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Near East Kingdoms
Ancient Syria
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Aramaeans
The most prominent among the many groups of peoples which gained importance
in ancient
Syria
during the dark age period of the eleventh to ninth centuries BC were the
Semitic Aramaeans. They were probably semi-nomadic pastoralists in northern
Syria and northern
Mesopotamia for a long
time before 1200 BC. Naram-Sin of Akkad
mentioned Aram as a place name, although where this was is a matter of
debate. A people or place of Aram was mentioned by
Mari around
1900 BC, and Ugarit in about 1300
BC.
Once states began to collapse at the end of the thirteenth century BC, the
highly mobile and competitive Aramaeans took advantage of the confusion to
raid and migrate throughout the region and eventually acquire political
power in many cities. They maintained their tribal organisation and were
subdivided into groups which were identified as belonging to the 'house of...'.
In Akkadian this was 'Bit' plus the name of a person who was considered to
be a tribal ancestor. Some of the states they founded were referred to in the
first millennium by this designation, such as
Bit-Adini.
In northern Syria, Aramaeans took control of many cities, including some that
were inhabited by people who maintained
Hittite
cultural and political traditions. In such places some kings had
Luwian names, others Aramaic.
Other cities were completely Aramaean and became the core of states such as
Aram Damascus.
By the ninth century BC, Aramaeans politically dominated the whole of ancient
Syria. They also filtered down into
Babylonia and
Assyria, just as similar
waves of migrant peoples had done for millennia. In the former state, while
the few remaining cities were primarily Akkadian, the Aramaeans dominated
the countryside. In Assyria they made political inroads into the cities,
either taking on Akkadian names, or maintaining two names, one in each
language. |
c.1200 - 900s BC |
With
political chaos engulfing Anatolia,
Syria,
and the Levant coast, and
Assyria weakening,
there is nothing to stop Aramaean tribes from migrating southwards and eastwards.
Over the course of the twelfth to ninth centuries they mount attacks which destroy
cities such as Qatna, and
Qattara, and take control in many
established cities, including
Alep (Lukhuti),
Aram-Nahara'im,
Ebla,
Hamath,
Pattin, and
Yadiya. They also found (or
re-found) cities of their own, including, Aram-Bet-Rehob,
Aram Damascus,
Aram-Ma'akah, Aram-Sovah, Bit-Adini,
Bit Agusi,
Bit-Bahiani, Bit-Gabari, Geshur,
Osroene, and Zobah, many
of which became significant minor states. |
1000s BC |
Aramaeans
start to raid into northern
Mesopotamia and
south into Babylonia.
One of their earliest kingdoms is
Bit-Bahiani. The
Assyrian
king, Tiglath-Pileser I, has already been campaigning aggressively against
them in an attempt to prevent them settling.
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The modern site of Tell Halaf was, during its existence, later
known as Guzana and it also became the capital of the Aramaean
kingdom of Bit-Bahiani, despite Assyrian attempts to prevent
Aramaeans from settling in Mesopotamia and southern Syria
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c.960s? BC |
A
ruler of the
Philistine
city of Gath named Achish, who is probably the grandson of Achish, is
mentioned in connection with two servants of Shimei who flee to him.
Shimei goes to Gath in pursuit of them, in breach of King Solomon's
orders, and is subsequently put to death by Solomon. Achish is said to
be the son of Maacah, but this could instead mean that he is from a
place called Maacah. There exists a small Aramaean kingdom of this name
in northern Jordan,
around the town of Abel Beth Maacah. This and Geshur are situated between
Gilead and Mount Hermon, bordering the kingdom of Og in
Bashan in the Old Testament.
Maacah becomes an
Israelite city
following its conquest by King David, possibly as late as the 960s BC,
around the time at which Achish is king in Gath. |
890s BC |
A king of Carchemish
at this time bears an Aramaic name. |
800s BC |
Occupying territories along the Tigris, Aramaean groups start to settle in
Babylonia's
countryside, taking control of it. Among the most important groups are the
Gambulians and the Puqudians. They are joined there by a separate peoples,
the Chaldaeans. |
700s BC |
Most Aramaean states are subjugated by the
Assyrians, and
their regional power is ended. They have developed a new method of writing
since their acquisition of the skill, on parchment, leather, or papyrus, and
have seen it achieve success. Now, around the middle of this century, their
language, Aramaic, supplants ancient Assyrian, although in a heavily
Akkadian-influenced manner. Aramaic is made the second official language of
the Assyrian empire, and the language survives into the modern day. |
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