Appliqués au « Palais de Trajan » (Bosra, Syrie du Sud), les moyens de l’architecture comparée et de l’archéologie sont mis en œuvre pour restituer dans ses formes et son emploi cette vaste résidence urbaine de l’Antiquité Tardive. Les relevés précisent les procédés constructifs et constatent leur variété, les fouilles mettent au jour des thermes privés, équipement luxueux, le matériel exhumé permet de dater la construction des bâtiments et apporte des indications sur le décor disparu, le mode de vie ou la personnalité de ses habitants. Comparer cette architecture avec celle de la région basaltique et d’autres grandes villes de l’Empire aide à interpréter les vestiges et à restituer, au moins hypothétiquement et à l’aide d’une maquette numérique, les parties abolies. Sa taille et le raffinement de ses bâtiments, la présence d’une salle triconque et de bains privés, des couvertures en coupole nécessairement restituées, autorisent à promouvoir l’édifice en résidence officielle. L’inventaire des monuments fréquentés et édifiés alors, édifices publics, éléments urbains, sanctuaires, et l’analyse de leur position dans la ville participent à définir le rang de ce palais et à identifier ses occupants. C’est finalement sa proximité avec la plus grande église de Bosra, plus qu’une mise en parallèle avec les quelques groupes épiscopaux contemporains avérés, qui, l’affectant éventuellement au patrimoine de l’Église, soutient l’hypothèse d’y voir le palais de fonction du métropolite. En outre, cette revue du paysage de Bosra au VIe siècle met en lumière la diversité des monuments, celle des sources disponibles pour les approcher et ouvre des perspectives pour les recherches futures. / The disciplines of comparative architecture and archaeology are combined in this study of the “Trajan’s Palace”, vast urban residence from the Late Antique Period in Bosra, southern Syria. The surveys detail the variety of the construction processes, the excavations highlight the luxuriousness of the private thermal baths, while the small finds not only provide positive dates for the various construction phases, but also evidence of decorative features no longer extant, together with the personality and lifestyle of the occupants. A comparison of the architecture with that of other edifices from the basalt region and other major cities throughout the Roman Empire supports an interpretation of the remains and, with the assistance of a digital model, the reconstruction, at least hypothetically, of the missing sections. The size and refinement of constructions, the presence of a triconchos and private bath, together with restored domes, endorse the identification of the building as an official residence. An inventory of other monuments in use or constructed at that time, public buildings, urban elements, and sanctuaries, and an analysis of its position in the city help to specify the rank of this palace and to identify its occupants. Finally, itsproximity to the largest church in Bosra, rather than a comparison with other known contemporary episcopal complexes, possibly assigning it to the Church’s heritage, sustains the hypothesis that it was the official palace of the metropolitan see. This review of the Bosra landscape highlights the diversity of the monuments and the variety of sources available to study them, while opening prospects for future investigation and study.

Cette thèse cherche à étudier les rapports entre le pouvoir et les soufis en Syrie et en Égypte à l'époque de Nûr al-Dîn (1154-1174) et de son successeur Saladin (1174-1193). En cette seconde moitié du XIIe siècle, les croisades et la lutte contre les Fatimides et leur idéologie firent de la présence des soufis et des mystiques sur ces territoires une opportunité pour les gouvernants en quête de légitimité. Différents groupes de soufis originaires d'Iran, du Caucase, de Jazîra, du Maghreb et d'al-Andalus convergèrent alors vers ces territoires centraux du dâr al-Islam pour participer à la vie religieuse et soutenir la politique religieuse de ces princes. Les contacts entre le pouvoir et les shaykh; soufis furent alors nombreux et ces derniers se virent confier un certain nombre de missions, notamment diplomatiques, les impliquant directement dans la vie politique. Une politique de construction de lieux d'accueil (ribât et khânqâh) pour les soufis financés par des waqf mobilisa les souverains ainsi que les hommes et les femmes de leur entourage. L’histoire de ces fondations soutenues par le pouvoir est au centre de cette thèse qui cherche aussi à comprendre le mode de vie de ces populations et à étudier les conséquences qu’eut cette ingérence du pouvoir sur la vie matérielle des mystiques au sein de leur structure d'accueil. / This thesis seeks to study the relationship between the authorities and the Sufis in Syria and Egypt in the time of Nûr al-Dîn (1154-1174) and his successor Saladin (1174-1193). In the second half of the twelfth century, the Crusades and the conflict against the Fatimids and their ideology made of the presence of the Sufis and Mystics on these territories an opportunity for rulers in search of legitimacy. Different groups of Sufis from Iran, the Caucasus, the Jazîra, the Maghreb and al-Andalus converged to these central territories of the dâr al-Islâm to take part in religious life and support the religious policy of these princes. Contacts between the authorities and the Sufi shaykh were numerous and the latter were entrusted with a number of missions, including diplomatic missions, directly involving them in political life. A building policy of hosting structures (ribât and khânqâh) for the Sufis, supported by the waqf, mobilized the rulers as well as the men and women of their entourage. The history of these foundations supported by the authorities is at the center of this thesis which also seeks to understand the way of life of these populations and to study the consequences that the interference of the authorities had on the material life of the mystics within their hosting structures.

