This article aims at shedding some light on the collective cultural background of the Syrians who were forced to escape the death ring at the hands of the ruling authority. Those Syrians who your governments thankfully host have been classified in the official records as refugees and homeless.
The paradox is that a minority of the host people grumble while describing the Syrian guests as homeless or unwanted strangers because their eyes are not blue as if they were from the underworld. Here is a brief idea about the real world those people came from.
It is common for many people to consider that the civilization of Mesopotamia was confined between the two banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers only. In contrast, the truth is that it extended over the regular flooding along the Tigris and the Euphrates, making the land around them incredibly fertile and ideal for growing crops for food. That made it a prime spot for the Neolithic Revolution, also called the Agricultural Revolution, which began to take place almost 12,000 years ago. This great fertile area included today’s countries (Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and Kuwait). According to what anthropologists have reached until today, it is the oldest civilization found.
The timeline of the Mesopotamian civilization is usually estimated at around 3300 B.C. That is why those regions are called the cradle of advanced civilizations. Art began to develop before the rest of the inventions because it is not considered a human civilization but a human culture, the discovery of agriculture and the domestication of animals around 10.000 B.C.
According to Ariane Thomas, from the Department of Oriental Antiquities and Director at the Louvre: “Mesopotamia was right at the center of the Middle East, […] And were outward-looking and dynamic.”
Also, in his book Mountains and Lowlands: Ancient Iran and Mesopotamia, Paul Collins writes: “Mesopotamia is like a sponge. Whenever new people arrive in the region, they absorb the long traditions of Mesopotamia. We see a lot of continuity in religious beliefs and administrative practices.”
It is also helpful to read what the German orientalist Sigrid Hunke wrote in her book Allahs Sonne über dem Abendland: Unser Arabische Erbe published in 1960:
“It was not by chance that I, the German woman, wrote this book. The Arabs and the Germans are not only bound by the days of their strong state, which is now divided, and whose rise has begun again with vigor, vitality and determination; rather, it is a strong bond of thought and culture that has cemented the bond between them, its roots extending into the depths of history, and it has continued over the centuries, and its effects are still present today. […] Despite this, I repeatedly say, our people know little about your immortal civilizational efforts and their role in the growth of the civilization of the West.”
Those capable of understanding the secrets of the universe and the purpose of existence with a rationality that transcends the dialectic of contradictions and the dialectic of opposition must grasp that Syrians possess civilized and cultural awareness with a distinct and unique imprint. And most importantly, every Syrian carries his bleeding Syria in his conscience wherever he or she goes.
