Jund al-Urdunn
The new rulers divided Syria into four districts ("junds"): Jund Dimashq (Damascus), Jund Hims, Jund al-Urdunn (Jordan), and Jund Filastin (Palestine) (to which a fifth, Jund Qinnasrin, was later added) and the Arab garrisons were kept apart in camps, and life went on much as before for the local population. The Muslims tolerated the Jews and Christians; indeed, Nestorian and Jacobite Christians were treated better under the Muslims than under the Byzantines. The taxes instituted were the "kharaj", which landowners and peasants paid according to the productivity of their fields, and the "jizya", paid by non-Muslims in return for state protection and exemption from military service. The Byzantine civil service was retained until a new system could be instituted; therefore, Greek remained the administrative language in the new Muslim territories for over 50 years after the conquests.