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'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919' [114v] (233/738)
The record is made up of 1 volume (365 folios). It was created in 1919. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
222
INHABITANTS
Samaritans
The Samaritan is probably the smallest religious community
in Syria, and the sole distinct representative of ancient Israel. 1
They are (or were) petty traders, not agriculturists. Their reli
gion is similar to that of the Jews in many respects, being pure
monotheism, but differs in a variety of ceremonies and obser
vances. In prayer they face Mount Gerizim, where also they
sacrifice the Passover. They keep the Sabbath with the same
or even greater rigour than the Jews, and disapprove of both
images and pictures. They do not use phylacteries, fringes, or
the inscription on the lintel. They suppose the name of their
community to mean ‘ Observers of the Law ’, though it is
more probably to be derived from the old name Samaria.
Their present language is Arabic, though they have a version
of the Pentateuch in an Aramaic dialect, and retain an
ancient script for their copies of the Hebrew original, which
differs from the copies recognized by the Jews in various
matters, some of them connected with their sectarian differ
ences.
Yezidis
A few Yezidi Kurds are to be found in the vilayet
of Aleppo. The head-quarters of this sect are in Sheikhan,
north-east of Mosul, where their chief resides, and an
annual festival is held in the shrine of Sheikh ‘Adi. Their
system is still imperfectly understood, though some texts
belonging to them have been published. They are said to
hold that the world has been in charge of seven spirits, for
cycles of ten thousand years respectively, and that the
present ruler is MaVak Td’us. This personage being the
author of all evil things is constantly propitiated ; whence
the system is often called Devil-worship. The relation
between this personage and Sheikh ‘Adi, who is celebrated
in a hymn or hymns, is not very clear. The latter, however,
is supposed to represent the good principle ; whereas the
former is said to be represented by an image called a sanjaq,
1 See above, p. 193.
About this item
- Content
Admiralty handbook regarding Syria (including Palestine) 'to as far north as the River Orontes and a line Antioch-Aleppo-Meskeneh. For details of the part of Syria beyond this line reference must be made to the Handbook of Asia Minor , Vol. iv, Part 2 (C.B. 847 C).'
'Contents. Chapters:
- I. Boundaries and Physical Survey, p 9 (folio 7)
- II. Climate, p 24 (folio 14v)
- III. Minerals, Flora and Fauna, p 93 (folio 50)
- IV. Military History, p 109 (folio 58)
- V. Inhabitants, p 175 (folio 91)
- VI. Turkish Administration, p 236 (folio 121v)
- VII. Agriculture, p 252 (folio 129v)
- VIII. Industry and Trade, p 276 (folio 141v)
- IX. Currency, Weights and Measures, p 318 (folio 162v)
- X. Jebel Ansarīyeh, p 325 (folio 166)
- XI. Country East of Jebel Ansarīyeh, p 344 (folio 175v)
- XII. Lebanon, Anti-Lebanon, and Damascus Plain, p 357 (folio 182)
- XIII. River Systems of Northern Syria, p 395 (folio 201)
- XIV. Judea and the Southern Desert, p 427 (folio 217)
- XV. Samaria (including Carmel), p 472 (folio 239v)
- XVI. Galilee, p 515 (folio 261)
- XVII. Haurān and Jaulān, p 556 (folio 281v)
- XVIII. 'Ajlūn and Northern Belqa, p 580 (folio 293v)
- XIX. Southern Belqa and Ardh el-Kerak, p 612 (folio 309v)
- XX. El-Jibāl and Esh-Shera, p 636 (folio 321v)
- XXI. The Ghōr (Jordan and the Dead Sea); and Wādi 'Arabah, p 645 (folio 326)
- Appendix: Conventional Spellings, p 668 (folio 337v)
- Index, p 669 (folio 338)
- Plates, p 725' [missing]
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (365 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume contains a contents page (folio 6) and an index (folios 338-365).
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 367; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. Pagination: the volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence. The volume originally contained fourteen plates showing maps, bound into the back of the volume. These are now missing; details of the plates can be found at folio 5v.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/17/16/15
- Title
- 'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:366v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence