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The History of Syria

Syria is a country with a long history and ancient civilization. As far back as the early Paleolithic period, Syria had primitive humans. Around the 4th millennium BC, the inhabitants there began to settle and use bronze ware. In the 3rd millennium BC, Syria transitioned from a primitive society to a slave society, and some slave city-states centered on commercial cities appeared.

Contribution of the Semen From 3000 BC to 1000 BC, the nomadic Semen of the Arabian Peninsula made three great migrations to Syria and its surrounding areas. In the last few hundred years of the 3rd millennium BC, the Amores among the Semites entered Syria and established many small kingdoms, forming the first Seminization of Syria. Around the 2nd millennium B.C., the second group of Semites who moved into Syria, Lebanon and Palestine on a large scale were the Canaanites. They established a number of separate city-states on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean and inland, creating Canaanite culture.

At the end of the second millennium BC, Syria entered the Iron Age. At that time, a group of Canaanites living in the central area of ​​the eastern Mediterranean coast, the Phoenicians, developed maritime trade and promoted economic and cultural exchanges among countries along the Mediterranean coast; at the same time, they created the Phoenician script with 22 consonant letters. , made great contributions to world culture. From the 2nd millennium BC to the middle of the 1st millennium BC, the third group of Semites who migrated to Syria were the Aramites. The cities they built, such as Hama and Damascus, and the Aramaic script they used, are precious heritage of Syrian culture.

From the 2nd millennium BC to the 6th century BC, there were also the Hyksos, the Hurians, the Egyptians, the Hittites, the Assyrians, the Chaldeans, and the Persians who entered and contested Syria.

Hellenization of Syria 333 BC Alexander the Great defeated the armies of the Persian Empire and occupied Syria. In the era of the Seleucid Kingdom (312-64 BC), the Greek culture and the Symite culture penetrated each other to form a Hellenistic Syrian culture, which provided an important source for the formation of the Arab culture. In 64 BC Rome annexed Syria. During the period of Roman rule, Syria appeared as an Arab state founded by the Palmyra people. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, the Palmyra people played an active intermediary role in the trade between the East and the West. In 272, Palmyra was destroyed by Eastern Rome.

Arab Syria 636 Caliph Umar I conquered Syria. The establishment of Arab domination over Syria was a major turning point in Syria’s history. Since then Syria has been Arabized and Islamized. In 661, the governor of Syria, Mu’avia, seized power, called the I, and set the capital in Damascus to establish the Umayyad Dynasty (661-750) of the Arab Empire. During his reign, the feudal relations of production in Syria further developed, and various cultural sources began to converge. During the Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258), although the center of the empire had been transferred to Baghdad, Syria still played an important role in creating a splendid Arab-Islamic culture.

In the second half of the 9th century, the Abbasid dynasty declined. Since then, the Toulon Dynasty, the Ikhshid Dynasty, the Hamdan Dynasty, the Fatimid Dynasty, the Seljuk Empire, the Crusaders, the Zanji Dynasty, the Ayyubid Dynasty (1171-1260), the Mamluk Dynasty ( 1250-1517) and the Ilkhan dynasty successively occupied or ruled Syria. From the 11th to the 13th century, the Syrian people actively participated in Saladin’s war to curb the Crusaders’ aggression and the Babels to repel the Mongols’ attack, which contributed to the protection of the Arab-Islamic culture from the long-term ravages of the Arab people.

Syria under the Turks In 1516, Syria was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire until the end of the First World War in 1918. The Ottoman government oppresses the Syrian people politically, ruthlessly plunders them economically, and implements a policy of ignorance culturally. With the decline of the Ottoman Empire, foreign capital invaded Syria in large numbers. At the end of the 18th century, French capital dominated the major cities in Syria. The intrusion of foreign capital prompted the emergence of capitalist germs in Syria in the 19th century. From 1831 to 1840, the governor of Egypt, Muhammad Ali, occupied Syria for 10 years.

Since Assad came to power, the national economy, especially agriculture, which is the backbone of Syria’s economy, has developed considerably. In recent years, due to the expansion of defense spending and poor agricultural harvests, economic development has been slow. In 1984, the per capita income was $2,089.

The Syrian government pursues a neutral and non-aligned foreign policy. On August 1, 1956, diplomatic relations were established with China.