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::Having spoken of the three boundaries of Egypt, by which it is distinguished from the rest of the continent, we now proceed to the next. The fourth side is nearly surrounded with a vast sea, without any harbours, being a very long and tedious voyage, and very difficult to find any place of landing. For from Parcetonium in Africa, to [[Jaffa|Joppa]] in Cœlo-Syria, for the space almost of five thousand furlongs, there is not one safe harbour to be found, except Pharus.<ref>{{cite book|author=Diodorus (Siculus.)|authorlink=Diodorus Siculus|title=The Historical Library of Diodorus the Sicilian: In Fifteen Books. To which are Added the Fragments of Diodorus, and Those Published by H. Valesius, I. Rhodomannus, and F. Ursinus|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=oysUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA36|year=1814|publisher=W. MʻDowall|pages=36–|quote=Image of [https://books.google.com/books?id=oysUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA36&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&sig=ACfU3U3CFQk8EsLkIYNTOayb5vqXA_ivPQ&ci=89%2C60%2C800%2C1472&edge=0 p.&nbsp;36] at Google Books}}</ref>
::Having spoken of the three boundaries of Egypt, by which it is distinguished from the rest of the continent, we now proceed to the next. The fourth side is nearly surrounded with a vast sea, without any harbours, being a very long and tedious voyage, and very difficult to find any place of landing. For from Parcetonium in Africa, to [[Jaffa|Joppa]] in Cœlo-Syria, for the space almost of five thousand furlongs, there is not one safe harbour to be found, except Pharus.<ref>{{cite book|author=Diodorus (Siculus.)|authorlink=Diodorus Siculus|title=The Historical Library of Diodorus the Sicilian: In Fifteen Books. To which are Added the Fragments of Diodorus, and Those Published by H. Valesius, I. Rhodomannus, and F. Ursinus|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=oysUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA36|year=1814|publisher=W. MʻDowall|pages=36–|quote=Image of [https://books.google.com/books?id=oysUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA36&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&sig=ACfU3U3CFQk8EsLkIYNTOayb5vqXA_ivPQ&ci=89%2C60%2C800%2C1472&edge=0 p.&nbsp;36] at Google Books}}</ref>


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[[Image:Asia minor-Shepherd 1923 Syria.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Coele Syria]]
Later authors in the Roman period, would differ much in settling the limits of Coele-Syria, some extending and others contracting, them. Strabo says, ''Coele Syria Propria'' is defined by Libanus and Anti-libanus, running parallel to each other. Now if we determine the limits of these two mountains, we shall go near to settle those of ''Coele Syria''. They both begin a little above the sea; Libanus near Tripolis; chiefly against the spot called Dei Facies: Antilibanus at Sidon; but they terminate near the mountains of Arabia, above the territory of Damascus, and near the mountains of the Trachonitis, and there they terminate in other mountains.<ref>{{cite book|last1=MacBean|first1=Alexander|last2=Johnson|first2=Samuel|title=A Dictionary of Ancient Geography: Explaining the Local Appellations in Sacred, Grecian, and Roman History; Exhibiting the Extent of Kingdoms, and Situations of Cities, &c. And Illustrating the Allusions and Epithets in the Greek and Roman Poets. The Whole Established by Proper Authorities, and Designed for the Use of Schools|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=EqwBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT191|year=1773|publisher=G. Robinson|pages=191–192|chapter=Coelesyria|quote=Coelesyria, some write it conjoined as here, others, as the Greeks, ''Coele Syria'', separate, which seems the juster way, because Pliny not only separates these words, but also simply says, ''Coele'', an ancient inscription. Authors differ much in settling its limits, some extending, and others contracting, them too much: Strabo says, ''Coele Syria Propria'' is defined by Libanus and Anti-libanus, running parallel to each other. Now if we determine the limits of these two mountains, we shall go near to settle those of ''Coele Syria''. They both begin a little above the sea; Libanus near Tripolis; chiefly against the spot called Dei Facies: Antilibanus at Sidon; but they terminate near the mountains of Arabia, above the territory of Damascus, and near the mountains of the Trachonitis, and there they terminate in other mountains, Strabo.}}</ref>
Later authors in the Roman period, would differ much in settling the limits of Coele-Syria, some extending and others contracting, them. Strabo says, ''Coele Syria Propria'' is defined by Libanus and Anti-libanus, running parallel to each other. Now if we determine the limits of these two mountains, we shall go near to settle those of ''Coele Syria''. They both begin a little above the sea; Libanus near Tripolis; chiefly against the spot called Dei Facies: Antilibanus at Sidon; but they terminate near the mountains of Arabia, above the territory of Damascus, and near the mountains of the Trachonitis, and there they terminate in other mountains.<ref>{{cite book|last1=MacBean|first1=Alexander|last2=Johnson|first2=Samuel|title=A Dictionary of Ancient Geography: Explaining the Local Appellations in Sacred, Grecian, and Roman History; Exhibiting the Extent of Kingdoms, and Situations of Cities, &c. And Illustrating the Allusions and Epithets in the Greek and Roman Poets. The Whole Established by Proper Authorities, and Designed for the Use of Schools|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=EqwBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT191|year=1773|publisher=G. Robinson|pages=191–192|chapter=Coelesyria|quote=Coelesyria, some write it conjoined as here, others, as the Greeks, ''Coele Syria'', separate, which seems the juster way, because Pliny not only separates these words, but also simply says, ''Coele'', an ancient inscription. Authors differ much in settling its limits, some extending, and others contracting, them too much: Strabo says, ''Coele Syria Propria'' is defined by Libanus and Anti-libanus, running parallel to each other. Now if we determine the limits of these two mountains, we shall go near to settle those of ''Coele Syria''. They both begin a little above the sea; Libanus near Tripolis; chiefly against the spot called Dei Facies: Antilibanus at Sidon; but they terminate near the mountains of Arabia, above the territory of Damascus, and near the mountains of the Trachonitis, and there they terminate in other mountains, Strabo.}}</ref>


