Southwestern Syria Research Articles

Neo-Aramaic as a source of hitherto unattested Aramaic words and meanings

Abstract The spectrum of Neo-Aramaic languages and dialects, spoken in an arch of language-islets that stretch from south-western Syria to south-western Iran, exhibits rich lexical repositories inherited from early layers of the Aramaic language. Within this wealthy lexical legacy, some genuine Aramaic lexical items are not attested in any of the literary Aramaic sources, hence it is only by virtue of these modern lexical manifestations that the existence of the ancient Aramaic antecedents of these words can be inferred or reconstructed. Such historical lacunae concern also meanings that must be of considerable antiquity, yet these meanings, pertaining to well-known Aramaic words, have no evidence in literary Aramaic, having surfaced only in the modern era. This article discusses ten selected cases of pre-modern Aramaic words and meanings that were discovered by etymological and comparative examination of their modern reflexes in North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic (NENA), Western Neo-Aramaic and Ṭuroyo.

Description of a Rare β-Globin Gene Mutation: –86 (C>G) (HBB: c.-136C>G) Observed in a Syrian Family

We present the description of a β-thalassemia (β-thal) –86 (C>G) (HBB: c.-136C>G) mutation in a Syrian family from Damascus, As-Suwayda Province, Syria, who was referred to the laboratory for prenatal diagnosis (PND). The mutation was found in the mother in a homozygous state, while it was in the father and in the amniotic fluid sample in a heterozygous state. This mutation is located at –86 within the proximal CACCC box in the promoter of the β-globin gene and is possibly linked with a phenotype of β+-thal. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR/RFLP) analysis indicated that the –86 mutation was linked with haplotype I [+ – – – – + +]. We propose that Lebanon may be the origin of this mutation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing this mutation in As-Suwayda Province. These findings provide novel information on the region-specificity of this mutation in southwestern Syria.

Epipaleolithic shell beads from Damascus Province, Syria

This paper presents an overview of three Paleolithic sites excavated in southwestern Syria between 1999 and 2007. The sites were discovered as part of a large-scale, regional survey conducted in Damascus Province by a multidisciplinary research team from the University of Tübingen. We focus on the Epipaleolithic shell assemblages from Baaz Rockshelter, Kaus Kozah Cave and Ain Dabbour Cave, examining the distribution of species and their potential relationship to group and personal identity. The four most frequent taxa include the gastropods, Columbella rustica, Theodoxus cf. jordani, and Tritia gibbosula (formerly known as Nassarius gibbosulus), as well as scaphopods. Most of the shells are perforated or, in the case of scaphopods, segmented. These taxa count among the most common shell beads observed at Upper Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic sites of the Levant, although their proportions change over time. Other taxa are also present, but to a much lesser degree, and often occur as unique specimens. We compare the shell assemblages from these localities to similar contexts in Syria, Israel and Jordan. The shell taxa observed are consistent with other Epipaleolithic sites. We hypothesize that the most common shells at Baaz, Kaus Kozah and Ain Dabbour signify group identity, although the proportion of scaphopods is considerably less than that observed from the wider region. We also posit that the unique specimens are an indication of personal identity, standing in contrast to the shared group identity shown by the most common shell taxa.

Establishing the range of background for radon variations in groundwater along the Serghaya fault in southwestern Syria

Long-term groundwater radon measurements were carried out in two selected karstic springs emerging from the Serghaya fault zone in southwestern Syria. The work is aimed at determining the range of radon background along the concerned fault, which represents a prominent branch segment of the Dead Sea Fault System in the region. The obtained data was statistically analyzed and the mean radon values have been standardized in terms of probability of magnitude in order to enable the separation between normal radon variations from other anomalous or geotectonic related values. The results revealed a general background range of radon concentration varying between 5000 and 13000 Bqm-3, and thus all radon values lying outside this range were considered anomalous. However, remarkable clusters of high radon concentrations with peak values more than twice times the background level, were observed in both monitoring springs through the period (1992-1994). These abnormal radon values were positively correlated with simultaneous time of high precipitations, while no significant earthquake activities were recorded in the region during that period. Therefore, such radon signals do not seem to be a reflection of regional changes in crustal strain, but rather they mostly indicate evidences of radon response to the groundwater table fluctuations due to high precipitations. These consequences may confirm the usefulness of radon application as an important natural tracer in hydrogeological investigations.

