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'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919' [‎67r] (138/738)
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'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919' [‎67r] (138/738)

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'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919'
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Ref: IOR/L/MIL/17/16/15

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. .

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THE ARAB CONQUEST
127
After this battle Heraclius abandoned Syria. Probably his
resources were exhausted by the Persian war so that he could
not do otherwise. The fate of the country therefore depended
upon the attitude of its own population. Jews, Samaritans,
and Christians all welcomed the Arabs as their deliverers
from the persecution and oppression of the ‘ orthodox ’
Greeks. Naturally the Arab tribes of the eastern frontier
were ready to throw in their lot with the new comers.
Not a single Syrian town was captured by force of arms.
Sooner or later they all accepted the generous terms of the
Arab chiefs. Jerusalem and Caesarea were strongholds of
Greek sentiment and power. They submitted in the years
639 and 640 respectively. Since the Greeks held command
of the sea the towns on the coast were specially secure. Gaza
and Ascalon did not submit to the Arabs until after the
surrender of Caesarea. Tripoli was the last of the Greek
possessions on the mainland. In 645 a large part of the
population abandoned the city in ships and the gates were
opened to the Moslems. Antaradus, on an island off the
coast, was reduced in 648-9.
Two of the causes of the triumph of the Arab invaders
of the seventh century have already^ been sufficiently
emphasized, namely the weakness of the Byzantine empire
and the preference of the Syrian population for Arab rule.
The question of the military power and efficiency of the
invaders is not so easily determined. Individually they were
brave and practised combatants with sword and bow. Their
leaders were experienced in the art of minor warfare and
evidently were skilful enough to adapt the tactics and strategy
of the desert to the greater tasks which now confronted them.
Without such qualifications of leadership and fighting capacity
the Arab victories could not have been won. On the other
hand the invaders were severely tested only during the battle
of the Yarmuk, and it may be that defects in the opposing
army and the accident of a sand-storm turned the scale in
their favour. Other alleged causes of their triumph, if
allowed at all, must be strictly qualified. It has been suggested

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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
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'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919' [‎67r] (138/738), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/16/15, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100033282269.0x00008b> [accessed 18 December 2024]

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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