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[[ File:1865 Spruner Map Israel or Palestine post 70 AD.jpg |300px|thumb|right|SYRIA post 70 CE]]
*Circa 40 CE [[Philo of Alexandria]] in his written work, ''On the Life of Moses''&nbsp;; <blockquote>When then [Moses] he received the supreme authority, with the good will of all his subjects, God himself being the regulator and approver of all his actions, he conducted his people as a colony into Phoenicia, and into the hollow Syria (Coele-syria), and Palestine, which was at that time called the land of the Canaanites, the borders of which country were three days' journey distant from Egypt.<ref>{{cite book|author=Philo (of Alexandria)|authorlink=Philo|title=The works of Philo Judaeus, the contemporary of Josephus|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=StPrEnC6SywC&pg=PA37|year=1855|publisher=H. G. Bohn|page=37|chapter=On the Life of Moses|quote=When then [Moses] he received the supreme authority, with the good will of all his subjects, God himself being the regulator and approver of all his actions, he conducted his people as a colony into Phoenicia, and into the hollow Syria (Coele-syria), and Palestine, which was at that time called the land of the Canaanites, the borders of which country were three days' journey distant from Egypt. ([https://books.google.com/books?id=StPrEnC6SywC&pg=PA37&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&sig=ACfU3U0dVDONer5GM-O6PHa2SOfYt3lRNw&ci=337%2C58%2C603%2C184&edge=0 p.&nbsp;37] at Google Books)}}</ref></blockquote>
*Circa 40 CE [[Philo of Alexandria]] in his written work, ''On the Life of Moses''&nbsp;; <blockquote>When then [Moses] he received the supreme authority, with the good will of all his subjects, God himself being the regulator and approver of all his actions, he conducted his people as a colony into Phoenicia, and into the hollow Syria (Coele-syria), and Palestine, which was at that time called the land of the Canaanites, the borders of which country were three days' journey distant from Egypt.<ref>{{cite book|author=Philo (of Alexandria)|authorlink=Philo|title=The works of Philo Judaeus, the contemporary of Josephus|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=StPrEnC6SywC&pg=PA37|year=1855|publisher=H. G. Bohn|page=37|chapter=On the Life of Moses|quote=When then [Moses] he received the supreme authority, with the good will of all his subjects, God himself being the regulator and approver of all his actions, he conducted his people as a colony into Phoenicia, and into the hollow Syria (Coele-syria), and Palestine, which was at that time called the land of the Canaanites, the borders of which country were three days' journey distant from Egypt. ([https://books.google.com/books?id=StPrEnC6SywC&pg=PA37&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&sig=ACfU3U0dVDONer5GM-O6PHa2SOfYt3lRNw&ci=337%2C58%2C603%2C184&edge=0 p.&nbsp;37] at Google Books)}}</ref></blockquote>


