Battle of MaysalunThe Battle of Maysalun (معركة ميسلون), also known as the Battle of Maysalun Pass or the Battle of Khan Maysalun (Bataille de Khan Mayssaloun), was a four-hour battle fought between the forces of the Arab Kingdom of Syria and the French Army of the Levant on 24 July 1920 near Khan Maysalun in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, about west of Damascus. In October 1918, Arab rebels, under Hashemite Emir Faisal, captured Damascus during the British-backed Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire.
Christianity in SyriaChristians in Syria made up about 10% of the pre-war Syrian population. The country's largest Christian denomination is the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, closely followed by the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Churches that shares its roots with the Eastern Orthodox Church of Antioch, and then by Oriental Orthodox Churches such as Syriac Orthodox Church and Armenian Apostolic Church. There are also a minority of Protestants and members of the Assyrian Church of the East and Chaldean Catholic Church.
Deir ez-ZorDeir ez-Zor (Dayru z-Zawr / Dayru z-Zūr; Syriac: ܕܝܪܐ ܙܥܘܪܬܐ, Dayrāʾ Zəʿōrtāʾ) is the largest city in eastern Syria and the seventh largest in the country. Located to the northeast of the capital Damascus on the banks of the Euphrates River, Deir ez-Zor is the capital of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate. In the 2018 census, it had a population of 271,800. Ad-Deir is a common shorthand for Deir Ez-Zor. In Syriac, Zeʿūrta (ܙܥܘܪܬܐ) means "little"; hence, Dīrā Zeʿūrta means "small habitation".
Hejaz railwayThe Hejaz railway (also spelled Hedjaz or Hijaz; حجاز تيمور يولى, Hicaz Demiryolu) was a narrow-gauge railway ( track gauge) that ran from Damascus to Medina, through the Hejaz region of modern day Saudi Arabia, with a branch line to Haifa on the Mediterranean Sea. It was a part of the Ottoman railway network and the original goal was to extend the line from the Haydarpaşa Terminal in Kadıköy, Istanbul beyond Damascus to the Islamic holy city of Mecca.