Climate, settlement patterns and olive horticulture in the southern Levant during the Early Bronze and Intermediate Bronze Ages (c. 3600–1950 BC)

We report results of palynological investigation of a core of sediments extracted from the bottom of the Sea of Galilee. The core was sampled at high resolution for both palynological analysis (a sample was taken c. every 40 years) and radiocarbon dating. The article focuses on the Early Bronze and Intermediate Bronze Ages, c. 3600–1950 BC. The results enable reconstruction of the vegetation and thus climate in the lake's fluvial and alluvial catchment, which includes large parts of northern Israel and Lebanon and south-western Syria. The study sheds light on topics such as changes in olive cultivation through time and regions, processes of urbanization and collapse and settlement expansion and retraction in the arid zones.

Hydrochemistry to delineate groundwater flow conditions in the Mogher Al Mer area (Damascus Basin, Southwestern Syria)

The hydrochemistry of groundwater from the Mogher Al Mer area, located in southwestern Syria, has been used as a tool to identify and assess the hydrogeological systems and associated conditions. In this arid region of Syria, groundwater is considered as the main source of water supply for both drinking and irrigation purposes. The detailed description of hydrogeochemical conditions, including major ions, physico-chemical and in situ field parameters, has underlined the very complex variability of the stratigraphic sequences and hence the numerous hydrogeological units within the study area. On the one hand, groundwater chemical signature is found to be mainly controlled by the water–rock interaction processes in the mountainous western part of the study area. On the other hand, anthropogenic influences are observed in the eastern plain. In terms of recharge mechanisms, the region can be considered as a part of a main intermediate or even regional flow system instead of a local one.

A study on egg nests of Cicadatra persica (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) distributed in Erneh, Syria

Summary. Cicadatra persica Kirkaldy 1909 (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) damages apple trees in Erneh (33°21′ N, 35°52′ E), a village located in the Alsheikh mountain in south-western Syria. In this study, the numbers of eggs per egg nest and of egg nests per tree, as well as their relation with the numbers of emerged adults, was estimated. The mean number of eggs per nest was 154.3 ± 90.48. There was a positive correlation among the three variables egg nest length (L), number of slits (S), and eggs (E) per nest. The best model for predicting egg numbers (E) was E = –16.145 + 12.688 S. Mineral oil (3%) applied on egg nests on apple trees did not reduce cicada hatch. Biological and cultural options such as the development of biopesticides rather than oil and insecticides should be considered as more sustainable means for controlling C. persica in fruit orchards.

Water availability and landuse during the Upper and Epipaleolithic in southwestern Syria

Paleolithic research often assumes that environmental conditions played a major role in shaping human evolution. To study this relationship we present a spatially explicit approach based on the assumption that the distribution of water within the landscape is an essential component of local environmental conditions. Here, we analyze the relation of wetness and human landuse patterns from the Upper Paleolithic (UP) and Epipaleolithic (EP) of Western Syria. In particular the spatially explicit character of the approach enables the detection of a significant change in landuse patterns during the UP and EP accompanied by a significant shift in the wetness characteristics of the preferentially used areas. These results are discussed against the background of published data on climatic conditions in order to identify both a possible time frame and triggers for this change in landuse. While we conclude an increased influence of natural conditions on the spatial behavior for the UP, we suggest an additional influence of cultural circumstances in shaping EP spatial behavior. For the region studied we argue that the bounded pattern observed during the UP changes to a spatially flexible pattern during the Late Natufian.

