682 Syria
Within CHRISTENDOMlay and ecclesiastical adminis-
tration usually tolerated the synagogue. Jews could use
and repair synagogues but not embellish or enlarge them,
nor build new ones. Jews obliged to build synagogues for
public worship made them smaller or often installed
them in private dwellings. The scope of activity at the
synagogue included worship, education, community
administration, a court of justice, and a meeting place for
CONFRATERNITIESand community assemblies—it was the
center of Jewish life.
There has survived little information on the origins
of synagogues in Europe. They were mostly mentioned
in descriptions of destruction or attack. Surviving
medieval synagogues are rare. There are examples at
CÓRDOBA,TOLEDO, Worms, PRAGUE, Sopron in HUN-
GARY, and ROUEN. Some had the external appearance of
private houses. Synagogue architecture could be Moor-
ish in SPAINand Romanesque or Gothic in northern
Europe. The interiors shared single or double naves, the
hekhalor an ark that housed the Torah in the eastern
wall, and in the center the tebaor rostrum with a lectern
for the reading of the Torah. There were benches along
the sides for listeners and galleries for women. Their
decoration was usually symbolic and geometrical, but
sometimes figures were represented. There were fre-
quently ritual baths.
See alsoANTI-JUDAISM AND ANTI-SEMITISM; JEWS AND
JUDAISM.
Further reading:Joseph Gutmann, The Synagogue:
Studies in Origins, Archaeology, and Architecture(New York:
Ktav, 1975); Lee I. Levine, The Ancient Synagogue: The
First Thousand Years (New Haven, Conn.: Yale
University Press, 2000); Anders Runesson, The Origins of
the Synagogue: A Socio-Historical Study (Stockholm:
Almqvist & Wiksell, 2001); Wolfgang S. Seiferth,
Synagogue and Church in the Middle Ages: Two Symbols in
Art and Literature, trans. Lee Chadeayne and Paul
Gottwald. (New York: Ungar, 1970); Rachel Wischnitzer,
The Architecture of the European Synagogue(Philadelphia:
Jewish Publication Society of America, 1964).
Syria Syria is the geographical area extending from the
Mediterranean to the Tigris River. It is bordered to
the north by the Taurus Mountains and Kurdistan and to
the south by desert regions, the traditional grazing grounds
of Arab nomads. It has rarely been politically unified but
notably was between 660 and 1248 under the authority of
the CALIPHATESof DAMASCUSand then BAGHDAD. Until the
arrival of the Islamized ARABSbetween 634 and 636, it had
been divided between, and fought over extensively by the
Roman-Byzantine and Persian-Sassanid Empires. Its bor-
ders were always vague and disputed.
ONE CONQUEST AFTER THE OTHER
The conquest of Damascus in 634 and the Battle of
Yarmuk in 636 led to Arab rule over Syria. From the
time of the emperor JUSTINIANit was part of the patriar-
chate of ANTIOCH. Authority was disputed and diffused
by the creation of national churches that had rejected
formulations of the Christian confession promulgated as
imperial laws after the COUNCILSof EPHESUSin 431 and
CHALCEDON in 451. These disagreements were anti-
Byzantine reactions based on an attachment to the Ara-
maic language and culture as much as any doctrine.
There developed a Malikite church, MONOPHYSITEver-
sions of Christianity, the Jacobite Church, and various
forms of NESTORIANISM.
The UMAYYADdynasty, with its capital in Damascus,
brought prosperity and prestige to Syria. Christians and
Jews had the status of DHIMMIand were allowed to main-
tain their customs and law, although they had to pay a
poll tax. The ABBASIDSmoved their capital to Baghdad in
750 and the SELJUKTURKSin the 11th century divided the
region into smaller states based around Damascus, Homs,
Hamah, and ALEPPO. The FATIMIDSof EGYPTtook over
the eastern and coastal part of Syria in the 10th century.
During the CRUSADESin the 12th and 13th centuries,
the region was the scene of much WARFAREand destruc-
tion, as the Christians and Muslims fought for control.
That ended with the fall of ACREin 1291. During that era,
however, trading links were developed between Syria and
the Italian MERCHANTrepublics of GENOAand PISA. Egyp-
tian influence was strong and the AYYUBIDdynasty of SAL-
ADINtook control of the region in the late 12th century.
The MONGOLSreached Syria in 1258. The capture of Bagh-
dad by TAMERLANEin 1401 finally ended prosperity. Syria
began a long decline that lasted beyond its incorporation
into the OTTOMAN EMPIRE by Selim I the Grim (r.
1512–20) in 1516.
See alsoAYNJALUT, BATTLE OF; BAYBARSI, SULTAN;
DRUZES; JIHAD;MAMLUKS;MOSUL;NUR AL-DINMUHAM-
MAD IBNZANGI.
Further reading:Erica Dodd, The Frescoes of Mar
Musa al-Habashi: A Study in Medieval Painting in Syria
(Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2001);
Fred M. Donner, The Early Islamic Conquests(Princeton,
N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1981); Josef W. Meri,
The Cult of Saints among Muslims and Jews in Medieval
Syria(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002); Kamal S.
Salibi, Syria under Islam: Empire on Trial, 634–1097(Del-
mar: Caravan Books, 1977); Maya Shatzmiller, ed., Cru-
saders and Muslims in Twelfth-Century Syria(Leiden: E. J.
Brill, 1993); Suhayl Zakkar, The Emirate of Aleppo,
1004–1094 (Beirut: Dar al-Amanah, 1971); Nicola A.
Ziadeh, Urban Life in Syria under the Early Mamluks
(Beirut: American Press, 1953).