http://travel-to-syria.blogspot.com/2011/10/short-history-of-syria-and-culture.html
Short History Of Syria and Culture
Travel tips for your trip to Syria Hotel Maps Famous Places in Syria helps you to make your trip to Syria in the holiday a Splendid One
History of Syria
Often called the Cradle of Civilization and the Gateway to History, Syria has a lot to offer history and the development of civilized man. On the other hand Syria's natural boundaries did nothing for the security of the land… its strategic location also made it vulnerable and many conquerors and attackers were able to conquer Syria. It has been a great crossroad for trade between the Mediterranean and the East; it exported the Alphabet to the West, and has been linked to Religion from the beginning, from the Semitic Deities to the monotheistic faiths.
Settling, Agriculture and the Beginning of civilization
This is where civilization began. The development of agriculture in Syria meant settled communities. Tribes and peoples began to prefer agriculture to hunting and with the appearance of bronze and copper tools, agriculture developed quickly. Along with the development in agriculture came a development in trade, as urbanized communities began to engage in various economic activities.
Ebla, Mari and the Bronze Age:
The Great Kingdoms of Ebla and Mari belong to this era. These kingdoms are the sites of where the invention of writing began. Found in both are tablets of Cuneiform writing (wedge shaped syllables), the royal archives have been a source of controversy due to its links with the Old Testament Ebla, as for Mari 17000 tablets were found. These kingdoms lasted about 1000 years due to their cultural development, their rising trade with both Mesopotamia (the land between the Euphrates and the Tigris) and the Mediterranean, and due to the irrigation of the Euphrates. Both of these kingdoms were taken over by the Akkadians from Mesopotamia and then by the Amorites at the end of this period. The Akkadians were the source of Semitic language that became the basis for the Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic languages.
The recovery of trade in this area took a while. Yamkhad the Amorite kingdom in Aleppo had taken over Ebla… and trade began to gradually flourish. However Hammurabi ruler of Babylon, destroyed Mari.
The Hittites from Anatolia and the Egyptians fought heavily for this land… but gradually the Hittites took over more and more of Syria, as Egypt was distracted due to religious havoc at home. This period also saw the rise of Ugarit where the first Alphabet was established and then taken over to ancient Greece by the Mycenaeans. This is also about the time when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and settled in Palestine.
The Hittites and the Arameans
A lot happened in this period… the most important was that of the Sea Peoples, a barbaric people who came from several lands around the Aegean Sea. They took over from the Hittites and Ugarit. At Ugarit, a message being sent before their arrival was found in the ruins. At the same time the Phoenicians were getting stronger and were establishing colonies around the Mediterranean. Later on the Arameans began to move across Syria to the North… their language was spoken by Jesus nearly 1000 years later, and is now still spoken in the village of Maaloula.
In about 800 BC the Assyrian Empire rose to power and for nearly 2 centuries they administered Syria and Lebanon. In 612 BC it fell to Babylonia land of the famous hanging gardens, at its capital Nineveh.
The Persians
In this period Persia conquered Babylonia and took over the Middle East. Their colonies and provinces were well defended, governed and administered, and were all linked through an efficient network of roads. Persia fell at the end of this period to the Greeks.
Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Empire
The defeat of Darius by the great leader Alexander of Macedonia was the beginning of Western rule over Syria. The Hellenistic Empire combined both Western and Eastern cultures but with a predominantly Greek system and outlook. After Alexander's death, Greater Syria was divided into two empires one under Ptolemy, the other under Seleucus. Contemporary Syria was under the Seleucids. The Seleucids built Apamea as their Military base using Latakia as their main port. They also built the fortress of Doura Europos. All these cities were built under Greek architectural design and planning. At the end of this period came the Arab Nabateans from the south taking over Damascus and Bosra, while the Romans came from the north.
