As part of its target to introduce different civilisations and cultures, the National Museum inaugurated last Saturday the exhibition “Syria: The Cradle of Civilisations” to strengthen bilateral relations between the two sides in a manner that contributes to achieving museum leadership and also to showcase some of the antiques and remains found in Syria from the Palaeolithic era.
The oldest archaeological remains found in Syria date from the Palaeolithic era (c.800,000 BCE) and since approximately 10,000 BCE, Syria was one of the centres of Neolithic culture (known as Pre-Pottery Neolithic A) where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time in the world.
The ancient city-state of Ugarit, northern Syria, gave the world its first known alphabet (15th century BCE) as well as the Hurrian Hymn, which is the oldest surviving melody and is over 3,400 years old.
The Phoenicians came to dominate the coasts of Syria from the 13th century BCE, founding city-states and eventually spreading their influence throughout the Mediterranean, and founding the major city-state of Carthage (in modern Tunisia) in the 9th century BCE.
In 539 BCE, Cyrus the Great, King of Achaemenid Persians, took Syria as part of his vast empire. Persian dominion ended with the conquests of Alexander the Great in 333–332 BCE, subsequently, Syria was incorporated into the Seleucid Empire. In 64 BCE, Roman Syria was formed, with the city of Antioch as its capital, which had become the third-largest city in the Roman Empire, after Rome and Alexandria. The cities of Palmyra and neighbouring Emesa (modern-day Homs) rose to wealth and prominence. Some Syrian nobles administered Rome and even rose to the imperial title, such as Empress Julia Domna (193 – 222 CE), Emperor Elagabalus or Antonios (reigned 218 to 222 CE) and Emperor Philip the Arab (reigned from 244 to 249 CE).
Syria became part of the Byzantine Empire in 395 CE, and played a significant role in Christianity; Paul the Apostle had converted on the Road to Damascus and emerged as a significant figure in the Church of Antioch.
In the modern era, Syria emerged as an independent state on 24 October 1945 CE, when it had signed the Charter of the United Nations, which ended France’s mandate by the League of Nations.
Damascus, the capital of the Syrian Arab Republic, is one of the oldest cities in the world with an uninterrupted history of nearly eleven thousand years, and the oldest capital in the world.
The exhibition also sheds light on the old spoken languages and dialects in Syria. Dating back to the 1st century BCE, Palmyrene was a special dialect of Aramaic that was spoken by the inhabitants of Palmyra. The inscriptions of Palmyrene Aramaic were found on fragmented documents, but the majority of clearer inscriptions were found carved on stone. Across the exhibition hall, the Palmyrene funerary statues contain Palmyere inscriptions, with some statues containing inscriptions from other languages, such as Greek. The inscriptions were found in the archaeological sites found across ancient trade routes. This attests to the cultural and social diversity of Palmyra, and the economic context in which such languages thrived together.
The exhibition highlights the first results of the humanitarian initiative adopted by the National Museum – Sultanate of Oman, focusing on the preservation of Syrian cultural heritage through the conservation and restoration of Syrian artefacts that were damaged during the years of crisis. This initiative is a necessity that should not be postponed under the current circumstances, given the important role that the cultural factor plays in social reconstruction, enhancing the sense of identity and belonging. This, in turn, contributes to promoting the notions of tolerance and reconciliation.
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