
Eternal Outsiders – the Roma in Syria
The term “gypsy” has been used throughout history in a pejorative way and is recognized by many members of the Dom community and researchers to be a derogatory term, particularly
The history of Christianity in Syria requires us to go back to when Syria was referred to as Aram – the highlands, (Canaan the lowlands). It was also known as Eber Nari by the Assyrians, meaning beyond/west of the Euphrates river: a large portion of what is today classified as Syria. Aramaeans, the predecessors of most Syrians, are typically regarded as the descendants of Aram, son of Shem, grandson of Noah the prophet. Syria’s historic native language, Aramaic was spoken for millennia, and is an identity that was preserved + throughout Christian history in Syria and lives on today amongst all Syrians (explained at the end).
The Aramaic speaking apostles spread from Canaan to the world, escaping Roman & Jewish persecution. St Peter set off to Syria & Antioch (South West Turkey/North West Syria), and is the first Patriarch & founder of the Church of Antioch, which today has two branches in Syria, the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East & the Greek Melkite Catholic Church.
Saint Thomas resided in Damascus, where one of the seven ancient gates of Old Damascus and the surrounding neighbourhood still bear his name (Bab Touma – Gate of Thomas). From here, he set off to India where churches of the Syriac rite were established with over 6 million followers in India today. Then comes Saint Paul.
A disciple of Jesus, Ananias of Damascus envisioned Jesus commanding him to find Saul who was blinded by the vision, in Straight Street (the biblical street still running across Old Damascus). Saul was healed and preached Christianity in Damascus. Upsetting the city’s Jews, he escaped with the aid of followers who lowered him over the wall of Bab Kissan, another of Damascus’s seven ancient gates (still standing). From Damascus, St Paul set off to Europe with Saint Peter.
While Christianity continued growing throughout Roman era Syria, the Empire split into the Roman West & Byzantine East in 476 AD. By 634 AD, the Byzantines lost their centuries-old rule in Syria to Arab Muslims. Despite that, Syrian Christians, who spoke mainly Greek & Syriac, remained a majority for centuries on. It is said, that Islam overtook Christianity as a majority religion in Syria by ~1000 AD during the Abassid era, also when Arabic became the dominant spoken language of Syrians, replacing Syriac as a common language.
Throughout history, countless monasteries & churches have been built in Syria, some being the oldest functioning in the world. In addition, 7 Catholic popes and well over 60 Christian saints are Syrian.
Aramaic in Syrian Christianity and its Legacy A dialect of Aramaic, Syriac, developed around the 1st † century AD in modern day Urfa, Turkey, just north of Syria, becoming the dominant spoken language in Syria for a millennium. As the region’s historic native language, it largely affects the phonology of Syrian Arabic & its t grammatical structure. Syrian Arabic vocabulary also borrows Syriac words, most of Syria’s cities & villages retain Aramaic names, and it also left a mark on Syrian/Levantine musical traditions.
Traditional Syrian music combines the influence of the many cultures it has witnessed, but Syriac/Aramaic particularly influences Levantine folklore songs or lullabies like yalla tnam, originally passed down generations in Aramaic. The iconic Aleppine Muwashshah is also believed to combine early Syriac musical tradition with secular Arabic poetic forms and Syria is credited as the source of Christian hymnody.
The treatment of Christians during the Ottoman Era in Syria (1516-1918) differed over time. Usually forming between 20-35% of Syria throughout this time, many urban Christians even economically flourished at some point with a rising class of Christian merchants & bankers, especially after developing amicable ties with France; particularly Catholic Syrians. Syrian † Christians are also key to the establishment of some of the most prominent schools across the country which still operate today.
The mid 1800’s was the beginning of a tragedy. A combination of colonial intervention, economic decline of the Ottomans, sectarianism, and poverty culminated in a bloody massacre of the Christians of Mount Lebanon by the Druze, and a catastrophic spillover in Damascus at the hands of Muslims & Druze marching in from surrounding villages and even from the city. Anxiety spread throughout the Levant as word spread of the slaughter of over 12,000 Damascene Christians in a week.
Damascene Christians hid in homes of Muslim friends & neighbours, however these Damascene Muslims were threatened upon the discovery of this by the violent mobs. Surviving Christians were sheltered by a few Muslim nobles including Emir † Abdelkader, an Algerian leader living in the city who hid thousands of Christians in his palace & the Damascus Citadel, others fled to the nearby village of Saidnaya, and many permanently left for Beirut. The Christian quarters with all its homes, businesses, churches & foreign consulates were completely destroyed and looted.
A crumbling Ottoman Empire saw the first wave of Syrian Christian exodus, as thousands of Syrian Christians left for North & South America between 1880-1920. Today, well over 6 million South Americans claim descent from Syrian immigrants. Emigration was slow but continuous throughout the 1900s, until the current Syrian war caused a third of Syrian Christians to flee. Before 2011, Syrian Christians comprised up to 13% of Syria. Today they form no more than 10%. Roughly half of whom adhere to the Greek Orthodox Church. There are 11 more denominations in Syria, with the next three largest being the Melkite Greek Catholic, Syriac Orthodox & Armenian Apostolic (Orthodox) Churches.
Then smaller but sizable Catholic communities of various liturgical rites: (Armenian, Maronite, Roman (Latin), Syriac & Chaldean (Assyrian Catholics)). They are followed by the independent + Assyrian Church of the East and smaller groups of Protestants & Evangelists. Aleppo boasted the largest population of Christians in Syria (likely Damascus today) and the most diverse Christian community of the Middle East after Beirut. They formed ~40% of the city in the 1940s, due to an influx of Armenian & Syriac/Assyrian refugees who were terrorized in modern day Turkey during the late Ottoman era, joining a sizable Syrian Christian population (mostly Greek Melkites & Orthodox).
Today, Syrian Christians are present throughout all Syrian cities, forming majorities in several villages including a region called Wadi al Nasara (Valley of the Christians) in Homs Governorate & the town of Maaloula in Rural Damascus, where a rare ancient dialect of Aramaic almost identical to that of Jesus & the apostles is still spoken. Syrian Christians are of various ethnic backgrounds. Following a particular church rite does not equate to the same ethnic background (the same way speaking Arabic in Syria does not mean being ethnically Arab). Syrians of the largest Christian denominations in Syria (Greek Orthodox & Melkites), can be of Aramaean heritage, Arab lineage (tracing ancestry to ancient Syrian Arab Christian tribes: Ghassanids), or even Greek ancestry from the Byzantine era or are historically from Antioch.
Liturgies are in Arabic & Greek. Maronites, like the Syriac Orthodox & Catholics, have Western Syriac liturgies and are typically indigenous Levantines. Adherents of Armenian churches are exclusively ethnically Armenian. The same can be said for members of the Assyrian/Chaldean churches, who ethnically identify as Aramean (or Assyrian with roots in Mesopotamia), and liturgies are usually in Eastern Syriac.
Kosai Khauli, Dima Kandalaft, Bassem Yakhour, Nadine Khoury, Antoinette Najeeb, Abed Fahed, Milad Yousef, Andre Skaf, Salloum Haddad
The term “gypsy” has been used throughout history in a pejorative way and is recognized by many members of the Dom community and researchers to be a derogatory term, particularly
Syria is home to a diverse and rich mosaic of cultures, and among them are the Circassians, an ethnic group from the Northern Caucasus region. Circassians have a tragic history
Armenian identity is greatly impacted by a deep wound. Today, we celebrate their presence, perseverance and legacy in Syria, and we also acknowledge that many Armenians have become refugees once