# The Chronicle of Syria: From Ebla and Ugarit's first alphabet to the Umayyad caliphate and a republic remade in 2024. History of Syria: From Ebla and Ugarit's first alphabet to the Umayyad caliphate and a republic remade in 2024. 6 eras and 22 sourced events, every claim… Canonical: https://terralore.co/country/SYR/chronicle Updated: 2026-06-15 Founding: Independence of the Syrian Republic — evacuation of French troops — 17 April 1946. Modern Syria emerged from the French Mandate established after the First World War. Although a republic was proclaimed and won international recognition in 1944, full sovereignty came only when the last French soldiers left Syrian soil on 17 April 1946 — still commemorated as Evacuation Day, the national founding moment. The state that became independent in 1946 stands at the end of an immensely long history reaching back through Ottoman, Mamluk, Ayyubid, Crusader, Umayyad, Roman and Bronze Age phases to the city-kingdoms of Ebla, Mari and Ugarit. Syria is one of the cradles of urban civilisation. In the third and second millennia BCE the city-kingdoms of Ebla, Mari and Ugarit flourished here, and at Ugarit scribes devised one of the world's earliest alphabets. Damascus and Aleppo are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth; the desert caravan city of Palmyra rose under Queen Zenobia, and after the Muslim conquest Damascus became capital of the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750), the first great Islamic empire. Conquered in turn by Crusaders, Ayyubids under Saladin, Mamluks and Ottomans, Syria won independence from France on 17 April 1946; after decades of unstable republics, union with Egypt and Ba'athist rule under Hafez and then Bashar al-Assad, a 2011 uprising spiralled into civil war, and the Assad government fell in December 2024. This file carries the chronicle's sourced event record — every event with its year, summary and source keys (resolved under References below). The full reading narrative lives on the canonical page. ## Ebla, Mari, Ugarit and the First Alphabet — c. 3000 BCE – 1200 BCE In the Bronze Age, the city-kingdoms of Ebla, Mari and Ugarit made Syria one of the cradles of writing, trade and statecraft, and at Ugarit scribes created one of the world's earliest alphabets. - c. 2600–2240 BCE: **The kingdom of Ebla** — Ebla dominates northern Syria, trading and corresponding with Egypt, Sumer and Mesopotamia; its cuneiform royal archives, rediscovered in the 20th century, reveal a literate Bronze Age state. [britannica-ebla] - early 2nd millennium BCE: **Mari and the palace of Zimri-Lim** — The Euphrates city of Mari flourishes as a planned trading capital, its palace archives preserving thousands of diplomatic letters, until Hammurabi of Babylon destroys it in the 18th century BCE. [britannica-mari] - c. 1400 BCE: **The Ugaritic alphabet** — At the coastal city of Ugarit, scribes devise a cuneiform alphabet of about 30 signs — one of the earliest alphabetic writing systems in history, ancestral in spirit to later Semitic and Mediterranean alphabets. [britannica-ugaritic-alphabet] ## Aramaeans, Rome and the Glory of Palmyra — 1200 BCE – 395 CE After the Bronze Age came the Aramaeans and their enduring language, then Greek and Roman rule, the rise of early Christianity, and the desert empire of Palmyra under Queen Zenobia. - c. 11th–8th centuries BCE: **The Aramaeans and Aram-Damascus** — Aramaean tribes settle Syria and make Damascus the capital of a powerful kingdom; their Aramaic language becomes the lingua franca of the Near East for over a millennium. [britannica-aramaean, britannica-damascus] - 64 BCE: **Pompey annexes Syria to Rome** — The Roman general Pompey ends Seleucid rule and makes Syria a Roman province; its cities prosper and Syria becomes an early heartland of Christianity, with Paul converted on the road to Damascus. [britannica-syria, britannica-damascus] - 272 CE: **Zenobia, Palmyra and the war with Rome** — Queen Zenobia of Palmyra breaks from Rome and conquers Egypt and Asia Minor, before the emperor Aurelian defeats her armies and captures the city; Palmyra's ruins are today a UNESCO World Heritage Site. [britannica-zenobia, unesco-palmyra] Figures: - Zenobia (reigned c. 267–272 CE) — Queen of Palmyra. Regent and queen of the caravan city of Palmyra who challenged Rome, seizing Egypt and much of Asia Minor before being defeated and captured by the emperor Aurelian. She became an enduring symbol of Syrian and ancient female sovereignty. ## Islam and the Umayyad Caliphate of Damascus — 395 – 1099 CE After the Byzantine centuries, the Muslim conquest of the 630s made Damascus the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate, the first great Islamic empire, stretching from Spain to Central Asia. - 630s CE: **The Muslim conquest of Syria** — Arab Muslim armies defeat the Byzantines and take Damascus and Aleppo within a few years; over time Arabic and Islam spread, though Christian and other communities