Coelesy´ria, the hollow Syria. This name, which is evidently of Grecian origin in the times of the Seleucidae, was originally applied to the valley lying between the mountain-ranges of Libanus and Anti-Libanus. It was also used to denote the whole tract of country (with the exception of Judea and Phoenicia) reaching from Seleucis to Arabia and the confines of Egypt. In the time of David, Coelesyria was probably included in 'Syria of Damascus,' which was conquered by that monarch (), but recovered from Solomon by Rezon the son of Eliadah (). The possession of it was an object of many struggles between the Seleucida and the kings of Egypt. Bochart supposes that Syrophoenicia is the same as Coelesyria. Scythopolis and Gadara are mentioned by Josephus as cities of Coelesyria. Under the Emperor Dioclesian, Phoenice and Coelesyria formed one province, called Phoenicia Libanica. Under the present Turkish government the western part of Coelesyria is in the Pashalic of Saide, and the eastern in the Pashalic of Damascus.
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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