Understanding Syria through 40 Monuments
A Story of Survival
1st Edition
Published on 27. June 2024
280 pages
978-0-7556-4530-5 (ISBN)
Description
How can a nation's archaeological treasures help explain its history, especially one as richly complex as Syria's? Ross Burns chooses 40 among Syria's outstanding range of sites, accompanied by over 200 colour illustrations, to take the reader through the tangled paths of this crossroads of the eastern Mediterranean where numerous world cultures intersected.
Given the last 12 years of savage conflict, the author reports too on the plight of many of these monuments, addressing the common but unhelpful assumption that much of the country's archaeological treasures have been 'destroyed'. A better approach is to recognise that Syria's heritage can play a role in the country's recovery and cannot simply be declared a write-off.
This is a history which tells us much about how Syria's mixture of traditions defy simplistic categorisation through modern definitions of cultures and identities.
Given the last 12 years of savage conflict, the author reports too on the plight of many of these monuments, addressing the common but unhelpful assumption that much of the country's archaeological treasures have been 'destroyed'. A better approach is to recognise that Syria's heritage can play a role in the country's recovery and cannot simply be declared a write-off.
This is a history which tells us much about how Syria's mixture of traditions defy simplistic categorisation through modern definitions of cultures and identities.
Reviews / Votes
Poignant. * Muslim World Book Review *More details
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Illustrations
250 colour illus
ISBN-13
978-0-7556-4530-5 (9780755645305)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
07/2024
I.B. Tauris
€31.50
Shipment within 10-20 days
Person
Ross Burns is the author of Monuments of Syria (I.B.Tauris, 1992, 1999 and 2009). He has also published histories of Aleppo and Damascus as well as a study of how colonnaded axes transformed the structure of the cities of the Roman East. He continues to work actively on the archaeology of the region including to collaborate on international projects to assess the extent of damage to Syria's monuments and is currently heading an Oxford-based project on the fate of Roman temples in later periods, notably Byzantine. His website is at: www.monumentsofsyria.com.
Content
List of illustrations
Author's preface
Map of Syria
1. Bronze Age palace cultures c3000-1100 BC
2. Iron Age, a new melting pot 1000-800 BC
3. Between Persians and Phoenicians c1000-333 BC
4. After Alexander 333-64 BC
5. Pax Romana 64 BC-AD 117
6. Hadrian and the High Empire 117-313
7. Christianity Triumphant 313-636
8. Umayyads and 'Abbasids 661-950
9. Arabs and Turks 950-1100
10. Pushing back the Crusaders 1100-1260
11. Mamluks 1260-1516
12. Early Ottoman centuries 1516-1800
13. Late Ottoman centuries 1800-1918
14. Afterword
Reading List and Quotation Sources
Glossary, Abbreviations, Map Conventions
Index
Author's preface
Map of Syria
1. Bronze Age palace cultures c3000-1100 BC
2. Iron Age, a new melting pot 1000-800 BC
3. Between Persians and Phoenicians c1000-333 BC
4. After Alexander 333-64 BC
5. Pax Romana 64 BC-AD 117
6. Hadrian and the High Empire 117-313
7. Christianity Triumphant 313-636
8. Umayyads and 'Abbasids 661-950
9. Arabs and Turks 950-1100
10. Pushing back the Crusaders 1100-1260
11. Mamluks 1260-1516
12. Early Ottoman centuries 1516-1800
13. Late Ottoman centuries 1800-1918
14. Afterword
Reading List and Quotation Sources
Glossary, Abbreviations, Map Conventions
Index
