Culture

Syria is a traditional society with a long cultural history. Importance is placed on family, religion, education and self discipline and respect.

Early Culture

Syria offered the world the Ugarit cuneiform, the root for the Phoenician alphabet, which dates back to the fourteenth century BC. The alphabet was written in the familiar order we use today.

Archaeologists have discovered extensive writings and evidence of a culture rivalling those of Mesopotamia and Egypt in and around the ancient city of Ebla. Later Syrian scholars and artists contributed to Hellenistic and Roman thought and culture. Cicero was a pupil of Antiochus of Ascalon at Athens; and the writings of Posidonius of Apamea influenced Livy and Plutarch.

Traditional Arts

The Syrian's taste for the traditional arts is expressed in dances such as the al-Samah, the Dabkes in all their variations and the sword dance. Marriage ceremonies and the birth of children are occasions for the lively demonstration of folk customs.

Literature

Syrians have contributed to Arabic literature and music and have a proud tradition of oral and written poetry. Syrian writers, many of whom immigrated to Egypt, played a crucial role in the nahda or Arab literary and cultural revival of the nineteenth century. Prominent contemporary Syrian writers include, among others, Adonis, Haidar Haidar, Ghada al-Samman, Nizar Qabbani and Zakariyya Tamer.

Housing

The living quarters of traditional houses of Damascus, Aleppo and the other Syrian cities are arranged traditionally around one or more courtyards, typically with a fountain in the middle supplied by spring water. The courtyards are decorated with citrus trees, grape vines and flowers.

Outside of the larger cities, residential areas are often clustered in smaller villages. The buildings themselves are often quite old (often a few hundred years) passed down to family members over several generations. Newer residential construction of rough concrete and blockwork is usually unpainted, and the palette of a Syrian village is therefore simple tones of greys and browns.

Cinema and Television

Syria has a small cinema industry, with production entirely in the hands of the state National Cinema Organisation, which employs film-makers as civil servants. Notable directors include Omar Amirali, Usama Muhammad, and Abd al-Latif Abd al-Hamid. Syrian directors have also worked abroad, in Egypt and Europe.

There was a private sector presence in the Syrian cinema industry until the end of the 1970s, but private investment has since preferred the more lucrative television business. Syrian soap operas, in a variety of styles (all typically melodramatic, however), have considerable market penetration throughout the eastern Arab world.