Coele-Syria
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Coele-Syria (Template:Lang-grc), or Cœle-Syria or Celesyria, traditionally given the meaning 'hollow' Syria, was the region of southern Syria disputed between the Seleucid dynasty and the Ptolemaic dynasty. Rather than limiting the Greek term to the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, it is often used to cover the entire area south of the river Eleutherus including Judea. In fact, Diodorus Siculus indicates Coele-Syria to also include the Judean coasts as far south as Joppa. The Hellenistic term Koile Syria that appears first in Arrian's Anabasis (2.13.7) and has been much discussed, now seems simply to have been a transcription of Aramaic kul, "all, the entire", identifying all of Syria, very much as the range of applications have suggested.