Geometric morphometric comparison of mandible and skull of five species of genus Allactaga (Rodentia: Dipodidae) from Iran

The genus Allactaga is distributed in North Africa, Iran, Afghanistan, southwestern Syria, North Turkemenistan, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Mongolia. Six morphospecies have been reported from regions of Iran. Morphological differences among 41 specimens of A. elater, A. williamsi, A. hotsoni, A. firouzi, and A. toussi were investigated using landmark-based geometric morphometrics of the dorsal aspect of the skull and ventral aspect of the mandible. Results of canonical variate analysis (CVA) indicated that all species are distinguishable by skull shape. Canonical variate analysis showed that most studied species of Allactaga were separated along CV1. Cluster analysis indicated a high morphometric distance between A. toussi and A. elater, confirming the division of A. toussi and A. elater into different species. The species Allactaga williamsi exhibited the greatest morphometric distance from other studied species. Based on mandible shape, A. williamsi is similar to A. elater and A. toussi. Allactaga firouzi clustered with A. hotsoni, in comparison with the results obtained from skull shape variation, the morphometric distance between these two species is higher than other species.

Chemical composition of crustal xenoliths from southwestern Syria: Characterization of the upper part of the lower crust beneath the Arabian plate

The chemical bulk rock composition of 37 xenoliths, brought from depths of 25–30 km to the surface by penetrating Cenozoic alkali basaltic magma, from the Shamah Harrat, southwestern Syria, was determined by XRF spectroscopy. The geochemical character of these xenoliths points to original marls and within-plate igneous rocks. To obtain the mean chemical composition of the corresponding upper portion of the lower crust, the compositions of the 37 xenoliths were averaged and a leucogranitic and upper crustal component was added to account for assimilation by the Cenozoic magmas. This mean is more basic (SiO 2—50.5 wt%) and richer in HFSE, LREE, and LILE compared to compositions of the lower crust given by Taylor and McLennan [1985. The Continental Crust: Its Composition and Evolution. Blackwell, Oxford, 312pp.] and Rudnick and Gao [2005. Composition of the continental crust. In: Rudnick, R.L. (Ed.), The Crust. Treatise on Geochemistry, vol. 3. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 1–64]. Calculations of the seismic compressional-wave velocity from our compositional mean, using the PERPLE_X computer software, yielded values around 6.85 km/s, which are in accordance with reported seismic studies for the corresponding depth levels (6.7–7.1 km/s).

Co-distribution Pattern of a Haemogregarine Hemolivia mauritanica (Apicomplexa: Haemogregarinidae) and Its Vector Hyalomma aegyptium (Metastigmata: Ixodidae)

Hyalomma aegyptium ticks were collected from tortoises, Testudo graeca, at localities in northern Africa, the Balkans, and the Near and Middle East. The intensity of infestation ranged from 1-37 ticks per tortoise. The sex ratio of feeding ticks was male-biased in all tested populations. Larger tortoises carried more ticks than did the smaller tortoises. The juveniles were either not infested, or carried only a poor tick load. Hyalomma aegyptium was absent in the western Souss Valley and Ourika Valley in Morocco, the Cyrenaica Peninsula in Libya, Jordan, and the Antilebanon Mountains in Syria. Hemolivia mauritanica, a heteroxenous apicomplexan cycling between T. graeca and H. aegyptium, was confirmed in Algeria, Romania, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and Iran. Its prevalence ranged from 84% in Romania (n = 45), 82% in eastern Turkey (n = 28), and 82% in the area of northwestern Syria with adjacent Turkish borderland (n = 90), to 38% in Lebanon (n = 8) and in only 1 of 16 sampled tortoises in Algeria. The intensity of parasitemia in the studied areas ranged from 0.01% up to 28.17%. The percentage of Hemolivia-infected erythrocytes was significantly higher in adults. All tortoises from Hyalomma-free areas were Hemolivia-negative. Remarkably, all 29 T. graeca from Jabal Duruz (southwestern Syria) and 36 T. graeca from the area north of Middle Atlas (Morocco) were Hemolivia-negative, despite the fact that ticks parasitized all adult tortoises in these localities. Identical host preferences of H. aegyptium and H. mauritanica suggest the occurrence of co-evolution within the Testudo-Hyalomma-Hemolivia host-parasite complex.

