I enjoyed the quiz, but I didn't get the meaning of this clue "Most populous city within the city limits"... I merely typed Aleppo because I guessed that it would be an answer.
Yes, I assumed you wanted the most populous city within Damascus, and gave up. Then I guessed Aleppo as the 3rd largest city, and I fluked the point for the other question!
Well apparently I don't need outside help to be confusified.. I couldn't think of mediterranean and also didn't come up with assyria! made me feel pretty stupid, but let's stick to confused.. I missed a few more, but those didn't make me feel stupid.
I was about to post a similar comment, but then I searched for more information on wikipedia. Apparently there are two similar, but distinct (?) sects. There are the Alawites (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alawites) and then there are the Alevis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alevism). Even on the Wiki-page about the Alawites it says that they are often confused with the Alevis.
Hi. Great quiz. I'm from Syria and I feel that describing the Alawites as a "Minority branch of Islam to which the ruling class of Syria belongs" is inaccurate and objectionable in my opinion. There isn't a true "ruling class" in Syria, the power lies almost solely in the hands of the Dictator President, and certainly not one from a specific religious sect. This also implies that Alawites are somehow a previlleged class which they definetely are not, the majority are poor farmers in the coastal country side whereas the wealth of the country is more concentrated in the Sunnis and others living in the big cities. The president of Syria is Alawite and the high millitary ranks are largely populated by Alawites (because the president believes that they would be less likely to turn against him) but other than that the Syrian government is quite nonsectarian. You could instead rephrase the question as "Minority branch of Islam to which the Syrian President belongs". Hope you agree.
There is some historical basis to the phrasing of the clue as the French were playing different factions within Syria off of each other and chose to elevate a minority within the country for political reasons. But.. that was a while ago and now I think you are right, it's not the Alawites generally that are in control it's just the Assad family and it's been that way for a long time.
Its probably different now. I would guess that Damascus became the most populated city and Lattakia would probably be the third since both saw an increase in population from people fleeing other cities like Aleppo and Homs but the truth is nobody knows not even the Syrian government since a census would be out of the question now
I believe Aleppo is no longer the most populous city as a result of the conflict. It might be better to rephrase the question as "Syria's second city famed for historic trading links" or something.
Well apparently I don't need outside help to be confusified.. I couldn't think of mediterranean and also didn't come up with assyria! made me feel pretty stupid, but let's stick to confused.. I missed a few more, but those didn't make me feel stupid.
tl;dr: Alawites =/= Alevis
Good quiz. Very easy for this amateur Assyriologist. Fascinating region.
My dictionary says it is the correct one