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[[Image:Asia minor-Shepherd 1923 Syria.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Coele Syria]]
*Circa 40 CE [[Pomponius Mela]] in his written work, ''Description of the World''&nbsp;; <blockquote>Syria holds a broad expanse of the littoral, as well as lands that extend rather broadly into the interior, and it is designated by different names in different places. For example, it is called Coele, Mesopotamia, Judaea, Commagene, and Sophene. It is Palestine at the point where Syria abuts the Arabs, then Phoenicia, and then—where it reaches Cilicia—Antiochia. [...] In Palestine, however, is Gaza, a mighty and well fortified city.<ref>{{cite book|author=Pomponius Mela|authorlink=Pomponius Mela|editor=Frank E. Romer|title=Pomponius Mela's Description of the World|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=6AplSod8IDcC&pg=PA52|year=1998|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=0-472-08452-6|page=52|quote=62. Syria holds a broad expanse of the littoral, as well as lands that extend rather broadly into the interior, and it is designated by different names in different places. For example, it is called Coele, Mesopotamia, Judaea, Commagene, and Sophene. 63. It is Palestine at the point where Syria abuts the Arabs, then Phoenicia, and then—where it reaches Cilicia—Antiochia. [...] 64. In Palestine, however, is Gaza, a mighty and well fortified city.}}</ref></blockquote>
*Circa 40 CE [[Pomponius Mela]] in his written work, ''Description of the World''&nbsp;; <blockquote>Syria holds a broad expanse of the littoral, as well as lands that extend rather broadly into the interior, and it is designated by different names in different places. For example, it is called Coele, Mesopotamia, Judaea, Commagene, and Sophene. It is Palestine at the point where Syria abuts the Arabs, then Phoenicia, and then—where it reaches Cilicia—Antiochia. [...] In Palestine, however, is Gaza, a mighty and well fortified city.<ref>{{cite book|author=Pomponius Mela|authorlink=Pomponius Mela|editor=Frank E. Romer|title=Pomponius Mela's Description of the World|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=6AplSod8IDcC&pg=PA52|year=1998|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=0-472-08452-6|page=52|quote=62. Syria holds a broad expanse of the littoral, as well as lands that extend rather broadly into the interior, and it is designated by different names in different places. For example, it is called Coele, Mesopotamia, Judaea, Commagene, and Sophene. 63. It is Palestine at the point where Syria abuts the Arabs, then Phoenicia, and then—where it reaches Cilicia—Antiochia. [...] 64. In Palestine, however, is Gaza, a mighty and well fortified city.}}</ref></blockquote>


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[[ File:1865 Spruner Map Israel or Palestine post 70 AD.jpg |300px|thumb|right|SYRIA post 70 CE]]
:{| border="0" class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
:{| border="0" class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan=3 | Nomenclatures of Syria given by [[Pliny the Elder]] c.70 CE<ref>{{cite web|last1=Crane|first1=Gregory|title=Pliny the Elder, The Natural History John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D5%3Achapter%3D13#note1|website=Perseus Digital Library|accessdate=25 January 2015|quote=Plin. Nat. 5.13, CHAP. 13. (12.)—SYRIA.}}</ref>
! colspan=3 | Nomenclatures of Syria given by [[Pliny the Elder]] c.70 CE<ref>{{cite web|last1=Crane|first1=Gregory|title=Pliny the Elder, The Natural History John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D5%3Achapter%3D13#note1|website=Perseus Digital Library|accessdate=25 January 2015|quote=Plin. Nat. 5.13, CHAP. 13. (12.)—SYRIA.}}</ref>

Revision as of 01:09, 16 June 2015

This article is about the Hellenistic region. For the Imperial Roman province, see Syria Coele (Roman province).
Coele-Syria
Region of Macedonian Empire / Ptolemaic Kingdom / Seleucid Kingdom
332 BC–64 BC
Historical eraHellenistic era
332 BC
• Hasmonean Revolt, Conquests of Pompey
64 BC
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Eber-Nari
Hasmonean kingdom
Roman Syria
Decapolis
Paralia (Palestine)

Koile Syria (Ancient Greek: Κοίλη Συρία), Cœle-Syria, Cæle-Syria or Celesyria, was a Hellenistic term for a region of Syria. It is widely accepted that the term Coele is a transcription of Aramaic kul, meaning "all, the entire", such that the term originally identified all of Syria.[1][2][3] The word "Coele", which literally means "hollow" in Koine Greek, is thought to have come about via a folk etymology referring to the "hollow" Beqaa Valley between Mount Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon mountains.[3] However, the term Coele-Syria was also used in a wider sense to indicate "all Syria" or "all Syria except Phoenicia", by the writers; Pliny, Arrian, Ptolemy[4] and also Diodorus Siculus, who indicated Coele-Syria to at least stretch as far south as Joppa,[5][6] while Polybius stated that the border between Egypt and Coele-Syria lay between the towns of Rhinocolara and Rhaphia.[7][8]