Vegetation development and human occupation in the Damascus region of southwestern Syria from the Late Pleistocene to Holocene

Rockshelter Baaz in the Damascus region of Syria provided a variety of botanical remains from the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene period. These remains provide new information about the vegetation evolution in this region. The earliest occupational levels correspond with a moisture peak during the Late Pleistocene, between ca. 34–32 kyr b.p., when pine expanded. The next occupations took place during extreme arid conditions, ca. 23–21 kyr b.p., and probably during the Last Glacial Maximum when a steppe vegetation was established. The occupation level of the Younger Dryas, represented by Natufian remains, suggests that the area had been covered by almond-pistachio steppe, similar to later periods of the Early Holocene, and was probably located just outside the range of dense wild cereal stands. There is no drastic impact of the Younger Dryas visible on the vegetation in the botanical remains. The lack of fruits and seeds at Baaz indicates that the site was more likely to have been a temporary hunting post rather than a plant processing site for much of its history. It is ideally suited to this purpose because of its location over the Jaba′deen Pass and the associated springs. However, archaeological remains from the Natufian period, suggest that the site was more permanently occupied during this time.

Climatic characteristics of the late Pleistocene and Holocene continental deposits from sowthwestern Syria based on palynological data

The goal of this research was to reconstruct the vegetational and climatic changes that took place during the late Pleisocene and Holocene in southwestern Syria. This reconstruction was based on palynological data obtained from the analysis of 27 sediments and surface samples (with a total thickness of 4.55 m) collected from Al-Hijaneh Lake basin (late Pleistocene) and from Al-Aouaj River valley (Holocene). Three pollen zones were established. The oldest one (zone A) corresponds to the late Pleistocene lacustrine deposits of Lake Al-Hijaneh. Zones B and C were defined in the Holocene fluvial-lacustrine deposits of the Al-Aouaj River valley. These three pollen assemblage zones are correlated to synchronic and similar C14 dated pollen zones from Syria, Turkey, Iran and Greece. This allows a more definite age determination for the deposits of this study. The region’s past climates and vegetation are discussed.

The Syrian National Seismological Network (SNSN): Monitoring A Major Continental Transform Fault

The twenty-seven-station digital short-period (1 Hz) Syrian National Seismological Network utilizing a combination of radio-frequency (RF) and land-line (LL) telephone telemetry was installed and has been operational since 14 January 1995. Augmenting the seismic network is a twenty-station network of three-component digital accelerographs commissioned at the same time as the seismic network. The spatial distribution of both networks covers most of western Syria from north to south. The network's design criteria were to monitor all discernable earthquake activity along the Dead Sea fault system (DSFS) and its related branches in Syria and nearby Lebanon (Figure 1). This major fault system is characterized by relatively high seismic activity and, as the Program for Assessment and Mitigation of Earthquake Risk in the Arab Region (PAMERAR) initiative proposed in 1981 concluded, poses a significant seismic hazard to the densely populated areas surrounding it. The most recent and truly devastating large earthquake (deaths estimated at 20,000) along this fault system occurred in the Bekaa Valley within the large restraining bend on 25 November 1759 and had an estimated magnitude of greater than Ms 7.3 (Ambraseys and Barazangi, 1989). The Syrian territory has been affected in the past by many large earthquakes that occurred along the DSFS. During the last millennium, between 1022 and 1872, at least ten large earthquakes occurred in this zone (Sbeinati et al. , 1997), as did the recent 1995 Ms 7.3 Aqaba earthquake, which may have remotely triggered an earthquake swarm in southwestern Syria (Mohamad et al. , 2000). Figure 1 shows a plot of the most destructive historical earthquakes in Syria in addition to the 1995 Aqaba event. Some of the historic events were larger than Ms 7.3 (Ambraseys and Barazangi, 1989). In 1985 the General Establishment of Geology and Mineral Resources (GEGMR), …

Studies on the genus Scandix L. (Apiaceae) II: Scandix blepharicarpa spec. nov. An endemic species from the basalt plateaus of northern Israel

A new species, Scandix blepharicarpa O. Cohen (Apiaceae) is described. The species is probably endemic to northern Israel. Taxonomic relationships, distribution, and ecology are discussed. Reference is made to the unique endemism in the basalt soil area of northern Israel and southwestern Syria.

