The
Syrian Gates, also known as the
Belen Pass , is a mountain pass located in the Belen District of
Hatay ProvinceHatay is a province of southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast, with Syria to the south and east and the Turkish provinces of Adana and Osmaniye to the north. The province was annexed from the Ottoman Empire by France after World War I. In 1938, the province declared independence from France...
in south-central
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
. The narrow pass through the
Nur MountainsThe Nur Mountains The Nur Mountains The Nur Mountains , also known as Amanus or Gâvur Mountains is a mountain range in the Hatay Province of south-central Turkey, which runs roughly parallel to the Gulf of İskenderun....
, said to be 300 paces across, is the most important route from the coastal region of
CiliciaIn antiquity, Cilicia now known as Çukurova, was a commonly used name of the south coastal region of Asia Minor south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
to inland
SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....
.
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The
Syrian Gates, also known as the
Belen Pass , is a mountain pass located in the Belen District of
Hatay ProvinceHatay is a province of southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast, with Syria to the south and east and the Turkish provinces of Adana and Osmaniye to the north. The province was annexed from the Ottoman Empire by France after World War I. In 1938, the province declared independence from France...
in south-central
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
. The narrow pass through the
Nur MountainsThe Nur Mountains The Nur Mountains The Nur Mountains , also known as Amanus or Gâvur Mountains is a mountain range in the Hatay Province of south-central Turkey, which runs roughly parallel to the Gulf of İskenderun....
, said to be 300 paces across, is the most important route from the coastal region of
CiliciaIn antiquity, Cilicia now known as Çukurova, was a commonly used name of the south coastal region of Asia Minor south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
to inland
SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....
.
The pass is perhaps best known as the point through which
Alexander the GreatAlexander III of Macedon, popularly known as Alexander the Great , was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history...
pursued the forces of
Darius III of PersiaDarius III was the last king of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia from 336 BC to 330 BC...
after the
Battle of IssusThe Battle of Issus occurred in southern Anatolia, in November 333 BC. The invading troops, led by the young Alexander of Macedonia, defeated the army personally led by Darius III of Achaemenid Persia in the second great battle for primacy in Asia...
. Also near the western end of the pass is the Pillar of Jonah, where the prophet
JonahJonah is the name given in the Hebrew Bible to a prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the 8th century BC, the central character in the Book of Jonah famous for being swallowed by a fish...
was supposedly disgorged by the whale that had swallowed him.
On July 28, 1832, a
major battleThe First Turko-Egyptian War was brought about by Muhammad Ali Pasha's demand for control of Syria as reward for his assistance against Greece....
took place at the pass between the
OttomanThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
and
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
ian armies, where the forces of
Ibrahim Pasha of EgyptIbrahim Basha , a 19th century general of Egypt. He is better known as the son of Muhammad Ali of Egypt...
defeated the Ottomans.