LATEST SERIES – CARCHEMISH (tracing the life and death of the Neo-Hittite kingdoms)
Synopsis: In the latter half of the 11th century BC, southern Syria witnessed the increasing prominence of semi-nomadic Semitic peoples – including the Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites and Israelites. “Kings came, they fought, the kings of Canaan fought. At Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo, they […]
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Synopsis: The Great Kings of Carchemish continue ruling over a Hittite rump state in northern Syria as they support the region’s recovery. After an attack by the Assyrian king Ashur-bel-kala, the Carchemish dynasty is supplanted by the house of Suhi. “In that year, in the […]
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Synopsis: The Sea Peoples cut a swath of devastation across the Levant before their final confrontation with the pharaoh Ramesses III of Egypt. The Hittite Great King Suppiluliuma II abandons the capital of Hattusas before its final destruction. “Regarding what you wrote me before: ‘Enemy […]
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Synopsis: The Great King Tudhaliya’s sons, Arnuwanda and Suppiluliuma, take power in a time of growing famine. The collapse of Mycenaean Greece intensifies the predations of Aegean and Mediterranean pirates, who threaten Hittite grain shipments and ally with the Libyans to launch an invasion of […]
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Synopsis: Hattusili III’s diplomacy with the pharaoh Ramesses II culminates in the world’s first peace treaty. After his death, his son Tudhaliya IV drives out the Ahhiyawans, then defends northern Syria against Assyrian aggression. “The Kings who are my equals in rank are the King […]
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Synopsis: King Muwatalli II relocates the Hittite capital to the new royal city of Tarhuntassa near the Mediterranean coast, then faces off against the young pharaoh Ramesses II in the Battle of Qadesh. After Muwatalli’s death, his son and brother – Urhi-Teshub and Hattusili – […]
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Synopsis: The death of King Philip I marks the official end of the Seleucid line. Invited by the Antiochenes to rule them, King Tigranes II of Armenia proceeds to conquer all of Syria – including Cleopatra Selene’s stronghold of Ptolemais-Akko. But Tigranes’ refusal to abandon […]
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Synopsis: With Rome encroaching from the north and south, the sons of Grypus battle Parthians, usurpers and local powers to keep their hold on Syria. “As he lingered on the banks of the Euphrates, (Sulla) received a visit from Orobazus, a Parthian, who came as […]
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Synopsis: While the Ptolemies intrigue in Coele Syria, Antiochus VIII Grypus and his half-brother Antiochus IX Cyzicenus struggle for seventeen years to win control of the north. After the rivals die in quick succession, the kingdom comes under control of Seleucus VI and Demetrius III, […]
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Synopsis: Cleopatra Thea convinces her son Antiochus VIII Grypus to return to Syria and share the throne. But once Zabinas is defeated and the kingdom secure, Grypus decides to avenge his brother’s murder. “Ptolemy (Physcon)…proceeded to devote his entire strength to the destruction of Alexander […]
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