Ancient Syria: A Three Thousand Year History

Description

Syria has long been one of the most trouble-prone and politically volatile regions of the Near and Middle Eastern world. This book looks back beyond the troubles of the present to tell the 3000-year story of what came before: the peoples, cities, and kingdoms that arose, flourished, declined, and disappeared in the lands that now constitute Syria, from the time of the region's earliest written records in the third millennium BC, right through to the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian in the early 4th century AD. Across the centuries, from the Bronze Age to Imperial Rome, we encounter a vast array of characters and civilizations, enlivening, enriching, and besmirching the annals of Syrian history: Hittite and Assyrian Great Kings; Egyptian pharaohs; Amorite robber-barons; the biblically notorious Nebuchadnezzar; Persia's Cyrus the Great and Macedon's Alexander the Great; the rulers of the Seleucid empire; and an assortment of Rome's most distinguished and most infamous emperors. All swept across the plains of Syria at some point in her long history. All contributed, in one way or another, to Syria's special, distinctive character, as they imposed themselves upon it, fought one another within it, or pillaged their way through it. But this is not just a history of invasion and oppression. Syria had great rulers of her own, native-born Syrian luminaries, sometimes appearing as local champions who sought to liberate their lands from foreign despots, sometimes as cunning, self-seeking manipulators of squabbles between their overlords. They culminate with Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, whose life provides a fitting grand finale to the first three millennia of this ancient civilization. And yet the long story of Syria does not end with the mysterious fate of Queen Zenobia. The conclusion looks forward to the Muslim conquest in the 7th century AD: in many ways the opening chapter in the equally complex and often troubled history of modern Syria. Cover ANCIENT SYRIA: A THREE THOUSANDYEAR HISTORY Copyright Acknowledgements Contents List of Maps List of Figures Abbreviations The Tale to be Told PART I: The Bronze Ages 1: The First Kingdoms 27th–24th centuries BC Ebla unearthed 24th–21st centuries BC The Amorites 20th–18th centuries BC Mari and its contemporaries 2: The International Intruders 17th century BC The Hittites in Syria 17th–15th centuries BC The rise of Mitanni The Idrimi affair Mitanni to the fore Late 15th–14th centuries The Hittites return to Syria 3: The Amorite Warrior-Chiefs Mid 14th century BC Abdi-Ashirta’s reign of terror In his father’s footsteps The pharaoh prepares for war 4: The Empires Collide Third quarter 14th century BC The outcome of the widow’s letter Hittite rule in Syria Late 14th–early 13th centuries BC First half of the 13th century BC Qadesh! The elusive ex-king The royal visit that never was The ties that unbind Third quarter of the 13th century BC Assyria and Hatti in conflict 5: The End of an Era Late 13th–12th centuries BC The disintegration begins Invaders from the sea The calm before the storm PART II: From the Iron Age to the Macedonian Conquest 6: The Age of Iron 12th–7th centuries BC The misadventures of a sea-merchant The dawn of the new era The Neo-Hittite kingdoms The Aramaeans Israel The Philistines Canaanites and Phoenicians 7: The Wolf upon the Fold: The Neo-Assyrian Invasions Late 12th–10th centuries BC To the west once more 9th century BC A new spirit of resistance The contest with Ahuni The southern alliance In Shalmaneser’s wake 8th century BC The closing jaws The last members of the pack 7th century BC 8: From Nebuchadnezzar to Alexander The Neo-Babylonian Empire 1 Late 7th century BC The prelude to Nebuchadnezzar’s reign A new contest for Syria and Palestine 600–539 BC The fall of Jerusalem 538–330 BC The First Persian (Achaemenid) Empire The liberation of the Jews How to manage an empire 336–323 BC Alexander the Great The conquest of Syria To Egypt and back PART III: Syria Under Seleucid Rule 9: The Rise of the Seleucid Empire 323–281 BC The contenders for the succession Seleucus in the ascendant Seleucus I’s later years 281–261 BC The Succession of the Saviour (Antiochus I) 261–225 BC The family squabbles begin 10: The Seleucid Empire in its Prime 225–204 BC The early years of Antiochus III Rebels and traitors Antiochus ‘the Great’ 204–196 BC 196–187 BC In conflict with Rome 187–164 BC The reign of the God Made Manifest (Antiochus IV) 11: The Maccabean Rebellion Early 2nd century BC A policy of tolerance 171–167 BC Epiphanes’ volte-face 166–142 BC The rebellion and its aftermath 142–early 1st century AD 12: The Decline and Fall of the Seleucids 164–150 BC The return of Demetrius 150–129 BC The reigns of the impostor, the conqueror, the usurper, and the pious one 129–64 BC The Divine Cleopatra takes centre stage PART IV: Syria Under Roman Rule 13: The Coming of the Romans 64–31 BC Syria joins the Roman world Enter the Parthians Antony’s abortive eastern ventures 27 BC –early 1st century AD Augustus’ dealings with the East 1st century AD Rome strengthens its grasp 2nd century AD Trajan strikes east The Jews in revolt once more 14: Nabataean Excursus Especially 2nd century BC –2nd century AD Petra and Bosra 15: The Syrian Emperors AD 193–211 Septimius Severus becomes emperor The new dynasty is established AD 211–217 Alexander redivivus The other Severans AD 218–222 16: The Crisis Years AD 222–238 The Sasanians The Severan dynasty’s final years AD 238–258 The Res Gestae of the ‘Divine Shapur’ The Valerian disaster PART V: The Rise and Fall of Palmyra 17: From Desert Oasis to Royal Capital: The Story of Palmyra Late 2nd century BC –1st century AD Under Roman patronage 2nd–3rd centuries AD A blend of cultures The power and wealth of Palmyra 18: Syria’s ‘King of Kings’: The Life and Death of Odenathus AD c.250–268 The Sasanian Goliath confronted In whose interests? Murder most foul? 19: Zenobia, Queen of the East AD 267/8–270 The seamless succession The early regnal years AD 270–271 Zenobia goes west AD 271–272 Aurelian retaliates Zenobia’s last stand What happened to Zenobia? AD 273–274 The Last Farewell Appendix I : Chronology of Major Events and Periods Appendix II : King-Lists Appendix III: Literary Sources Notes THE TALE TO BE TOLD CHAPTER 1. THE FIRST KINGDOMS CHAPTER 2. THE INTERNATIONAL INTRUDERS CHAPTER 3. THE AMORITE WARRIOR-CHIEFS CHAPTER 4. THE EMPIRES COLLIDE CHAPTER 5. THE END OF AN ERA CHAPTER 6. THE AGE OF IRON CHAPTER 7. THE WOLF UPON THE FOLD: THE NEO-ASSYRIAN INVASIONS CHAPTER 8. FROM NEBUCHADNEZZAR TO ALEXANDER CHAPTER 9. THE RISE OF THE SELEUCID EMPIRE CHAPTER 10. THE SELEUCID EMPIRE IN ITS PRIME CHAPTER 11. THE MACCABEAN REBELLION CHAPTER 12. THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE SELEUCIDS CHAPTER 13. THE COMING OF THE ROMANS CHAPTER 14. NABATAEAN EXCURSUS CHAPTER 15. THE SYRIAN EMPERORS CHAPTER 16. THE CRISIS YEARS CHAPTER 17. FROM DESERT OASIS TO ROYAL CAPITAL: THE STORY OF PALMYRA CHAPTER 18. SYRIA’S ‘KING OF KINGS’ : THE LIFE AND DEATH OF ODENATHUS CHAPTER 19. ZENOBIA, QUEEN OF THE EAST THE LAST FAREWELL Bibliography Picture Acknowledgements Index