The first and only official use of the term was during the period of Seleucid rule of the region, between c. 200 BCE and 64 BCE.[citation needed] During this period, the term "Coele Syria and Phoenicia" or "Coele Syria" was also used in a narrower sense to refer to the former Ptolemaic territory which the Seleucids controlled, being the area south of the river Eleutherus. This usage was adopted by Strabo and the Books of the Maccabees.[9][10] However, Greek writers such as Agatharchides[11] and Polemon of Athens[12] used the term Palestine to refer to the region during this period, which was a term originally given circa 450 BCE by Herodotus. Later during the Roman Period c.350 CE, Eunapius wrote that the capital of Coele-Syria was the Seleucid city of Antioch, which is North of the Eleutherus.[13]

First known official usage

According to Polybius, a former officer of the Ptolemaic Empire named Ptolemy Thrasea, having fought in the 217 BC Battle of Raphia, defected to the Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great. Antiochus gave him the title "Strategos and Archiereus of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia". Some scholars speculate that this title may have been used previously by the Ptolemies, but no direct evidence exists to support this.[3]

Syrian Wars

Main article: Syrian Wars

The region was disputed between the Seleucid dynasty and the Ptolemaic dynasty during the Syrian Wars. Alexander the Great's general Ptolemy first occupied Coele-Syria in 318 BC. However, when Ptolemy joined the coalition against Antigonus I Monophthalmus in 313 BC, he quickly withdrew from Coele-Syria. In 312 BC Seleucus I Nicator, defeated Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, in the Battle of Gaza which again allowed Ptolemy to occupy Coele-Syria. Though he was again to pull out after only a few months, after Demetrius had won a battle over his general and Antigonus entered Syria in force up to Antigonuses, this brief success had enabled Seleucus to make a dash for Babylonia which Seleucus secured. In 302 BC, Ptolemy joined a new coalition against Antigonus and reoccupied Coele-Syria, but quickly withdrew on hearing a false report that Antigonus had won a victory. He was only to return when Antigonus had been defeated at Ipsus in 301 BC. Coele-Syria was assigned to Seleucus, by the victors of Ipsus, as Ptolemy had added nothing to the victory. Though, given Ptolemy's track record, he was unlikely to organize a serious defense of Coele-Syria, Seleucus acquiesced in Ptolemy's occupation, probably because Seleucus remembered how it had been with Ptolemy's help he had reestablished himself in Babylonia.

The later Seleucids were not to be so understanding, resulting in the century of Syrian Wars between the Ptolemies and Seleucids. The Battle of Panium in 200 BC, during the Fifth Syrian War, was the final decisive battle between the two sides in ending Ptolemaic control over the region. The 171–168 BC conflicts over Coele-Syria, between Antiochus IV Epiphanes and Ptolemy VI Philometor, are discussed in Livy’s The History of Rome from its Foundation (in XLII. 29 and XLV. 11–12).

Seleucid control over the area of Judea began diminishing with the eruption of the Maccabean Revolt in 165 BC. With Seleucid troops being involved in warfare on the Parthian front, Judea succeeded in securing its independence by 140 BC. Despite attempts of Seleucid rulers to regain territories, the conquests of Pompey in 64 BC were a decisive blow to them, and Syria became part of the Roman Republic.

Upper Syria

Main article: Syrian tetrapolis

Under the Macedonian kings, Upper Syria (Syria Superior) was divided into four parts (tetrarchies) which were named after their capitals. Later in the Roman Pompeian era, the province was divided into nine districts.[14]

Nomenclatures of Syria

Further information: Name of Syria and Names of the Levant
Historical Levant

Judging from Arrian and The Anabasis of Alexander, the historians of Alexander the Great, as well as more ancient authors, gave the name of Syria to all the country comprehended between the Tigris and the Mediterranean. The part to the east of the Euphrates, afterwards named Mesopotamia was called "Syria between the rivers;" that to the west was called by the general name Coele-Syria, and although Phoenicia and Palestine were sometimes separated from it. Yet, it was often comprehended as the whole country as far as Egypt.[15][16]

Nomenclatures of Syria given in the time of Cyrus the Great c.530 BCE
Primary Kul Eber-Nari All Across-the-River
Alternate Koile Syria Corrupt Greek translation
Wars over Coele-Syria given by Polybius c.150 BCE[17]
Ptolemy, marching on Pelusium, made his first halt at that city, and after picking up stragglers and serving out rations to his men moved on marching through the desert and skirting Mount Casius and the marshes called Barathra. Reaching the spot he was bound for on the fifth day he encamped at a distance of fifty stades from Raphia, (Modern Rafah at the border of Egypt and Israel, north of Rhinocolara (El Arish)) which is the first city of Coele-Syria on the Egyptian side after Rhinocolura.[7][18]
Boundaries of Egypt given by Diodorus Siculus c.50 BCE
Having spoken of the three boundaries of Egypt, by which it is distinguished from the rest of the continent, we now proceed to the next. The fourth side is nearly surrounded with a vast sea, without any harbours, being a very long and tedious voyage, and very difficult to find any place of landing. For from Parcetonium in Africa, to Joppa in Cœlo-Syria, for the space almost of five thousand furlongs, there is not one safe harbour to be found, except Pharus.[19]
Coele Syria

