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Syria and Palestine
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3000-332 B.C.
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1 Syrian with
lioness
and ram, ivory statue,
ninth century B.C.
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1 Syria and Palestine were
of great strategic importance as military, commercial,
and cultural crossroads between the early high
civilizations of Egypt, Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, and the
Aegean Sea. The constant wrestling for control over the
area by the bordering powers prevented the formation of
a unified state. Only after the upheavals caused by the
sea peoples created a power vacuum was it possible for
the kingdoms of David and Solomon to emerge, for a short
time, as regional powers. At the same time, the
Phoenicians built up a trade empire that reached from
the coasts of West Anatolia to the edge of the Atlantic.
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The Canaanites and the
Amorites
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The Canaanites and the
Amorites developed a high civilization that fused together
stylistic elements from the whole of the Ancient Orient and
demonstrated the bridging role of Syria and Palestine.
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The early inhabitants of
Palestine are called Canaanites, those of Syria Amorites or East
Canaanites. Linguistically both groups belong to the Semites.
They never experienced political unity but lived in city-states
ruled over by princes or priest-kings.
The remains of the Canaanite city of 2
Jericho date back to around 9000 B.C. and are considered the
earliest evidence of urban life. Over the centuries, the rulers
of Egypt, the Hittite Empire, Assyria, and Babylon competed
against each other for control of Palestine and Syria.
The trading centers situated on the Mediterranean coast held a
special position among the city-states.
At first, 3 Byblos was the
busiest of them. The city had enjoyed trading relations with
Egypt since the third millennium B.C. and was the most important
port for exports of Lebanese cedar, as well as
4 luxury goods that were
manufactured there for the Egyptian market. In the middle of the
13th century B.C., Ugarit, situated farther north, replaced
Byblos as the preeminent port city.
The Mycenaean 6 merchants
had their own quarter in the city, which bears witness to trade
relations with the Aegean cultures.
By allying alternately with the Hittites and the Egyptians, the
5 kings of Ugarit were able
to maintain their independence until around 1200 B.C., when
Ugarit was overrun by the sea peoples and completely destroyed.
Subsequent archaeological excavations of the previous site of
the city of Ugarit, present-day Ras Shamra, have uncovered a
number of libraries containing ancient manuscripts written in at
least four different languages.
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2 Foundations of a
round tower in Jericho, 7000 a.c.
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3 Ruins of the
Temple of Obelisks in Byblos
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4 Example of Egyptian gold
jewelry from Byblos, 19th century B.C.
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5 The king of
Ugarit hunting, detail on a golden plate,
14th—13th century B.C.
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6 Two men agreeing
on a contract,
limestone relief from the city of Ugarit,
14th century B.C.
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Baal, bronze statue,
14th—13th с
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Baal
Baal, or the female form Baalat, was the name of the
chief deity of Canaanite and Amorite cities. They also
worshiped other gods, such as the fertility goddess of
war, Astarte. In Palestine, the monotheistic cult of
Yahweh vied for followers with the older Baal cults and
ultimately triumphed over them.
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Baal, bronze statue,
14th—13th с
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The Phoenician City-States
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The Phoenicians are
considered the most accomplished seafarers of antiquity.
Throughout the Mediterranean and beyond they conducted trade,
founded colonies, and spread their culture, which was in the
tradition of the Canaanites and Amorites.
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Following the devastation
caused by the sea peoples, the focus of trade shifted south from
Syria towards the territory of present-day Lebanon. The Greeks
called this region "Phoenicia" ("purple land") after a precious
dye produced there. As in Canaanite and Amorite times, Phoenicia
was divided into city-states ruled by 7
kings and great trading families. With the decline of Mycenaean
and Minoan competition, the 12
Phoenicians controlled Mediterranean trade as far as the coasts
of the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa.
They founded numerous 8
colonies, including Carthage ("new city") around 814 B.C., which
was later to become the most important sea power in the Western
Mediterranean.
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7 A
king with lotus stems, ivory tablet, eighth-seventh
century B.C.
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12
Phoenician merchant ship at sea,
clay relief
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8
Ruins of a Phoenician colony in Sa Caleta on Ibiza,
founded ca. 650 B.C.
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The net of Phoenician 11
trade relations reached beyond the Mediterranean to the British
Isles and the Canary Islands, and it is even possible that
Phoenicians circumnavigated Africa about 600 в.с.
11
Phoenician merchants trade, wood engraving, 19th century
They kept their knowledge of the ocean beyond the "Pillars of
Hercules"—the Strait of Gibraltar—absolutely secret and spread
10 horror stories about the
area to frighten off their competitors.
10
Phoenician silver coin decorated
with the image of a merchant ship
harried by a sea monster
9 Sidon and Tyre were the
two most important Phoenician city-states, and their rulers were
closely tied to the kings of Israel and Judah. In the tenth
century B.C., Hiram I of Tyre supported King Solomon in the
construction of a fleet for a trading expedition to the Red Sea.
Tyre reached its apogee under Ittobaal I, who subjugated rival
Sidon in the ninth century B.C. By this time, the Phoenicians
were coming under increasing military pressure from the land
powers, Assyria and Babylon, who demanded tribute from the
cities. Only Tyre, situated on an impregnable island, was able
to withstand the enemy forces. Phoenicia lost Sidon but remained
independent despite a 13-year siege by Nebuchadressar II of
Babylon that ended in 573 B.C. The Persians, on the other hand,
accepted the autonomy of the Phoenicians, who made up the
majority of the Persian fleet in battles against the Greeks.
It was Alexander the Great who first succeeded in conquering
Tyre in 332 B.C., after a seven-month siege during which he
built a causeway from the mainland to the island city. The
Phoenicians were later ruled by the Diadochoi and the Romans but
still managed to keep their cultural and religious identity
alive.
9
View over Sidon with Lebanon in the distance,
chalk lithograph. 19th century
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