Unable to enact change through the existing political institutions of their authoritarian regimes, and consistently repressed by state security forces (the mukhabarat), activists in Egypt and Syria relied on street activism to challenge their conditions. This study analyzes the Arab Spring uprisings in Egypt and Syria through the conceptual lens of a rhizome. Rhizomatic movements are horizontal, grassroots, and allow for the networking of local community-specific grievances, into larger national movements. This networking allows opposition members groups to build solidarity, construct collective identities, and develop a set of shared goals, strategies, and tactics. Furthermore, it provides for the transcendence of existing societal divides (such as religious, ideological, political, socio-cultural, and class), allowing participants to unite as a single force. Since a rhizome is horizontal and lacks a fixed structure, they are significantly more difficult to dismantle, as there is not a set leadership or hierarchy to target. Importantly, this rhizomatic logic integrates itself within the notion of viewing movements within larger cycles of protest or waves of contention. Rhizomatic movements are built through the praxis of networking, rather than through ideological networking. As such, the conditions and history of opposition movements provides important analytical considerations. This study, using process tracing, argues that the Egyptian revolution was rhizomatic in nature and thus able to pose a significant enough force to challenge Mubarak's regime. Although faced with brutal repression, activists remained coordinated, interconnected, and continued to mobilize. Conversely, the Syrian opposition, plagued by years of in-fighting among activists, was unable to develop as a rhizomatic force. Activists failed to sufficiently network, build collective identities, and develop common tactics. This hindered their ability to appeal to and mobilize large segments of the population that were discontent with Assad but still viewed him as the best option for their own interests. When faced with systematic suppression by Assad's regime, the opposition faltered, returning to their own respective individual self-interests and goals, allowing the regime to fragment their attempts at mobilization.

This thesis examines the turn to conflict in Syria during 2011 to see if it is revolutionary in nature and if so, why has it not succeeded? This thesis aims to analyze the anatomy of Syria's "revolution" in order to determine the causes behind the initial popular mobilization and transition to conflict. Then, further analysis of the essential elements of successful revolutionary movements will be undertaken to reveal what conditions remain unmet for Syria to culminate in a full revolutionary transformation. Special attention will be paid to the revolutionary Opposition itself, since, to date, it has proved unable to generate the power necessary to destroy the old order and rebuild a new system. The significant role of external intervention will also be addressed, since these forces have simultaneously helped cause the conflict, prolong the conflict and prop up the regime. Finally, the negative consequences of undertaking a revolutionary process, especially when left only partially complete, will be highlighted throughout the study. Syria's own "rise of the radicals," has manifested itself in the phenomenon of ISIL or ISIS, which has proven the strongest and most violent Opposition group to emerge from Syria's revolutionary environment.

This study explores the impact of economic downturn in the EU-27 on Syrian trade and the sensitivity of oil and petroleum products to this downturn. This is carried out using a derivation of the gravity model to determine the export demand. Syrian export with its top 30 trading partners as well as the EU-27 are taken into consideration along with various other trade determinants when measuring the changes in total export volume. The study finds that EU-27 is an important source of demand for Syria, but a downturn in the EU economy will not necessarily have a detrimental effect on Syrian economy. On the other hand, oil plays a far more important role on the country’s exports and its demand is less sensitive to economic fluctuations.

This thesis analyses the return of the relocated Armenians and resettlement of them in former their hometowns between the years 1918 and 1920, with special reference to the relative archival materials. Upon the permission given for their return on the last days of the World War I, most of the relocated Armenians did return either with the help of the Ottoman government or by their own means. The first chapter of the thesis is devoted to the preliminary developments which were influential in taking of the return decision by the Ottoman government. The following chapter elaborates the return of the Armenians from the relocation residences to their former hometowns. In the third chapter, the resettlement process and the government&rsquo / s attempts for care of the returnees are examined. Because it was completed in the most disastrous years of the Ottoman Empire, the return of the Armenians properly reflects the postwar Ottoman panorama with its administrative, financial and social aspects. The postwar Allied interference with and pressures on the Empire are also observable through the return and resettlement processes.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Near Easten Languages and Cultures, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

This project offers an alternative perspective on the appearance of new forms of political community, types of social solidarities, and intellectual spaces in the French Mandate in Syria. Most previous scholarship on this period pivots on the presumption of once-and-future nationalisms as the driving historical force. The argument here articulates this history by reinscribing it into a wartime and postwar landscape of physical destruction and mass social, intellectual, and economic trauma. Through a close examination of wide variety of French and Arabic primary sources, this project emphasizes the traumatic origins of political communities and solidarities in the space of historic Greater Syria especially the area of the French Mandate of Syria. Arising initially out of the mass physical and institutional destruction of the First World War, this situation was reified by the persistence of manifold forms of French physical, economic, and intellectual violence. While recognizing the eventual nationalist historical outcomes, this project challenges the accepted primacy of its role in defining the historical period it emerged out of. The driving historical force in this period was not an amorphous nationalism but a shattered society’s intense political, social, economic, and intellectual anxieties about their current and future place in a vastly changed world. This defined the political shape Syria would assume and better explains how Syria and the region as a whole arrived at a nationalist historical outcome. / text

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