Later authors in the Roman period, would differ much in settling the limits of Coele-Syria, some extending and others contracting, them. Strabo says, Coele Syria Propria is defined by Libanus and Anti-libanus, running parallel to each other. Now if we determine the limits of these two mountains, we shall go near to settle those of Coele Syria. They both begin a little above the sea; Libanus near Tripolis; chiefly against the spot called Dei Facies: Antilibanus at Sidon; but they terminate near the mountains of Arabia, above the territory of Damascus, and near the mountains of the Trachonitis, and there they terminate in other mountains.[20]

Nomenclatures of Syria given by Strabo c.30 BCE[21][22][15]
Primary Cœlê-Syria & Seleucis-Syria & Phœnicia &c. &c. Cœlê-Syria ≠ Cœlo-Syrians
Alternate Cœlo-Syrians & Syrians & Phœnicians Similar to nomenclature given by Herodotus
SYRIA post 70 CE
  • Circa 40 CE Philo of Alexandria in his written work, On the Life of Moses ;

    When then [Moses] he received the supreme authority, with the good will of all his subjects, God himself being the regulator and approver of all his actions, he conducted his people as a colony into Phoenicia, and into the hollow Syria (Coele-syria), and Palestine, which was at that time called the land of the Canaanites, the borders of which country were three days' journey distant from Egypt.[23]

  • Circa 40 CE Pomponius Mela in his written work, Description of the World ;

    Syria holds a broad expanse of the littoral, as well as lands that extend rather broadly into the interior, and it is designated by different names in different places. For example, it is called Coele, Mesopotamia, Judaea, Commagene, and Sophene. It is Palestine at the point where Syria abuts the Arabs, then Phoenicia, and then—where it reaches Cilicia—Antiochia. [...] In Palestine, however, is Gaza, a mighty and well fortified city.[24]

Nomenclatures of Syria given by Pliny the Elder c.70 CE[25]
Primary Syria deprecated terms: Palæstina, Judæa, Cœle, Phœnice
Alternate Syria & Phœnice  
Coele Syria. Heliopolis
  • Circa 150 CE Appian in his written work, Roman History ;

    Intending to write the history of the Romans, I have deemed it necessary to begin with the boundaries of the nations under their sway.... Here turning our course and passing round, we take in Palestine-Syria, and beyond it a part of Arabia. The Phoenicians hold the country next to Palestine on the sea, and beyond the Phoenician territory are Coele-Syria, and the parts stretching from the sea as far inland as the river Euphrates, namely Palmyra and the sandy country round about, extending even to the Euphrates itself.[27]

Palestine & Coele-Syria according to Ptolemy (map by Claude Reignier Conder of the Palestine Exploration Fund)
Towns in Coelesyria given by Ptolemy c.150 CE[28][29]
  1. Heliopolis
  2. Abila which is called Lysinia (Abila Lysanios)
  3. Saana
  4. Ina
  5. Samulis (Samoulis)
  6. Abida
  7. Capitolias
  8. Adra
  9. Canatha
The Roman provinces of Syria, Palestina, and Arabia
Nomenclature of Syria given in the time of Septimius Severus c.200 CE[30][31][32]
Syria Provincia Syria Coele Syria Coele ≠ Cœlê-Syria ≠ Cœlo-Syrians
Phoenice Provincia Syria Phoenice  
Palestina Provincia Syria Palæstina  
Arabia Provincia Arabia Petraea  
  • Capital of the Seleucid Empire was Antioch (240–63 BCE)
  • Capital of the Syria Coele (Roman province) was Antioch (200–600 CE)