Petrogenesis of Garnet Pyroxenite and Spinel Peridotite Xenoliths of the Tell-Danun Alkali Basalt Volcano, Harrat As Shamah, Syria

A suite of samples, including kaersutite and ilmenite megacrysts, spinel peridotites, garnet pyroxenites, and the alkali basalts that host them, have been studied in an effort to better constrain the mineralogy and chemistry of the subcontinental mantle beneath the central portion of the Arabian plate. Kaersutite megacrysts are classified as Type-A high-pressure precipitates of the alkali basalt host, which transported these xenoliths to the surface and extruded them during formation of the Tell-Danun volcano, southwestern Syria. Ilmenite megacrysts are classified as Type-B megacrysts and could not have precipitated from the alkali basalts presently sampled. Instead, they were derived from a magma that was enriched in the rare-earth elements (REE) by ca. four times and depleted in Zr and Hf, compared to the alkali basalts. Garnet pyroxenites from the Tell-Danun volcanic field yield temperatures and pressures of 946-1045° C and 8-10 kbar, respectively. These xenoliths likely were precipitated as dikes or a...

Subfossil elephant remains from Southwestern Syria

Subfossil elephant remains from Southwestern Syria

A new find of an equid metatarsal bone from tell mureibet in syria and its relevance to the identification of equids from the early holocene of the levant

A comparative study of the equid bones and teeth from Dr Van Loon’s excavations at Tell Mureibet (1968) was carried out in 1970. It was concluded that the fragments of bones and teeth, which can be dated to the eighth or seventh millennium BC, belonged to the asinus group of equids rather than to the hemionus group (Ducos, 1970). Features that appeared to be more like asinus in the Tell Mureibet upper teeth are the flatness or convexity of the external walls (interstylid faces) and in the lower teeth the shape of the lingual sinus (dividing the double curl of the metastylid and metaconid) which is usually a narrow V-shape with a more or less sharp angle in E. asinus. The upper teeth of E. hemionus have concave external walls and the lingual sinus of the lower teeth has a slightly curved, wide V-shape. An examination of skulls of Equus hemionus onuger and Equus asinus africanus from Museums in Vienna, Munich and London showed that these characters are only true in general. In each group, examples where the characters are developed atypically can be found. So, an attribution to Equus hemionus hemippus I. Geoffroy, 1855 being eliminated because this animal was too small, the attribution to E. asinus, rather than to E. hemionus onager Boddaert, 1785, remained uncertain. This is the reason why the find of a complete equid metatarsal bone from Dr Cauvin’s new excavation at Tell Mureibet was most exciting, for a certain identification of the species could be made from this bone. It was found in a level contemporary with the 1st to VIIIth strata of Van Loon’s stratigraphy (square Q34. Locus Z 1, depth 10.50 m, level C lb; on the clay soil of a round house; structure L IV ter). The length of the bone is 239.2 mm; this is much above the length for E. hemionus hemippus (225.2 mm maximum on a specimen in the Vienna Museum) but it is very close to the length of the metatarsal bones of Kiang and Khur hemiones and also to the length of E. asinus africanus. The most distinctive character of the bone is the value of the “slenderness” index, that is the ratio of the minimum medio-lateral width to the total length. The value of this index for the Tell Mureibet metatarsal is 11.2 which is typical of the asinus group, and in consequence the bone has been ascribed to an ass rather than to a hemione. The Asiatic hemiones never reach an index of this height, and, although there is a metatarsal belonging to E. hemionus khur Lesson, 1907 in the British Museum (Natural History) with an index of 10.6, the values given by Gromova (1959) are all below 10.5. The existence of a wild ass of the asinus group in the Levant during the early Holocene now seems indisputable. The remains of this ass have been found most often in prehistoric sites on the plains of northern and eastern Syria, at Tell Mureibet and El Kown for example. In the settlement sites of southwestern Syria and Israel it is found occasionally