remain. [britannica-syria, britannica-umayyad] - 661 CE: **Damascus, capital of the Umayyad Caliphate** — Muawiya founds the Umayyad dynasty and makes Damascus the capital of the first great Islamic empire, ruling from Spain to Central Asia until the Abbasid revolution of 750. [britannica-umayyad, britannica-syria] - 705–715 CE: **The Great Mosque of Damascus** — Under Caliph al-Walid the Umayyads build the Great (Umayyad) Mosque of Damascus, one of the oldest and grandest mosques in the world, on a site holy to Roman, Christian and Muslim worship. [britannica-great-mosque-damascus, unesco-damascus] - 1098–1099 CE: **The First Crusade reaches Syria** — Crusader armies seize cities along the Levantine coast and capture Jerusalem in 1099, founding Crusader states and beginning two centuries of intermittent warfare across Syria. [britannica-saladin] ## Saladin, the Mamluks and Ottoman Rule — 1099 – 1918 CE Saladin's Ayyubids drove back the Crusaders and recaptured Jerusalem; the Mamluks then ruled Syria until the Ottomans absorbed it in 1516, governing for four centuries until the First World War. - 1187 CE: **Saladin recaptures Jerusalem** — Saladin, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty that united Egypt and Syria, defeats the Crusaders and retakes Jerusalem, ending nearly nine decades of Frankish rule and becoming a legendary figure of the age. [britannica-saladin, britannica-ayyubid] - 1250 CE: **Mamluk rule over Syria** — The Mamluks supplant the Ayyubids and govern Syria from Egypt for over two centuries, halting the Mongols and presiding over a flourishing of trade and architecture in Damascus and Aleppo. [britannica-mamluk] - 1516 CE: **Ottoman conquest of Syria** — Sultan Selim I defeats the Mamluks and incorporates Syria into the Ottoman Empire, beginning four centuries of Ottoman rule over Damascus, Aleppo and the Syrian lands. [britannica-syria, britannica-mamluk] - 1918 CE: **End of Ottoman rule** — During the First World War the Arab Revolt and Allied forces drive the Ottomans from Syria, ending four hundred years of Ottoman dominion and opening the way to French and British arrangements for the region. [britannica-syria, historian-syria] Figures: - Saladin (Salah al-Din) (c. 1137/38–1193) — Founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. A Kurdish general who united Egypt and Syria, founded the Ayyubid dynasty and recaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187. Renowned in both Muslim and Christian traditions for his statesmanship and chivalry, he is buried beside the Great Mosque of Damascus. ## The French Mandate and Independence — 1918 – 1970 CE A brief Arab kingdom in 1920 gave way to French Mandate rule; Syria won independence in 1946, then endured coups, a short-lived union with Egypt, and the Ba'athist seizure of power. - 1920 CE: **Arab Kingdom of Syria and the French Mandate** — An independent Arab Kingdom of Syria under Faisal is proclaimed in Damascus, but French forces defeat it at Maysalun in July 1920, and the League of Nations assigns Syria to France as a mandate. [britannica-syria, historian-syria] - 17 April 1946: **Independence — evacuation of French troops** — After international recognition in 1944, the last French soldiers leave Syria on 17 April 1946, marking full independence — still commemorated as Evacuation Day. [historian-syria, britannica-syria] - 1958–1961: **Union with Egypt — the United Arab Republic** — Syria merges with Nasser's Egypt to form the United Arab Republic in 1958, but resentment of Egyptian dominance dissolves the union in a 1961 coup. [britannica-uar, britannica-syria] - Nov 1970: **Hafez al-Assad seizes power** — After the Ba'ath Party's 1963 coup and years of factional struggle, defence minister Hafez al-Assad takes control in November 1970, founding a family rule that would endure for over half a century. [britannica-syria] Figures: - Yusuf al-Azma (1883–1920) — Defence minister of the Arab Kingdom of Syria. Minister of war who, despite the odds, led Syrian forces against the advancing French army at the Battle of Maysalun in July 1920 and was killed in the fighting. He is remembered in Syria as a national symbol of resistance to colonial rule. ## The Assad Era, the Civil War and the Fall of 2024 — 1970 – present Hafez and then Bashar al-Assad ruled Syria for more than five decades; a 2011 uprising became a devastating civil war, and in December 2024 the Assad government fell. - 2000 CE: **Bashar al-Assad succeeds his father** — On Hafez al-Assad's death, his son Bashar becomes president; early hopes of reform give way to a continuation of the authoritarian, single-party system. [britannica-bashar] - 2011 CE: **Uprising and the start of the civil war** — Arab Spring protests across Syria meet a violent state response; armed opposition emerges and the country descends into a civil war drawing in regional and global powers. [britannica-bashar-civilwar] - 2011–2021 estimate: **Human cost of the war** — The UN human rights office estimates