Syria and Ancient Civilizations


Ancient History

Archaeologists have demonstrated that civilization in Syria was one of the most ancient on earth. Around the excavated city of Ebla in northern Syria, an Italian mission led by Prof. Paolo Matthiae discovered in 1975, a great Semitic empire spread from the Red Sea north to Turkey and east to Mesopotamia from 2500 to 2400 BC Ebla appears to have been founded around 3000 BC and gradually built its empire through trade with the cities of Sumer and Akkad, as well as with peoples to the northwest. Gifts from Pharaoh found during excavations confirm Ebla's contact with Egypt. Scholars believe the language of Ebla to be among the oldest known written Semitic languages. The Eblan civilization was likely conquered by Sargon of Akkad around 2260 BC; the city was restored as the nation of the Amorites a few centuries later and flourished through the early second millennium BC until conquered by the Hittites.

During the second millennium BC, Syria was occupied successively by Canaanites, Phoenicians, and Arameans as part of the general disruptions associated with the Sea Peoples. The Hebrews eventually settled south of Damascus, in the areas later known as Palestine; the Phoenicians settled along the coastline of these areas as well as in the west (Now Lebanon & The current Syrian cost), in the area already known for its cedars. Egyptians, Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Hittites variously occupied the strategic ground of Syria during this period, as it was a marchland between their various empires. Eventually the Persians took control of Syria as part of their general control of Southwest Asia; this control transferred to the Greeks after Alexander the Great's conquests and thence to the Romans and the Byzantines.

Roman Syria

Phillippus Araps (Roman Emperor) -detail of Syrian 100 pound note Syria was Roman (Byzantine) province from 64 BC to 636 AD.
In the Roman period, the great city of Antioch (called "the Athens of the east" at that time) was the capital of Syria. It was one of the largest cities in the ancient world, with a total estimated population of 500,000, as well as one of the largest centers of trade and industry. As one of the wealthiest and more populous provinces of the Roman Empire, it is estimated that the population of Syria in the early Roman Empire was only exceeded in the 19th century.
In the 3rd century Syria was home to Elagabalus, a Roman emperor of the Severan dynasty who reigned from 218 to 222. Elagabalus' family held hereditary rights to the priesthood of the sun god El-Gabal, of whom Elagabalus was the high priest at Emesa (modern Hims) in Syria.
Syria is significant in the history of Christianity; Paul was converted on the Road to Damascus and established the first organized Christian Church at Antioch in ancient Syria, from which he left on many of his missionary journeys.

Umayyad Caliphate

In 616 Syria was subjugated for a brief period by the Persian Khosrau II; from 622 till 628 it was again Byzantine; 636 and the immediately following years saw its conquest by the Muslims (see Battle of Yarmuk). Muawiya I, the first Omayyad caliph, chose Damascus for his residence. Syria formed the central part of the Umayyad empire. Syria was divided into the following military districts (junds):
  • Filistin (Palestine), consisting of Judaea, Samaria and a portion of the territory east of Jordan; its capital was Ramleh, Jerusalem ranking next.
  • Urdunn (Jordan), with capital in Tiberias; roughly speaking, it consisted of the rest of Palestine as far as Tyre.
  • Damascus, which included Damascus, Baalbek, Tripoli and Beirut.
  • Hims, including Hama.
  • Kinnesrin, corresponding to northern Syria; the capital at first was Kinnesrin (Qinnasrin) to the south of Aleppo, by which it was afterwards superseded.
  • The sixth district was the military frontier (awasim) bordering upon the Byzantine dominions in Asia Minor.
During the struggles of the Islamic dynasties for the possession of Syria the country still enjoyed a considerable degree of prosperity. In 750, it came under Abbasid dominion, losing prominence owing to the move of the Abbasid capital to Baghdad.

From the Abbasids to the Ottomans

From 960 to c. 1020 the Byzantine Empire launched a string of successful counter-attacks, capturing Antioch, Tarsus, and Aleppo (twice). Under John Tzimiskes Syria was completely overrun; Damascus itself, the former capital of the Islamic world, was captured, although only for a brief period. The invasion of Seljuk Turks in the latter half of the 11th century put an end to Byzantine Syria. Nonetheless the majority of the population remained Christian, allowing for a significant pool of Turcopoles to be raised in the Crusader armies. In the late 11th century, Syria was conquered first by the Seljuks and then carved between Turkmen tribes and participants of the first Crusade. In time, the Islamic part of Syria expanded up to the Orontes river and became a center of anti-crusader activity, especially for Zengi, Nur ad-Din and his successor and rival, Saladin. Even so, sections of the coastline of Syria were briefly held by Frankish crusader states. In the 13th century, the first Mongols arrived, destroying cities and irrigation works. By the end of the 15th century, the discovery of a sea route from Europe to the Far East ended the need for an overland trade route through Syria.

Syria under Ottoman rule

Syrian dress from the late 19th century. Shattered by the Mongols, Syria was part of the Ottoman Empire from the 16th through 20th centuries, and found itself largely apart from, and ignored by, world affairs. It reached the population it had in late Antiquity only in the 1960s. After World War I, the Ottoman Empire was dissolved, and in 1922 the League of Nations split the dominion of the former Syria between two countries: the United Kingdom received Transjordan and Palestine, and France received what was to become modern-day Syria and Lebanon.

French occupation

The States of the French Mandate. In 1920, an independent Arab Kingdom of Syria was established under King Faisal of the Hashemite family, who later became the King of Iraq. However, his rule over Syria ended after only a few months, following the clash between his Syrian Arab forces and regular French forces at the Battle of Maysalun. French troops occupied Syria later that year after the League of Nations put Syria under French mandate. In 1925, Syrian resistance to French colonial rule broke out in full scale revolt. Despite French attempts to maintain control by encouraging sectarian divisions and isolating urban and rural areas, the revolt spread from the countryside and united Syrian Druze, Sunnis, Shiites, Allawis, and Christians. Once the rebel forces had besieged Damascus, the French military responded with brutal counter-insurgency techniques that prefigured those that would be used later in Algeria and Indo-China. These techniques included house demolitions, collective punishments of towns, executions, population transfers, and the use of heavy armor in urban neighborhoods. The revolt was eventually subdued via French aerial bombardment of civilian areas, including Damascus.

Syria and France negotiated a treaty of independence in September 1936, and Hashim al-Atassi, who was Prime Minister under King Faisal's brief reign, was the first president to be elected under a new constitution, effectively the first incarnation of the modern republic of Syria. However, France reneged on the treaty and refused to ratify it. With the fall of France in 1940 during World War II, Syria came under the control of the Vichy Government until the British and Free French occupied the country in July 1941. Syria proclaimed its independence again in 1941 but it wasn't until January 1, 1944 that it was recognized as an independent republic. On February 26, 1945 Syria declared war on Germany and Japan. Continuing pressure from Syrian nationalist groups and British pressure forced the French to evacuate their troops in April 1946, leaving the country in the hands of a republican government that had been formed during the mandate.