Link: Map of Syria in c. 2500 BC

Change and upheaval

Ebla and northern Syria came under the rule of the great Mesopotamian ruler, Sargon of Akkad,^[9]http://www.timemaps.com/ancient-mesopotamia-history#sargon and his successors, from around 2300 BC. Ebla, indeed, was destroyed at this time, and was rebuilt on a smaller scale, never again reaching the importance it had had previously.

To the east of Ebla lay the Syrian desert, and the nomadic tribes who had lived here for centuries were the Amorites.^[10]http://www.timemaps.com/history-middle-east#amorites These began penetrating west by the end of the 3^rd millennium, possibly taking advantage of the disruption caused by the conquests of Sargon and his successors. They established themselves as rulers of cities like Ebla and Aleppo.

Aleppo became the centre of an important Amorite kingdom in northern Syria, with another kingdom based on Qatna, to the south. Both became deeply involved in the struggles between the powerful Mesopotamian kingdoms further east, coming under the influence, if not outright control, of the Babylonian empire of Hammurabi,^[11]http://www.timemaps.com/ancient-mesopotamia-history#babylon around 1750 BC. 

Link: Map of Syria in c. 1500 BC

Following the decline of Babylonian power in the area, northern Syria became a battle-ground between other great states of the late Bronze Age Middle East.^[14]http://www.timemaps.com/history-middle-east#states The first round was between the Hittites,^[15]http://www.timemaps.com/history-anatolia#hittites based in Asia Minor, and the Mitanni.

For a long time the Mitanni resisted the encroachments of the Hittites, but in the late fifteenth century BC the Hittite kingdom entered a new and aggressive phase, posing an increasing threat to the Mitanni. In response, the Mitanni kings patched up their relations with Egypt, but this was not able to save them. In 1380 BC a strong Hittite army, led by their king, invaded the Mitanni kingdom and successfully wrested huge tracts of Syrian territory from its control.

This disaster destabilized the Mitanni state, and set off a chain of coups, civil wars and secessions. In c. 1360 BC the king of Assyria, Ashur-uballit I (1365-1330 BC) was able to break free, and then, taking advantage of Mitanni weakness, occupied the eastern half of the kingdom. The Hittites quickly occupied the rest, and northern Syria thus came under the firm control of the Hittites. The Mitanni vanished from history. 

Meanwhile, given the crucial importance of the sea-borne trade to Egypt^[16]http://www.timemaps.com/ancient-egyptian-history-1000bc#4 which was centred on Byblos, it is easy to see why the kings of Egypt had become involved in trying to secure southern Syria within their sphere of influence. The southern Syrian coast and Palestine became a battle-ground between whoever ruled the north, whether Hittites or Mitanni, on the one hand, and Egypt, on the other.

Trade, imperialism and diplomacy

Egypt’s main object was to secure her trade routes with the rest of the Middle East, and to do so she had to impose her will on the many small kingdoms of Palestine and the Syrian coast. The great seaport of Byblos became the base for the Egyptian presence in the Levant, and Egyptian armies frequently campaigned in the area. They fought major wars with the northern powers, which included one of the most famous battles in ancient history, the battle of Kadesh, in 1290 BC. This was a draw between the Egyptians and Hittites, which led to the drawing of a clear demarcation line between their spheres of influence.

The Armarna letters, found in a royal archive containing over 350 diplomatic letters between the Egyptian king and foreign rulers, offer a fascinating glimpse into the international scene at this time. The king of Egypt related to the powerful kings of Babylon and the Hittites as equals (“brothers”), but to the many petty chiefs and kinglets of Palestine, he was their overlord.

The Canaanites seem to have been the pioneers of a new style of writing by developing a proto-alphabet.^[17]http://www.timemaps.com/history-of-ancient-palestine#script

Chaotic times

The period of Hittite and Egyptian domination marked the high point of Bronze Age civilization in Syria, as elsewhere. This came to an end in the chaos of the late 13^th century.^[18]http://www.timemaps.com/history-middle-east#3 The Hittite empire collapsed^[19]http://www.timemaps.com/history-anatolia#disaster around 1200 BC, though northern Syria and south-eastern Asia Minor continued to be covered by a network of small Hittite kingdoms (the “Neo-Hittites”, as modern scholars call them), which in Syria were centred on Aleppo and Carchemish.

