Syria
An ancient land, almost more ancient than any other place, Syria is dotted with the Tells (rubble mounds) of vanished peoples. A highway for conquering armies, it has managed to develop a distinctive culture of it's own, despite having been a piece of every Empire to ever have held sway in the Middle East.

Contains: Abilene, Aleppo, Arpad, Arvad, Bashan, Batanaea, Carchemish, Damascus, Ebla, Emesa, Gamgum, Gan Dunias, Hamath, Homs, Jabal as-Duruz, Latakia, Marathus, Mari, the Nizari, the Nusayri, Palmyra, Shaizar, Syria (General Survey), Tel Barsip, Ugarit, Unqi, Urkesh, Yamkhad, Zimru. 

 
ABILENE An ancient kingdom north of Iturea, in modern Syria. The capital was Abila, often called Abila of Lysanias to differentiate between it and another city by the same name on the Yarmuk river just inside northwestern Jordan.
  • To Damascus.........................................to 732
  • To Assyria.........................................732-609
  • To Babylon.........................................609-539
  • To Persia..........................................539-332
  • To Macedon.........................................332-323
  • To the Kingdom of Antigonus........................323-301
  • To Egypt...........................................301-198
  • To the Seleucid Empire.............................198-85
  • Within Iturea.......................................85-35 BCE
  • Tetrarchy of Abilene
  • ?
  • Lysanias...........................................fl. 20's CE
  • Lysanias should not be confused with the ruler of Iturea of the same name, but is believed to be a descendent of that ruler. He is mentioned as reigning during the ministry of John the Baptist.
  • ?
  • To Iturea...........................................37-100's
  • To the Roman Empire....................c. 2nd cent. CE-395
  • To the Byzantine Empire............................395-638
  • To the Caliphate...................................638-868
  • To Egypt...........................................868-896
  • To the Caliphate...................................896-935
  • To Egypt...........................................935-1071
  • To the Seljuqs....................................1071-1124
  • To Jerusalem......................................1124-1244
  • To Tripoli........................................1244-1292
  • To Egypt..........................................1292-1516
  • To the Ottoman Empire.............................1516-1918
  • To Syria..........................................1918-1920
  • To France.........................................1920-1946
  • To Syria..........................................1946-


    • ALEPPO An ancient city in northwestern Syria, about 80 miles (130 km.) east of Antioch.


    ARPAD (Beit Agusi) Not to be confused with the Phoenician city of Arvad, Arpad was a minor Aramaean state north of Aleppo.


    ARVADA Phoenician city located on a tiny island off the Syrian coast, about equidistant between Tripoli, Lebanon, and Latakia, Syria. The nearest mainland port is Tartus, which is built on the ruins of the Arvadite colony of the same name (called Antaradus by the Greeks).


    BASHAN An ancient Kingdom based in the rough country just to the east of the Golan Heights, in southwestern Syria. It's territory and influence at times reached into the heights themselves.


    CARCHEMISH (Jerablus) An exceedingly ancient city on the Euphrates river, northeast of Aleppo. The city had a mixed population of Canaanite, Amorite, Aramaean, Hittite, Akkadian, Egyptian and Hurrian origin but was normally ruled by Hittite kings or governors.


    DAMASCUS An ancient crossroads behind the mountains of Lebanon, now the capital of modern Syria.


    EBLA An ancient city, now merely a rubble mound, located in northern Syria roughly 25 miles (40 km.) south of Aleppo. In it's prime it was an important trade nexus, and an immense archive of cuneiform tablets has been discovered here.


    GAMGUM A north Levantine Kingdom of indeterminate location, probably one of the many anonymous tells (rubble mounds) found in northeastern Syria; it is mentioned in Sargon II's victory stele.


    GAN DUNIAS An Akkadian or Aramaic Kingdom of uncertain location, presumably one of the many tells (rubble mounds) dotting northeastern Syria.


    HAMATH  (Hamah) A city on the Orontes river in western Syria, due north of Damascus. The original population was largely Aramaean, with heavy Hittite cultural influences.


    HOMS (Emesa) An ancient city in west-central Syria, on the Orontes River.


    JABAL ad-DURUZ (or, el-Druze) The hill country in far southern Syria, more-or-less contiguous with the modern Syrian province of as-Suwayda. The chief city in the region, also called as-Suwayda, began as a Nabataean stronghold. From the 11th century, this region has been settled extensively by Druze, a Gnostic offshoot of Islam, a sect which has at times wielded considerable influence in the Levant.


    MARATHUS (Phoen. AMRIT) Town in Latakia Province on the Mediterranean Sea 30 miles north of Tripoli. Founded by colonists from Arvad in the second millennium BCE, it is today the site of the only well preserved Phoenician temple in the world. I have not seen any names of rulers or satraps of this place, but the roll-call of cultures and empires to have occupied the site over the last 3600 years or so is compelling enough to record it here.


    MARI An ancient city located in what is now eastern Syria, on the right bank of the upper Euphrates.


    The NIZARI (Assassins) The following is a list of the chief Da'ii (emissaries) of the Nizari sect in Syria. They were nominally subordinate to the lord of Alamut but for all intents and purposes acted independently.


    The NUSAYRI (ALAWITES) The Nusayri are a Shi'ite sect which developed during the mid 800's. Originally centered in Kufa, Iraq, the sect is now located almost exclusively in northwestern Syria (especially Latakia) and in parts of southern Anatolia and northern Lebanon. The term al-Alevi (Alawites) is a pejorative given them by other Muslims, referring to their veneration of the Caliph 'Ali which verges on worship. Among their beliefs are that human souls (which women do not possess) were cast out of heaven by God, who periodically manifests himself in the physical world to test mankind. Such manifestations have included Noah, Moses, Mohammed, and especially 'Ali. Many Zoroastrian, Christian and pagan beliefs have found their way into Nusayri'ism, including the venaration of angels and saints, and the observance of Christmas and other non-Muslim holidays. The Nusayri follow the Twelver Shi'ite succession until the eleventh Imam, al-Hasan al-'Askari, who was proclaimed to be a manifestation of the Divine by the sect's founder, ibn Nusayr.


    PALMYRA  (Tadmor)  A city in central Syria, known as Tadmor in ancient times. It is located next to an oasis 130 miles northeast of Damascus. According to the Bible King Solomon built the city, but in all likelihood he only fortified it because there is evidence of settlement as early as 1900 BCE. Palmyra was a vital link in trade routes between the Levant and Mesopotamia.


    SHAIZAR (Shayjar) A fortress town in Syria that played an important role in the Crusades, located on the Orontes northwest of Hamath.


    SYRIA The northern Levant, behind the mountains of Lebanon and below Anatolia. A center of civilization for an extremely long time.