elite (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1997); 

Qasim Zaman, The Ulama in Contemporary Islam: Cus-

todians of Change (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University 

Press, 2002).

suq

  See 

bazaar

.

sura

  See q

uran

.

Syria

 

(Official name: Syrian Arab Republic)

Syria is one of the most important countries in 

the Middle East in terms of its size and its role 

in Middle East regional politics. Its population is 

rapidly changing as a result of a high birth rate 

(2.24 percent in a 2007 estimate) and a dramatic 

influx of 

reFUgees

 due to violent conflict along its 

borders with i

raq

, l

ebanon

, and i

srael

. The offi-

cial population was about 19.8 million in 2008, 

but this number does not account for the UNHCR 

estimate of more than one million Iraqi war refu-

gees residing in Syria with little prospect of return 

to their home country. In addition, Syria is home 

to more than 400,000 Palestinian refugees who 

came to Syria in four major waves of forced migra-

tion: in 1948, 1967, 1973, and after the expulsion 

of the p

alestine

  l

iberation

  o

rganization

 (PLO) 

from Lebanon in 1982.

Syria’s current land area of 185,180 square 

kilometers (about the size of North Dakota) is 

home to some of the world’s oldest civilizations. 

The Euphrates River flows across northeastern 

Syria. The ancient city of Hamoukar was recently 

discovered in northeast Syria near the shores 

of the Euphrates. It may have been settled by 

humans as early as 8,000 years ago. The ancient 

kingdoms of Ebla (southwest of Aleppo) and Mari 

(on the Euphrates) developed cuneiform writing, 

a precursor to our modern alphabet. Ebla was so 

prosperous that “no fewer than seventeen varieties 

of wheat were raised” and “Ebla was in a condi-

tion to feed more than 18 million people” (Batatu, 

p. 92). These early empires were succeeded by the 

Hittites at Ugarit in the northern coastal region 

(1600–1200 

b

.

c

.

e

.), the Persians (539–333 

b

.

c

.

e

.), 

the Greeks (333–64 

b

.

c

.

e

.), and the Romans (64 

b

.

c

.

e

.–395 

c

.

e

.). In the 200s, Queen Zenobia con-

quered most of e

gypt

 and Asia Minor. She built 

the sprawling city of Palmyra in the eastern Syrian 

desert before being defeated by the Romans in 272 

c

.

e

. Today Palmyra is one of Syria’s most spectacu-

lar archaeological sites.

Syria is also a land of diverse religious tradi-

tions. The majority of the population is Sunni 

Muslim (74 percent). Syria was conquered by 

Muslim armies from the Arabian Peninsula in 634 

c

.

e

., two years after the death of m

Uhammad

 (ca. 

570–632). The capital of the first Islamic empire 

of the Umayyads (634–750) was d

amascUs

. Other 

religious sects within the Islamic tradition that are 

prevalent in Syria include the a

laWi

, d

rUze

, Shii, 

Ismaili, and Yazidi (16 percent). From the 1200s 

through the 19th century, Sufi Islam was the 

dominant form of religious practice among Mus-

lims. Sufis were organized into religious orders,