Ugarit was destroyed by attackers from the West known as the “Sea Peoples”,^[20]http://www.timemaps.com/ancient-european-history-1000bc#2 around 1200 BC, and Byblos was also badly affected. However, new port cities came to the fore on the Syrian coast, particularly Tyre and Sidon. These were home to a Canaanite people whom the Greeks came to call the Phoenicians. They formed a loose confederacy, and grew prosperous on seaborne trade.

New peoples and kingdoms

During the troubled times at the end of the 2^nd millennium BC, Aramaean^[21]http://www.timemaps.com/history-middle-east#3 tribes (who had displaced the Amorites as the inhabitants of the Syrian desert) founded a number of small states in a broad stretch of inland territory in northern Syria. By 1000 BC, these had become well-established and stable kingdoms, notably the kingdom of Damascus. Their wealth helped the Phoenician cities of the coast, through which much of their trade passed, to become prosperous ports.

Further south, two new peoples emerged during these troubled times, The Israelites^[22]http://www.timemaps.com/history-of-ancient-palestine#israelites had migrated into the land of Canaan at an unknown date, but probably shortly after 1200 BC, bringing with them their monotheistic religion. In around 1050 BC, they established a kingdom. By 1000 BC this had acquired a new royal capital, Jerusalem. Meanwhile, on the coast, the Philistines,^[23]http://www.timemaps.com/history-of-ancient-palestine#upheaval one of the groups who had made up the “Sea Peoples”, established themselves in a group of cities including Gaza, Ashkelon and Joppa.

Link: Map of Syria in c. 1000 BC

Phoenicians, Aramaeans, Neo-Hittites and Assyrians

During this period, both the Phoenicians and Aramaeans adopted the proto-alphabet which had appeared amongst the Canaanites some centuries before. They adapted it in different ways so that two distinct alphabetic scripts emerged.

The Phoenician city-states, particularly Tyre and Sidon, flourished as the leading trading powers of the Mediteranean Sea. In this capacity, they spread Middle Eastern “know-how” to the peoples further west.^[24]http://www.timemaps.com/ancient-european-history-500bc#2 Above all, the Phoenicians introduced alphabetic writing to the Greeks.

The Greeks would add additional letters, to represent vowels, before passing their alphabet onto peoples in Asia Minor and Italy.

In Italy, it would be further developed into the Latin alphabet, which is essentially the same alphabet which is used today throughout western Europe and most of the rest of the world.

Inland from the Phoenicians, a patchwork of Aramaean and Neo-Hittite kingdoms, like those of Damascus and Aleppo, covered the region. From the mid-9th century these kingdoms came increasingly under the domination of the rising power of Assyria,^[25]http://www.timemaps.com/history-assyria#dawn and between 745 and 708 BC were one by one incorporated into the Assyrian empire.^[26]http://www.timemaps.com/history-assyria#empire The Assyrians destroyed the kingdom of Israel^[27]http://www.timemaps.com/history-of-ancient-palestine#fallofisrael in 722, and the kingdom of Judah became a vassal state, and the great Phoenician city of Sidon was raised to the ground in 677.

One important result of the conquest of the Aramaean kingdoms by the Assyrians was that the Assyrians adopted the Aramaic alphabet^[28]http://www.timemaps.com/history-middle-east#aramaic for use in everyday transactions. With the expansion of the Assyrian empire throughout the Middle East, use of this alphabet spread throughout the region, and well beyond. A version of the Aramaic alphabet was adopted in India, becoming the ancestor of most Indian scripts and of other scripts in central Asia and as far afield as South East Asia.