about 306,887 civilians killed over the war's first decade, while the UN refugee agency reports more than 13 million people displaced — figures cited as estimates from authoritative bodies. [ohchr-syria-deaths, unhcr-syria] - 8 Dec 2024: **The Assad government falls** — A rebel offensive led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham takes Damascus on 8 December 2024; Bashar al-Assad flees the country, ending over five decades of Assad family rule, and an interim government is formed. [britannica-bashar] Figures: - Hafez al-Assad (1930–2000) — President of Syria. An air-force commander who seized power in 1970 and ruled Syria for three decades, building a centralised one-party state aligned with the Soviet Union and dominated by the security services. He was succeeded on his death by his son Bashar. - Bashar al-Assad (born 1965; president 2000–2024) — President of Syria. Successor to his father Hafez, whose response to the 2011 uprising led to a civil war that devastated Syria. His government fell in December 2024 when he fled the country amid a rebel offensive, ending the Assad family's long rule. Machine-readable claims — every event above as an addressable claim ID (TL:SYR:event::) with its sources and a ready citation string: https://terralore.co/country/SYR/chronicle.claims.json ## References - [britannica-syria] Syria — history — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/place/Syria - [britannica-ebla] Ebla — ancient city, Syria — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/place/Ebla - [britannica-mari] Mari — ancient city, Syria — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/place/Mari-ancient-city-Syria - [britannica-ugaritic-alphabet] Ugaritic alphabet — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ugaritic-alphabet - [britannica-aramaean] Aramaean — ancient Middle Eastern people — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/topic/Aramaean - [britannica-damascus] Damascus — History — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/place/Damascus/History - [unesco-damascus] Ancient City of Damascus — UNESCO World Heritage List — UNESCO World Heritage Centre · https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/20/ - [unesco-palmyra] Site of Palmyra — UNESCO World Heritage List — UNESCO World Heritage Centre · https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/23/ - [britannica-zenobia] Zenobia — Queen of Palmyra — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Zenobia - [britannica-umayyad] Umayyad dynasty — Islamic history — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/topic/Umayyad-dynasty-Islamic-history - [britannica-great-mosque-damascus] Great Mosque of Damascus — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/topic/Great-Mosque-of-Damascus - [britannica-saladin] Saladin — sultan of Egypt and Syria — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saladin - [worldhistory-saladin] Saladin — World History Encyclopedia · https://www.worldhistory.org/Saladin/ - [britannica-ayyubid] Ayyubid dynasty — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ayyubid-dynasty - [britannica-mamluk] Mamluk dynasty — rulers of Egypt and Syria (1250–1517) — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mamluk-dynasty-Egypt-Syria - [historian-syria] A Guide to the History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations: Syria — U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian · https://history.state.gov/countries/syria - [britannica-uar] United Arab Republic — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Arab-Republic - [britannica-bashar] Bashar al-Assad — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bashar-al-Assad - [britannica-bashar-civilwar] Bashar al-Assad — Unrest and civil war — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bashar-al-Assad/Unrest-and-civil-war - [ohchr-syria-deaths] UN Human Rights Office estimates more than 306,000 civilians killed over 10 years in Syria conflict — UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) · https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/06/un-human-rights-office-estimates-more-306000-civilians-were-killed-over-10 - [unhcr-syria] Syrian Arab Republic — country page — UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) · https://www.unhcr.org/where-we-work/countries/syrian-arab-republic - [wikipedia-arab-kingdom-syria] Arab Kingdom of Syria — Wikipedia · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Kingdom_of_Syria - [wikipedia-french-mandate-syria] French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon — Wikipedia · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Mandate_for_Syria_and_the_Lebanon - [nwe-syria] Syria — New World Encyclopedia · https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Syria Citation template: Terralore, "The Chronicle of Syria: From Ebla and Ugarit's first alphabet to the Umayyad caliphate and a republic remade in 2024.", terralore.co/country/SYR/chronicle, retrieved .