Among the Ruins: Syria Past and Present

256 Pages·2014·14.4 MB·English

by  Christian Sahner

AMONG THE RUINS

CHRISTIAN C. SAHNER
Among the Ruins
Syria Past and Present
A
A
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Copyright © 2014 Christian C Sahner
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Published in the United Kingdom in 2014 by C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this title
Christian C Sahner
Among the Ruins
Syria Past and Present
ISBN 978-0-19-939-670-2 (hardback)
Printed in the USA
CONTENTS
A Note for the Reader vii
Acknowledgements ix
Maps xii
An Ode for Syria Today xix
Preface: A Journey through Many Syrias xxi
1. The Imperial Moment: Islam in Syria 1
2. Once “Our Land”: Christianity in Syria 39
3. Outsiders Become Insiders: Sectarianism in Syria 77
4. Guardians of the Homeland: State and Society
in Syria 113
5. A View from the Edge: War in Syria 147
Epilogue: Among the Ruins 183
Notes 191
Index 211

A NOTE FOR THE READER
Certain names, places, and biographical details in this book have
been changed in order to protect the identities of the individuals
mentioned.
In transliterating Arabic, I have omitted the standard diacritic
marks familiar to scholars. I have represented the letter hamza with
a single backwards quote (’), and the letter ‘ayn with a single for-
ward quote (‘). In many instances, I have chosen transliterations of
Arabic names and words that conform to popular as opposed to
scholarly usage (e.g., Hussein, not Ḥusayn; Hafez not Ḥāfiẓ; muez-
zin not mu’adhdhin; or Baath not Ba‘th).
I have not endeavored to identify every source I consulted.
Rather, I have used endnotes sparingly in order to credit the
authors and texts that have influenced my thinking, and to point
readers to further material should they become interested in par-
ticular subjects, both broad and narrow.
vii