New empires

With the downfall of Assyria,^[29]http://www.timemaps.com/history-assyria#fall Syria again became a battle-ground, this time between the new power of Babylon and a resurgent Egypt.^[30]http://www.timemaps.com/ancient-egyptian-history#3 The Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar completely defeated the Egyptians at the battle of Carchemish in 605 BC, and the region came under the firm control of the Babylonian empire. A little later, Nebuchadnessar destroyed the kingdom of Judah,^[31]http://www.timemaps.com/history-of-ancient-palestine#fallofjudah taking thousands of its elite off to his capital, Babylon.

Syria passed into the hands of the new Persian empire when their king, Cyrus, conquered Babylon in 539 BC. One of Cyrus’ most famous acts was to restore the exiled Jews^[32]http://www.timemaps.com/history-of-ancient-palestine#restoration to their homeland, and encourage them to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem.

Under the Persian king Darius (reigned 522 to 486 BC), the whole of Syria, along with Cyprus, was organized into one great province, or satrapy, with Damascus as its capital. The states of the region became vassals of the Persians, allowed to run their internal affairs and maintain their trade so long as they remained loyal to the Persian Great King (as represented by the satrap of Syria). The Phoenicians were used by the Persian government to build, man and lead their powerful navy.

The Persians gave the region peace for more than a hundred and fifty years. In the mid-4th century, however, the Phoenician cities rebelled. The defeat of the rebellion ended in the destruction of the wealthy city of Sidon in 345 BC.

Link: Map of Syria in c. 500 BC

A new civilization

Just a decade later, Alexander the Great began his conquest of the Persian empire, and Syria had fallen to him by 332 (after a seven month seige of Tyre).

In the struggles for control of Alexander’s conquests after his death in 323 BC, his general Seleucus ended up in control of northern Syria, and Ptolemy, another of Alexander’s generals, whose power was based in Egypt, had control of the south.

Under Seleucus and his successors (known as the “Seleucids”), northern Syria soon became a centre of Hellenistic civilization. They founded many Greek-style cities, including their capital, Antioch, which was soon one of the largest cities in the Mediterranean world. They attracted many Greeks to settle in these cities (though under the firm control of the Seleucid king). The old Phoenician cities of Tyre, Sidon, Byblos and Aradus also took on a predominantly Hellenistic veneer over time.

Hellenistic civilization penetrated much less effectively in southern Syria, which remained mostly under native kings ruling as vassals of the kings of Egypt, the Ptolemies. The Jews remained located in and around Jerusalem,^[33]http://www.timemaps.com/history-of-ancient-palestine#hellenistic under a line of hereditary chief priests.

Soon after 200 BC the Seleucid king Antiochus the Great succeeded in taking the southern part of Syria from Ptolemaic control. His successor, Antiochus Epiphanes, tried to impose Hellenistic culture on the inhabitants of this area. This attempt backfired, most notably in the successful rebellion of the Jews against Seleucid rule and the establishment of a new Jewish kingdom.^[34]http://www.timemaps.com/history-of-ancient-palestine#maccabbees

Link: Map of Syria in c. 200 BC

The rise of Roman power

By this time, in fact, Seleucid power was in general decline as constant civil wars destabilized the kingdom. The Parthians, an Iranian people originally from the steppes of central Asia, took all the Seleucids’ eastern territories away from them. Closer to home, southern Syria returned to native rule – including the independent Jewish state – and finally the north fell to foreign conquerors, first Tigranes, king of Armenia (in 83 BC), and then the Romans^[35]http://www.timemaps.com/history-of-ancient-rome#7 under their general Pompey the Great (64-63 BC). Pompey went on to bring the rest of Syria under his control by conquering the kingdom of Judaea.^[36]http://www.timemaps.com/history-of-ancient-palestine#romans

The Romans left things more or less as they had been before, with much of Syria under native dynasties, now client kings of the Romans. The main threat the Romans faced in Syria was from the east, where a major new empire had emerged, under Parthian rule. The Roman army had to deal with Parthian invasions in 51–50 and 40–39 BC. The Roman and Parthian empires divided most of the Middle East^[37]http://www.timemaps.com/history-middle-east#6 between them.

