It was only a century ago that the Middle East began to draw the attention of the Western world. At the end of World War I, following the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Western nations sought to extend their influence, if not dominance, over the region’s coveted resources. While procuring its oil, however, and building military bases across the region, the Western world remained largely ignorant of its rich cultural history.
This nation lies in the part of the ancient world known as the Fertile Crescent and the Cradle of Civilization, where some of the earliest and most advanced human civilizations were born, including the city-states of ancient Syria.
Today’s Syria cannot be understood in isolation from a heritage that dates back seven millennia. This nation lies in the part of the ancient world known as the Fertile Crescent and the Cradle of Civilization, where some of the earliest and most advanced human civilizations were born, including the city-states of ancient Syria. Sitting along trade routes that traversed land, river and sea, the region was a major crossroads of trade and culture long before the onset of the Silk Road, which connected East and West from the 2nd century BCE until the 15th century CE.
Records of Syrian trade go back to the Stone Age, approximately 7,000 years ago. In the 5th millennium BCE, the city-state of Hamoukar was a production center for obsidian tools used for hunting and weaponry. Obsidian, whose strength has been compared to certain metals, was also coveted for its use in carving jewels designed for kings. These tools were traded throughout the world.
The city-state of Ebla, located in the northwest of modern-day Syria, became a powerful center during the early Bronze Age (3,000 to1055 BCE) with a centralized state and code of law. Everything from textiles, timber, and olive oil, to metals, including gold and silver, were traded there. It became the wealthiest center in the region during the middle of the 3rd millennium BCE, when its population exceeded 200,000.
A vast library was established at Ebla, approximately 2,000 years before the famous library at Alexandria. More than 15,000 tablets have been found there (currently an archeological site), using both the Sumerian cuneiform system and a local language now called Eblaite. Most tablets dealt with business affairs, but there were also kings’ commands, religious instructions, poetry, and the first known law code, written six centuries before the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi.
Ancient Syria was called Aram in the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament. It was an area overlapping Mesopotamia, where the Aramaic language was born. Art flourished in Aram from the late 12th century to the late 8th century BCE. With trade routes passing through the area from China, India, Persia, Arabia, Egypt and Rome, myriad cultural influences became woven into the local arts and architecture. Palaces in Aram were decorated with wall paintings, sculptures and mosaics while textiles, cedar wood, pistachio nuts, perfume and medicines were used in trade. Racing horses bred in Aram were exported to Egypt, and later to Rome.
Religion was an integral part of daily life in ancient Syria. The king of an area was also usually the high priest. The people worshiped and made sacrifices to many deities, and the gods and goddesses of invaders and conquerors became assimilated into the local belief system. In the 14th century BCE the people of Ugarit, a city-state on the Mediterranean coast, referred to their gods as family members and called themselves sons and daughters of the deities.
Life in ancient Aram/Syria was fraught with constant danger. As a vital hub of the Middle East, it was constantly under invasion by outside tribes, city-states, kingdoms and empires competing for dominance over its territory. It suffered from internal warfare as well. Natural catastrophes also influenced fate of Syria. Earthquakes were common, but more damaging were two lengthy and devastating droughts. The first, which occurred around 2200 BCE, resulted in major population shifts; the second, around 1200 BCE, severely damaged Syria’s agriculture.
As a vital hub of the Middle East, it was constantly under invasion by outside tribes, city-states, kingdoms and empires competing for dominance over its territory.
What followed these disasters was the rise of the civilization of Assyria, which coincided roughly with the Iron Age (c.1200-550 BCE). By its final phase, when it was called the Neo-Assyrian Empire, the sprawling kingdom dominated the Middle East. It was known for advanced military, administrative and cultural achievements, as well as relentless conquests and harsh treatment of those they conquered. The eventual fall of the Assyrian empire came in the early 600s BCE following another long-lasting drought, when it was plundered by other kingdoms.
With the demise of Assyria, many empires vied for control of the region, generating relentless warfare and chaos. Cyrus the Great of Persia took over Syria around 539 BCE, turning it into a vast province that included portions of present-day Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Israel. In 332 BCE, Alexander the Great introduced Hellenism to the region, leading to the widespread use of Greek alongside Aramaic. In 64 BCE, the Roman empire incorporated Syria as a province, which it remained for several centuries. Its capital was the city of Antioch, where in the first century CE followers of Jesus were first labeled “Christians.” Eastern Orthodox Christianity became the dominant religion until the spread of Islam in the 7th century CE.
It was the fate of Syria to be dominated by foreign empires until well into the 20th century. Its people were under constant assault from both external and internal forces. At the end of World War I, after four centuries of Ottoman (largely Turkish) rule, Syria became a territorial mandate within the French Empire for two decades, ending in 1946 when it gained its independence. Then began a period of shifting coalitions with neighboring Arab states, alliances with foreign forces, and a series of coups that eventually brought to power Hafez al-Assad, and 50 years of increasingly dictatorial, oppressive, and brutal Assad family rule.
To understand any nation, especially one whose origins date back many thousands of years, we need to know something about the forces that shaped it. A positive outcome of the long history of trade, turmoil, and constant population shifts is that ancient Aram/Syria became a true melting pot, laying the foundations for a pluralistic civilization. Syria is one of the most multicultural nations in the Middle East, if not the world.
Drawing on a history of religious tolerance under various ruling powers, Syria’s collective consciousness holds the seeds of inclusiveness so urgently needed now, both in this country and in the larger world. Having endured profound hardship and upheaval over the course of millennia, the people have stood strong and firm, rooted in their communities, sustained by the eternal hope for peace. It is this enduring resilience—the unwavering will to rebuild, to reconnect, and to rise from the past—that offers today’s Syria a path forward under its new leaders, individuals who are dedicated to establishing unity, democracy, and peace.
July 2025