AS SYRIA

anc. country lying N. of | part of Me so pot am i a; named from A ur; became one of the most extensive empires — of anc. world, comprising Babylonia, — W. Media, Armenia, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. Surface of country is high plain cro ed by mts. and drained by © river Tigris and its tribs. History.—Gr. account of founding of © state and its later cap. Nineveh by Ninos — (eponymous character), husband of Semi ram is, was derived from Pers. — legends; Bible account of As syria as colony of Babylonia is borne out by inscriptions; subject to Babylonia, 2250— 1500 (?); succeeding period one of con Shalm ane ser I., who changed cap.; from A ur to Calah » greatly i?P tige of As syria. Tiglath-pileser I. (c. 1120 B.C.) gained control of great part of Babylonia, and again made A ur the cap. His succe ors lost control of Babylonia, which remained independent for several centuries. The fire and sword in all directions, subduing Arameans and establishing A yrian pre-eminence in the East. Nineveh, now the capital, increased in splendor with each succeeding ruler. Shalmaneser If., who succeeded A ur-natsirpal, also carried out succe ful campaigns; and in the following cent. Tiglath-pileser III. became king also of Babylonia. Under Sargon A yrian empire reached its feated the Hittites, and made Judza a va al state. Sennacherib, his son, destroyed Babylon and carried on various wars; his son Esarhaddon (680-669) warred against Egypt, and was succeed by his son A ur-bani-pal (king, 668-626), a great soldier who carried on various wars, burning the palace of his rebellious brother in Babylon. After his death Babylonia broke away and As syria began to decline; empire ended with destruction of Nineveh by Medes, Babylonians, and Scythians in 607 B.C., after which Babylonia again became centre of empire. See BaByLonia. TAR, Phoenician godde , symbolized by the moon; represented the conceptive owers of nature, as Baal the generative. he rites connected with her worship at Tyre and Sidon were of a lascivious nature. <A. is often confounded with Venus and other cla ical deities,