Link: Map of Syria in c. 30 BC

Roman Syria

Syria was one of the most important provinces in the Roman empire.^[38]http://www.timemaps.com/roman-empire It was governed by a very senior official, responsible not only for maintaining law and order in the province, and other civil duties, but also for commanding an army of three or four legions.

Most of the native rulers were gradually “retired” and their territories brought under the direct authority of Rome; to cope with this administratively, Judaea and Arabia became separate Roman provinces, and in 196 the province of Syria itself was divided into two, Syria Coele and Syria Phoenice.

Under Roman rule, the inhabitants of Syria experienced a long period of peace and prosperity. Roman Syria boasted many magnificent cities, major centres of trade and industry.

Above all, Antioch was one of the largest cities in the empire, with a population probably in the region of 200,000, vast at that time.

The culture of the upper classes in the cities remained Hellenistic, with the Latin culture of the Roman rulers making little headway.

Syrian cities were also important cultural centres, with schools of rhetoric, law and medicine.

Despite their Hellenistic culture, Roman citizenship spread widely amongst the upper classes of Syrian cities. By the second century, indeed, members of leading Syrian families were entering the Roman senate and becoming integral members of the empire’s ruling elite.

In the countryside and amongst the lower classes of the towns, most people still spoke Aramaic. Life presumably did not change much for them, with the proviso that they experienced peace for generations.

Jews and Christians

The main episodes which disturbed the peace of the region were two fierce Jewish revolts,^[39]http://www.timemaps.com/history-of-ancient-palestine#rebellion in AD 66-70 and 133-6. After the latter one, the Jews were banned from living in Palestine.

By that time, a new religion,^[40]http://www.timemaps.com/history-of-ancient-palestine#christianity which would in due course become one of the greatest faiths in world history, had come out of Judaea and was spreading rapidly round the Roman world. This was Christianity, founded by Jesus of Nazareth, who lived c. 4 BC to AD 30. The Syrian provinces became some of the most Christianized provinces of the empire.

In the late 2nd century a destructive plague spread through the region (c. 160). Many communities lost up to a third of their inhabitants, and some would never reach pre-plague population levels again until modern times.

Link: Map of Syria in c. AD 200

Syria under the later Roman empire

The Syrian provinces experienced invasions from the East in the 3^rd century.^[41]http://www.timemaps.com/roman-empire-crisis#crisis To the east, the Parthain empire was replaced by a better organized and more aggressive Persian empire,^[42]http://www.timemaps.com/history-middle-east#sas in 224.

In 260, a Roman army met with a catastrophic defeat at the hands of the Persians, and the Roman emperor, Valerian, was taken prisoner.

In the power vacuum that followed the defeat, Odeonathus, the king of the border city of Palmyra, became the leading figure in organizing the defences of the eastern frontier of the empire, but was assassinated in 267.

He was succeeded by his wife, queen, Zenobia, who threw off Roman rule and set herself up as an independent ruler.

Zenobia’s breakaway regime lasted until 273, when a new emperor, Aurelian, defeated her armies and brought the east back under Roman authority (Zenobia herself was paraded in triumph in Rome, but then married a Roman senator!).

With the unity of the Roman empire restored,^[43]http://www.timemaps.com/roman-empire-crisis#recovery peace and prosperity returned to the Syrian provinces, though not perhaps at the same level as in the earlier empire.

The region became again a centre of trade and industry, and of a lively cultural life. Further Persian invasions did some damage, but each time were soon pushed back.

In the 5^th century, while the western provinces were enduring massive German invasions which eventually led to the end of Roman rule there, the inhabitants of the Syrian provinces were enjoying a comparatively tranquil time, with no major Persian raids.

The Later Roman^[44]http://www.timemaps.com/history-later-roman-empire government was greatly preoccupied with the threat from beyond its eastern frontiers, and massive border defences were built up, with much greater troop numbers than in the early empire.

The Romans also recruited an Arab tribe, the Ghazzanids, to act as a forward defence. Ghazzanid scouts patrolled the desert, securing the Roman border from any surprise invasion or disturbance. The Persian government had likewise recruited the Lakhmid tribe to the same role on its behalf. Between them, these two tribes came to dominate a large area of northern Arabia.