The Ansariyehs
The Ansariyehs, or Nusariyehs, form an important group among northern Syrians. Their settlements are generally confined to the grassy seaward slopes of the mountains stretching north of the Nahr-el-Kebir towards the Gulf of Alexandretta. They also occupy villages in the plains surrounding Antioch. In recent years they have shown a tendency to abandon their mountain homes for the less arduous life of the plains. Officially they are regarded as Mohammedans and bear Mohammedan names, but the religion which differentiates them from the other inhabitants of northern Syria teaches Christian and Sabean doctrines alike. It is believed that they still maintain observances of exceedingly ancient nature cults. The fundamental principles of their creed are transmitted by word of mouth and with injunction to secrecy.[244] Their deification of the conception of fertility is couched in highly metaphorical language in which the productivity of the earth and of the human race is extolled. By making proper allowance for the imagery which clothes the wording of their prayers it will probably be found that their religion resolves itself into a relic of the worship of the mother-goddess which was deeply rooted throughout the mountain districts of Asia Minor. Hints of nocturnal orgies accompanying their worship should be taken with a grain of suspicion, as orthodox Mohammedans are prone to such imputations whenever dissension from the Koran is suspected. In this Mohammedans merely follow the lead of Byzantine Christians in whose eyes the relics of Anatolian paganism were as obnoxious as the heresies of their own times.
The ancestors of the Ansariyehs and other small sects in northern Syria were closely related to their powerful Hittite neighbors. These peoples all occupy, together with the Druzes and Maronites, the southern limit of known Hittite monuments.[245] Their land is the frontier zone between Syria, Asia Minor and the Armenian highland. It is studded with ruined strongholds which figured prominently in ancient battle.