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Near East Kingdoms
Ancient Syria
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Gan Dunias
Ancient
Syria was much larger
than its modern counterpart, being bordered by the Taurus Mountains
in the north, the Upper Euphrates to the north-east, and the Syrian
Desert to the south-east. The name is Greek, which they used to
describe various
Assyrian peoples.
Amorites began
to arrive in the territory to the west of the Euphrates, within modern
Syria, from around
2500 BC. The Akkadians called them Amurru, and groups of them drifted
down into Sumer where
they eventually replaced the Sumerians as rulers in
Mesopotamia. By
the first part of the second millennium BC, most of the Syrian peoples
spoke Semitic dialects, but in the northern areas of Syria there is also
evidence of non-Semitic
Hurrian, a fairly obscure
population group.
In first millennium BC Syria, following its recovery, two-or-so centuries
after the collapse of the international system and the
Hittite
empire which dominated much of Syria, there existed a great many cities and
large towns of all sizes. Not all of them are well recorded, with some being
little more than footnotes on lists of conquests. Today there exist a great
many tells, or mounds, which contain the archaeological remnants of those
cities and towns. Many of these locations were never home to any kingship,
while others may have flourished under such rule for only a brief period
of time, and with even briefer mentions of the names and details of their
rulers.
Gan Dunias (or Kar-Dunias) is just such a city. Apparently a short-lived
state it flourished in the ninth century BC, being conquered by the
Assyrians
in the middle of the century. At present the name cannot be matched up
to a specific tell, although there is the possibility that it has closer
links to
Babylonia
than it does to Syria. It was probably either
Akkadian or
Aramaean, although the
confused ethnic make-up of Babylonia at this time could add Kassite,
Chaldaean, or Arab influences
into this mix. If it is not to be equated with Babylonia itself then it
may be of many still-unlocated cities in modern Syria. |
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(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from the
Columbia Encyclopaedia, Sixth Edition (2010), from the
Britannica Concise Encyclopaedia (2010), from Historical Atlas
of the Ancient World, 4,000,000 to 500 BC, John Haywood (Barnes &
Noble, 2000), from The Ancient Near East, c.3000-330 BC, Amélie
Kuhrt (Routledge, 2000, Volumes I & II), from The Penguin Atlas
of Ancient History, Colon McEvedy (Penguin Books, 1967, revised
2002), from Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near
East, Michael Road (Facts on File, 2000), from Mesopotamia:
Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians (Dictionaries of Civilizations 1),
Enrico Ascalone (University of California Press, 2007), from The
Cambridge Ancient History, Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen Edwards
(Cambridge University Press, 1973), from A History of the Ancient
Near East c.3000-323 BC, Marc van der Mieroop (Blackwell Publishing,
2004, 2007), from Ancient Assyria, C H W Johns (Cambridge
University Press, 2012), and from Prophets and Prophecy in the
Ancient Near East, Martti Nissinen, Robert Kriech Ritner, &
Choon Leong Seow (Society of Biblical Literature, 2003).) |
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870 - 857 BC |
The Assyrians
invade and subjugate Syrian states, including
Bit Adini,
Bit Agusi,
Carchemish, and
Pattin, by which time
many small and semi-obscure cities have arisen, such as
Gamgum and Gan Dunias, along
with the kingdom of Kedar
in eastern Syria. However, the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BC weakens Assyrian
control in areas of
Syria
for a century and more, and it could be this weakening of control that
allows small cities such as Gamgum and Gan Dunias to form their own
kingships.
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Shown here is a stela which has been dated to the reign of
Shamshi-Adad V of Assyria (823-811 BC), discovered at the
site of Kalhu in the mid-nineteenth century AD
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mid-800s BC |
Marduk-suma-iddin |
Son of Nadinu. |
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The presence in Gan Dunias of a ruler with such a name - Marduk-suma-iddin -
points to a good degree of
Babylonian
influence. Babylonia is replete with 'Marduk-' royal names during this
period, so perhaps this helps to narrow down the location of Gan Dunias
within
Syria, more towards the east or south than the north. In fact, as
Kar-Dunias, the city can even be equated with Babylon itself. The standard
kingship lists fails to show him though, so perhaps he is a rival. It
would also appear that he is challenged for the throne during his reign,
by another Marduk - Marduk-bila-Yu'sate. |
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Marduk-bila-Yu'sate |
Fought Marduk-suma-iddin for the throne. |
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Yansu |
Otherwise unknown. |
853 BC |
Assyria
fights the Battle of Qarqar against twelve
Syrian
and Canaanite
kings, including those of Ammon,
Arvad,
Byblos,
Damas,
Edom,
Egypt, Hamath,
Kedar, and
Samaria. The battle
consists of the largest known number of combatants to date, and is the first
historical mention of the Arabs
from the southern deserts.
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When the Neo-Assyrian empire threatened the various city states
of southern Syria and Canaan around 853 BC, they united to
protect their joint territory - successfully it seems, at least
for a time (click or tap on map to view full sized)
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Despite claims to the contrary, the Assyrians are defeated, since they do
not press on to their nearest target, Hamath, and do not resume their
attacks on Hamath and Damas for about six years. However, in the same year,
Babylonia
and the rich area of southern
Mesopotamia
is taken, as is Gan Dunias. |
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