ABSTRACT
During the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, the region we have broadly dened as ancient Syria, encompassing the territories between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean coast (see p. 44), was occupied by a large number of cities and small kingdoms. e most important of these, listed below in a rough north-south progression, are:
Carchemish (Karkamish, Jerablus) rst appears among the cities subject to the king of Ebla in the second half of M3. In C18, it was ruled by a local dynasty which enjoyed peaceful trading relations with Mari. Subsequently, it became a subject-state of the kingdom of Yamhad. Following Yamhad’s conquest by the Hittites in early C16, Carchemish was incorporated into the kingdom of Mitanni, and remained under Mitannian control until captured by the Hittites in 1327. Henceforth, it became a viceregal seat of the Hittite empire, and maintained that status, under the direct rule of a member of the Hittite royal family, until the end of the Bronze Age. In the succeeding Iron Age, Carchemish was one of the most important centres of the Neo-Hittite world.
