Every Day Is Special: October 6 - War "Holidays" in Egypt and Syria

October 6 - War "Holidays" in Egypt and Syria

Posted October 6, 2019

This is a tough write-up to create, because it involves the Middle East - and there has been so much racism, religious bigotry, hatred, violence, warfare, terrorism, and sectarianism (too much attachment to one particular version of a religion, or to one particular political party, or any other "sect") in that region of the world.

For millennia.

On this date in 1973, the combined forces of Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel. It was the beginning of the war called the Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War, October War, or the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.

Even though Israel was the military winner, the Arab forces did well enough that their confidence was boosted and the outside world put pressure on both sides to engage with peace talks. It was at the 1978 Camp David Accord that there was the first peaceful recognition of Israel by an Arab country.

Today is celebrated as Armed Forces Day in Egypt and as the Anniversary of October Liberation War in Syria.

Compare Egypt and Syria...

Egypt is about five times larger than Syria, and much richer as a nation - AND richer per person - as well.

Even though both countries are located in "the Middle East," they are on different continents. Egypt is in Africa, and Syria is in Asia.

The Ancient Egyptian civilization is sooooo well known - pyramids, pharaohs, and even particular people like Nefertiti, King Tut, and Cleopatra are still famous today!

But ancient Syria was a big deal to the human species; it is considered to be a part of the "cradle of civilization." This region was one of the centers of Neolithic culture, and agriculture and cattle breeding seem to have appeared there first in the entire world. The ancient Syrian kingdom of Ebla isn't well known by most of us, but the land now known as Syria was also part of the better known Assyrian and Hittite Empires. It was later annexed by Cyrus the Great, then Alexander the Great, and then finally Pompey the Great - thus becoming part of the Achaemenid, Greek Macedonian, and Roman Empires.

Both Egypt and Syria are considered Arab countries; Arabic is the official language of both nations, and Islam is the now most common religion in both places. (Obviously, there were other religions practiced in all those ancient civilizations!)

Egypt is not only richer than Syria, it is much more powerful in the world and more peaceful and stable. As a matter of fact, Syria ranks last in the Global Peace Index, because there is so much violence and war there. (Outside forces and influences have unfortunately added to the level of violence.)

Both nations have a lot of arid territory - arid plateaus, deserts - but both nations have some Mediterranean coastline and important rivers.