Eunapius (d.circa 412CE) was a historian whom in writing, Lives of Philosophers and Sophists, likely used the nomenclature of Syria given in the time of Septimius Severus, when he wrote, 'Libanius (d.392CE) was born at Antioch, the capital of Coele Syria as it is called. This city was founded by Seleucus surnamed Nicator'.[33]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ , "La Syrie creuse n'existe pas", in G. L. Gatier, et al. Géographie historique au proche-orient (1988:15-40), reviving the explanation offered by A. Schalit (1954), is reported by Robin Lane Fox, Travelling Heroes in the Epic Age of Homer (2008, notes p378f): "the crux is solved".
  2. ^ The Hellenistic Settlements in Syria, the Red Sea Basin, and North Africa, Getzel M. Cohen, 2006 and pdf here
  3. ^ a b c A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period, Volume 2, Lester L. Grabbe, p173 "Yet the suggestion is widely accepted that the name actually derives from Aramaic for "all Syria", which was then assimilated by the Greeks to a more usual pattern for place names"
  4. ^ From Sartre, pages 21-25: Diodorus 18.6.3, 61.4; 20.73.2; Polybius 8.17.10–11; Pliny, Naturalis Historiæ 5.106–10; Arrian Anabasis 2.13.7; Ptolemy 5.14.1.
  5. ^ Diodorus Siculus c.150 BCE, Bibliotheca historica, XIX, 93; XXIX, 29
  6. ^ Diodorus of Sicily, with an English translation by C.H. Oldfather
  7. ^ a b Polybius; Hultsch, Friedrich Otto (1889). The Histories of Polybius. Macmillan and Company. p. 431. 80. Having marched to Pelusium Ptolemy made his first halt in that town; and having been there joined by the stragglers, and having given out their rations of corn to his men, he got the army in motion, and led them by a line of march which goes through the waterless region skirting Mount Casius and the Marshes.(Called Barathra, See Strabo, 17, 1, 21.) On the fifth day's march he reached his destination, and pitched his camp a distance of fifty stades from Rhaphia, which is the first city of Coele-Syria towards Egypt. (p. 431 at Google Books) {{cite book}}: External link in |quote= (help)
  8. ^ Polybius c.150 BCE, The Histories, Book 3, Chapter 2
  9. ^ Studies in Josephus and the varieties of ancient Judaism: Louis H. Feldman. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
  10. ^ Parke, Herbert William. Sibyls and sibylline prophecy in classical antiquity. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-05-28.
  11. ^ Agatharchides (5.87, quoted in Diodorus Siculus's Bibliotheca historica; Strabo's Geographica, and Photios' Bibliotheca) Diodorus (Siculus.) (1814). The Historical Library of Diodorus the Sicilian: In Fifteen Books. To which are Added the Fragments of Diodorus, and Those Published by H. Valesius, I. Rhodomannus, and F. Ursinus. W. MʻDowall. pp. 183–. "The mariner passing by this country of palms, arrives at an island near to a promontory of the continent, which is called the Island of Sea-calves, from the great multitudes of those creatures that frequent this place. The sea here so abounds with them that it is to the admiration of the beholders. The promontory that shoots out towards this island lies over against Petra in Arabia and Palestine. It is said that the Gerrheans and Mineans bring out of the higher Arabia frankincense and other oderiferous gums into this island (Tiran Island)." p. 183 at Google Books {{cite book}}: External link in |quote= (help)
  12. ^ Grotius, Hugo; John CLARKE (Dean of Salisbury.) (1809). The Truth of the Christian Religion ... Corrected and illustrated with notes by Mr. Le Clerc. To which is added, a seventh book, concerning this question, What Christian church we ought to join ourselves to? By the said Mr. Le Clerc. The ninth edition, with additions. Particularly one whole book of Mr. Le Clerc's against indifference of what religion a man is of. Done into English by John Clarke. p. 64. Polemon, &c.] He seems to have lived in the Time of Ptolemy Epiphanes; concerning which, see that very useful Book of the famous Gerrard Vossius, of the Greek Historians. Africanus says, the Greek Histories were wrote by him; which is the same Book Athenæus calls, ???. His Words are these: "In the Reign of Apis the Son of Phoroneus, Part of the Egyptian Army went out of Egypt, and dwelt in Syria called Palestine, not far from Arabia." As Africanus preserved the Place of Polemon, so Eusebius in his Chronology preserved that of Africanus. (p. 64 at Google Books) {{cite book}}: External link in |quote= (help)
  13. ^ Eunapius, Lives of the Philosophers and Sophists
  14. ^ Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (Great Britain) (1842). Penny cyclopaedia of the Society for the diffusion of useful knowledge. C. Knight. pp. 476–. Antient Divisions of Syria. –Under the Macedonian kings Syria was divided into four parts (tetrarchies), which were named after their capitals, Antioch, Seleuceia, Apamea, and Laodicea. Both the Greeks and the Romans called the northern portion of Syria, that is the whole country with the exception of Coele-Syria, Phoenice, and Palestine, by the name of Upper Syria (???, Syria Superior), to distinguish it from Coele Syria (???, that is, the Hollow Syria), which was the name given to the valley between the ridges of Libanus and Anti Libanus. Under the Romans the province was divided into nine districts: Cassiotis, Apamene, Chalcidice, Seleucis, Pieria, Commagene, Cyrrhestice, Chalybonitis, Palmyrene.(Image of p. 476 at Google Books) {{cite book}}: External link in |quote= (help)
