SyriaSyria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east and southeast, Jordan to the south, and Israel and Lebanon to the southwest. Cyprus lies to the west across the Mediterranean Sea. It is a unitary republic that consists of 14 governorates (subdivisions).
HurriansThe Hurrians (ˈhʊəriənz; cuneiform: ; transliteration: Ḫu-ur-ri; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri or Hurriter) were a people who inhabited the Ancient Near East during the Bronze Age. They spoke the Hurrian language, and lived throughout northern Syria, upper Mesopotamia and southeastern Anatolia. The Hurrians were first documented in the city of Urkesh, where they built their first kingdom. Their largest and most influential Hurrian kingdom was Mitanni.
AkhenatenAkhenaten (pronounced ˌækəˈnɑːtən), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton (ꜣḫ-n-jtn ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy, ˈʔuːχəʔ nə ˈjaːtəj, meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning 1353–1336 or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Before the fifth year of his reign, he was known as Amenhotep IV (jmn-ḥtp, meaning "Amun is satisfied", Hellenized as Amenophis IV). As a pharaoh, Akhenaten is noted for abandoning Egypt's traditional polytheism and introducing Atenism, or worship centered around Aten.
HittitesThe Hittites (ˈhɪtaɪts) were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-central Anatolia (around 1650 BC). This empire reached its height during the mid-14th century BC under Šuppiluliuma I, when it encompassed most of Anatolia and parts of the northern Levant and Upper Mesopotamia.
AmoritesThe Amorites (ˈæməˌraɪts; MAR.TU; Amurrūm or 𒋾𒀉𒉡𒌝/𒊎 Tidnum; ʾĔmōrī; Ἀμορραῖοι) were an ancient Northwest Semitic-speaking Bronze Age people from the Levant. Initially appearing in Sumerian records c. 2500 BC, they expanded and ruled most of the Levant, Mesopotamia and parts of Egypt from the 21st century BC to the late 17th century BC. They established several prominent city-states in existing locations, such as Isin, Larsa, Mari and Ebla, and later founded Babylon and the Old Babylonian Empire.
IraqIraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in the Middle East. It is a federal parliamentary republic that consists of 19 governorates. The country is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and Kuwait to the southeast, Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the southwest and Syria to the west. The capital and largest city is Baghdad. The Iraqi people are diverse; mostly Arabs, as well as Kurds, Turkmen, Assyrians, Armenians, Yazidis, Mandaeans, Persians and Shabakis with similarly diverse geography and wildlife.
Amarna lettersThe Amarna letters (əˈmɑrnə; sometimes referred to as the Amarna correspondence or Amarna tablets, and cited with the abbreviation EA, for "El Amarna") are an archive, written on clay tablets, primarily consisting of diplomatic correspondence between the Egyptian administration and its representatives in Canaan and Amurru, or neighboring kingdom leaders, during the New Kingdom, spanning a period of no more than thirty years between 1360–1332 BC (see here for dates).
UgaritUgarit (juːˈgɑːrɪt,_uː-; 𐎜𐎂𐎗𐎚, ʾUgarītu) was an ancient port city in northern Syria, in the outskirts of modern Latakia, discovered by accident in 1928 with the Ugaritic texts. Its ruins are often called Ras Shamra after the headland where they lie. Ugarit had close connections to the Hittite Empire, sent tribute to Egypt at times, and maintained trade and diplomatic connections with Cyprus (then called Alashiya), documented in the archives recovered from the site and corroborated by Mycenaean and Cypriot pottery found there.
AleppoAleppo (ʌˈlɛpoʊ; حَلَب / ALA-LC: , ˈħalab) is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city and also one of the largest cities in the Levant region. Aleppo is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world; it may have been inhabited since the sixth millennium BC. Excavations at Tell as-Sawda and Tell al-Ansari, just south of the old city of Aleppo, show that the area was occupied by Amorites by the latter part of the third millennium BC.
TutankhamunTutankhamun (ˌtuːtənkɑːˈmuːn ), Tutankhamon or Tutankhamen (ˌtuːtənˈkɑːmən,_-mɛn ; 1341 BC-1323 BC), also known as Tutankhaten, was the antepenultimate pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt. His death marked the end of the dynasty's royal line. Tutankhamun ascended to the throne around the age of nine and reigned until his death around the age of nineteen.