13 ATLASES
History of Syria in maps
Syria as it appears in 13 interactive history atlases, from 264 BC to 2015: Syria, Syria — Aleppo, Damascus & the states between, Ayyubid Syria. Each era below lists who ruled the land and when control changed, linked to the dated map that shows it.
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What was Syria before it was Syria? The sections below follow this land through every era covered by the Maps of History atlases: who ruled it, what it was called, and when control changed. Each line links to the dated map. Modern borders serve as an approximation, as each atlas says on the map itself.
Syria · Ancient Rome
Pompey annexed the Seleucid heartland in 64 BC without a major battle. Antioch became one of the empire’s largest cities and a center for its eastern command. From the desert’s edge, Zenobia’s Palmyrene regime controlled much of the east in 270–272. Syria also lay near a frontier Rome and Persia contested for centuries, at heavy cost to both empires.
| 264 BC | Hellenistic kingdoms — the opening position |
| 62 BC | Roman territory |
| Breakaway Roman empires (260–274) | |
| Roman territory |
ANCIENT ROME: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Syria — Aleppo, Damascus & the states between · Crusades
The crusaders could exploit the rivalry between Syria’s emirates of Aleppo and Damascus. That opportunity narrowed as Zengi, Nur al-Din and finally Saladin united them, surrounding and constricting Outremer. The crusader principalities of Antioch, Edessa and Tripoli had been carved from the coast and northern marches of Syria; all were eventually reclaimed from crusader rule.
| The Islamic powers — Seljuk, Zengid, Ayyubid, Mamluk — the opening position |
CRUSADES: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Ayyubid Syria · Mongol Empire
The Mongol advance reached its westernmost extent in Ayyubid Syria. Aleppo was stormed and Damascus occupied in early 1260, but the result was reversed at Ain Jalut that September. Syria then became the frontier of the Ilkhan–Mamluk war: for sixty years it was raided and retaken as the two powers fought over it. The edge of conquest had become a border.
| The Islamic powers — the opening position | |
| The Mongol Empire | |
| The Islamic powers |
MONGOL EMPIRE: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Syria · Industrial Revolution
| Opened by force or treaty — the opening position | |
| Opened by force or treaty |
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Syria · Age of Revolutions
| Neutral / uncommitted — the opening position |
AGE OF REVOLUTIONS: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Syria · Meiji Japan and post-Soviet Russia
| Non-aligned or stateless — the opening position |
MEIJI JAPAN AND POST-SOVIET RUSSIA: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Syria (Ottoman Empire) · WWI
Blockade, locusts and requisition brought famine to Ottoman Syria, killing perhaps half a million people in greater Syria. Faisal’s Arab army arrived in 1918 with a promise of independence (Ch. 12). The French mandate came instead, imposed by force at Maysalun in 1920. Sykes–Picot (Ch. 9) outlived the promises that contradicted it.
Syria · Stalin’s Soviet Union
STALIN’S SOVIET UNION: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Syria · Road to WW2
| Colonial empires & possessions — the opening position |
ROAD TO WW2: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Syria · WW2
| Western Allies — the opening position | |
| Axis allies & puppets | |
| Western Allies |
Syria · Cold War
| NATO & core Western allies — the opening position | |
| Non-aligned & neutral | |
| Soviet-aligned states | |
| Non-aligned & neutral | |
| Soviet-aligned states |
COLD WAR: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Syria · Feminism and the Tunisian Revolution
| Refused: women excluded; ERA never ratified — the opening position | |
| Right won in law | |
| No reform yet / outside this story |
FEMINISM AND THE TUNISIAN REVOLUTION: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Syria · Refugee crises
REFUGEE CRISES: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
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