  15. ^ a b Strabo (1889). The geography of Strabo. Bell. p. 161, note 1. Strabo below, c. ii. § 21, refers to this ancient division, when he says that the name Coele-Syria extends to the whole country as far as Egypt and Arabia, although in its peculiar acceptation it applied only to the valley between Libanus and Antilibanus. (p. 161 at Google Books) {{cite book}}: External link in |quote= (help)
  16. ^ VAN-WIJLICK, HENDRIKUS,ANTONIUS,MARGAR (2013). "Rome and Near Eastern Kingdoms and Principalities, 44-31 BC: A Study of Political Relations During Civil War". Durham theses. Durham University: 90, note 29. Retrieved 13 June 2015. The toponym "Coele Syria" (Κοίλη Συρία) has been used by ancient authors to designate various regions of the Levant. The term appeared for the first time in Greek language at the beginning of the fourth century BC. Schalit (1954) 68-70 and Sartre (1988) 22, 26 among others have convincingly argued that at that time "Coele Syria" signified "the whole of Syria" from the Levantine coast in the west to the river Euphrates in the east covering the entire area of the old Achaemenid satrapy called kul ʿawar nahara ("everything beyond the river"). The word Κοίλη in this context does thus not mean "hollow" (κοῖλος), but "whole", and originates probably as a Greek transliteration from the Aramaic word "kul". As a result of administrative changes in the Levant during the following two and a half centuries, the toponym "Coele Syria" acquired additional narrower meanings, whereby it was used to refer to different parts of Syria. Throughout antiquity, though, it never seems to have lost its original meaning.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ Shuckburgh, Evelyn. "Polybius, Histories". Follow PerseusDigLib on Twitter Perseus Digital Library. Tufts University. Retrieved 28 January 2015. I shall tell how Antiochus (Antiochus III the Great) and Ptolemy Philopator (Ptolemy IV Philopator) first quarreled and finally went to war with each other for the possession of Coele-Syria. (Syrian Wars 219–217 BCE) [...] (Now I come to) the disturbances in Egypt; (The attempted partition of the dominions of Ptolemy V Epiphanes c.204) how, after the death of King Ptolemy (IV), Antiochus and Philip (Philip V of Macedon) entered into a compact for the partition of the dominions of that monarch's infant son, I shall describe their treacherous dealings. Philip laying hands upon; the islands of the Aegean and Caria and Samos. Antiochus upon; Coele-Syria and Phoenicia.
  18. ^ Polybius; Walbank, Frank William (2011). The histories : in six volumes. 3. Books 5 - 8. Harvard University Press. pp. 212–215. ISBN 978-0-674-99658-8. 80. Ptolemy, marching on Pelusium, made his first halt at that city, and after picking up stragglers and serving out rations to his men moved on marching through the desert and skirting Mount Casius and the marshes called Barathra. Reaching the spot he was bound for on the fifth day he encamped at a distance of fifty stades from Raphia, (Modern Rafah at the border of Egypt and Israel, north of Rhinocolara (El Arish)) which is the first city of Coele-Syria on the Egyptian side after Rhinocolura. (p. 215 at Google Books) {{cite book}}: External link in |quote= (help)
  19. ^ Diodorus (Siculus.) (1814). The Historical Library of Diodorus the Sicilian: In Fifteen Books. To which are Added the Fragments of Diodorus, and Those Published by H. Valesius, I. Rhodomannus, and F. Ursinus. W. MʻDowall. pp. 36–. Image of p. 36 at Google Books {{cite book}}: External link in |quote= (help)
  20. ^ MacBean, Alexander; Johnson, Samuel (1773). "Coelesyria". A Dictionary of Ancient Geography: Explaining the Local Appellations in Sacred, Grecian, and Roman History; Exhibiting the Extent of Kingdoms, and Situations of Cities, &c. And Illustrating the Allusions and Epithets in the Greek and Roman Poets. The Whole Established by Proper Authorities, and Designed for the Use of Schools. G. Robinson. pp. 191–192. Coelesyria, some write it conjoined as here, others, as the Greeks, Coele Syria, separate, which seems the juster way, because Pliny not only separates these words, but also simply says, Coele, an ancient inscription. Authors differ much in settling its limits, some extending, and others contracting, them too much: Strabo says, Coele Syria Propria is defined by Libanus and Anti-libanus, running parallel to each other. Now if we determine the limits of these two mountains, we shall go near to settle those of Coele Syria. They both begin a little above the sea; Libanus near Tripolis; chiefly against the spot called Dei Facies: Antilibanus at Sidon; but they terminate near the mountains of Arabia, above the territory of Damascus, and near the mountains of the Trachonitis, and there they terminate in other mountains, Strabo.
