Syr·ia /ˈsɪriə/
 敘利亞共和國
 Syria
      n : an Asian republic in the Middle East at the east end of the
          Mediterranean; site of some of the world's most ancient
          centers of civilization; involved in state-sponsored
          terrorism [syn: Syrian Arab Republic]
 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 (Gen.
    24:10; Deut. 23:4) Aram-naharain (=Syria of the two rivers),
    also Padan-aram (Gen. 25:20). Other portions of Syria were also
    known by separate names, as Aram-maahah (1 Chr. 19:6),
    Aram-beth-rehob (2 Sam. 10:6), Aram-zobah (2 Sam. 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: 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. 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. 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.