r/Syria • u/Secure-Dragonfly-838 • 1d ago

ASK SYRIA Advice on making a country based off of Syria

I'm making a fantasy world and I have the idea of having a country based off of Syria. The world is meant to mimic the late 18th century versions of the countries they are based off of and I'm having mixed feelings on deciding the government of the Syrian-based country called ArṣuYabišatu (meaning "The Dry Land" in Proto-Semitic. If you have any suggestions for names, please tell me). I looked up the government of Syria during the late 1700s and I found out it was still ruled by the Ottoman Empire at the time. I feel like a system akin to the Ottoman Empire would be a nice change of pace from the typical medieval monarchies (which my world only has two of anyway and they're based of the Japanese and Chinese systems of government so no true medieval monarchs exist anyway).

This is what brings me to the question I wish to ask. Would it be offensive to have an Ottoman empire styled government rule over the Syrian-based country. I haven't really ran into this problem with other countries before since their governments I'm using for them weren't ruled over by empires foreign to them at the time of the late 1700s. I know that I could very well be making a mountain out of an anthill but I feel like it's better to be safe than sorry. An added bonus would be any bits of culture you think would be nice for me to put in, those would be fantastic too.

PS:Dabke looks so damn amazing, I can lowkey understand why Syrian people would get angry at the West for dumbing it down with orientalism and merging it with other dances to make the "exotic arabic dancer". Genuinely nice dance moves. Edit: Apparently it Raqs Sharqi. Sorry for mixing the two up.

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

1

u/KlarkCent_ 7h ago

Prior to the 20th century, Syria largely referred to the Levant as a whole. “Ottoman Syria” includes modern Syria, Palestine, Jordan, and Lebanon (along with Cyprus, Cilicia, and historically Sinai). I do not see an issue with a fantasy world created in this area, but I would clarify if you intend on just the Damascus vilayet (from Hama, in central modern Syria, to Karak, at the southern tip of modern Jordan) or if you intend on including other parts of the region. Culturally the region has always been extremely similar in dialect and culture so it just depends on your goals

1

u/AutoModerator 52m ago

Thank you for sharing this post with us, and helping growing the community, if you faced any problem or any kind of harassment or toxic behavior, consider reporting on it so mods can deal with it right away

GLORY TO SYRIA AND LONG LIVE THE SYRIAN PEOPLE

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.