  21. ^ Strabo 16.2, Geographica
  22. ^ Richardson, Peter (1 January 1999). Herod: King of the Jews and Friend of the Romans. Fortress Press. p. 70, note 74. ISBN 978-1-4514-1594-0. On Coele-Syria as a geographic designation, see Millar, Roman Near East, pp. 121-23, and .42 with bibliography cited there, including E. Bickerman, "La Coelé-Syria: Notes de géographie historique," RB 54 (1947): 256. The term floated; it did not have the connotations in antiquity that it now has. Most helpful is Strabo, Geog. 16.2.16-22: in 16-20 he discusses Coele-Syria proper, the area between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains; then in 21 he says the whole area between Seleucia (i.e., Syria) and Egypt-Arabia is called Coele-Syria, pointing out that "the country marked off by the Libanus and the Antilibanus is called by that name in a special sense" (see also 22). He is not confused but reports differing contemporary usages.
  23. ^ Philo (of Alexandria) (1855). "On the Life of Moses". The works of Philo Judaeus, the contemporary of Josephus. H. G. Bohn. p. 37. When then [Moses] he received the supreme authority, with the good will of all his subjects, God himself being the regulator and approver of all his actions, he conducted his people as a colony into Phoenicia, and into the hollow Syria (Coele-syria), and Palestine, which was at that time called the land of the Canaanites, the borders of which country were three days' journey distant from Egypt. (p. 37 at Google Books) {{cite book}}: External link in |quote= (help)
  24. ^ Pomponius Mela (1998). Frank E. Romer (ed.). Pomponius Mela's Description of the World. University of Michigan Press. p. 52. ISBN 0-472-08452-6. 62. Syria holds a broad expanse of the littoral, as well as lands that extend rather broadly into the interior, and it is designated by different names in different places. For example, it is called Coele, Mesopotamia, Judaea, Commagene, and Sophene. 63. It is Palestine at the point where Syria abuts the Arabs, then Phoenicia, and then—where it reaches Cilicia—Antiochia. [...] 64. In Palestine, however, is Gaza, a mighty and well fortified city.
  25. ^ Crane, Gregory. "Pliny the Elder, The Natural History John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed". Perseus Digital Library. Retrieved 25 January 2015. Plin. Nat. 5.13, CHAP. 13. (12.)—SYRIA.
  26. ^ Flavius Josephus (1900). "IV. Antiquities of the Jews". The Works of Flavius Josephus. G. Bell and Sons. p. 323. Antiochus made a friendship and league with Ptolemy, (Ptolemy V., Epiphanes 205-181 B.C.) and gave him his daughter Cleopatra in marriage, and yielded up to him Cœle-Syria and Samaria and Judæa and Phœnicia by way of dowry. (p. 323 at Google Books) {{cite book}}: External link in |quote= (help)
  27. ^ Appian of Alexandria. "Preface of the Roman History". Livius.org. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
  28. ^ Claudius Ptolemy c.150 CE, The Geography, Book 5, Chapter XIV. Location of Syria (Fourth map of Asia)
  29. ^ Crane, Gregory. "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) William Smith, LLD, Ed". Perseus Digital Library. Tufts University. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  30. ^ Raleigh, Walter (1829). The Works of Sir Walter Ralegh, Kt: The history of the world. The University Press. pp. 217–. 3vGAz5Gs3JEC. In Syria, taken largely, there were many small provinces as Coelesyria, which the Latins call Syria Cava, because it lay in that fruitful valley between the mountains of Libanus and Anti-Libanus, in which the famous cities of Antioch, Laodicea, Apamea, with many others were seated. (Raleigh 1829, p. 217, at Google Books) {{cite book}}: External link in |quote= (help)
  31. ^ Lendering, Jona. "Provinces (Roman)". Livius. Livius.org. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  32. ^ Cohen, Getzel M. (3 October 2006). The Hellenistic Settlements in Syria, the Red Sea Basin, and North Africa. University of California Press. p. 40, note 63. ISBN 978-0-520-93102-2. In 194 A.D. The emperor Septimus Severus divided the province of Syria and made the northern part into a separate province called Coele Syria.
  33. ^ Pearse, Roger. "Eunapius, Lives of the Philosophers and Sophists (1921) pp.343-565. English translation". Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts. tertullian.org. Retrieved 19 December 2014. Libanius was born at Antioch, the capital of Coele Syria as it is called. This city was founded by Seleucus surnamed Nicator
  • Bagnall, R., J. Drinkwater, A. Esmonde-Cleary, W. Harris, R. Knapp, S. Mitchell, S. Parker, C. Wells, J. Wilkes, R. Talbert, M. E. Downs, M. Joann McDaniel, B. Z. Lund, T. Elliott, S. Gillies. "Places: 991407 (Syria Coele)". Pleiades. Retrieved March 8, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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