So, historically speaking, when was Syria's golden age?

>>387806
Probably before the arrival of Islam?

Wasn't Syria a thriving center of Christianity (both Arab and Byzantine)?

>>387806
Damascus was the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate.

If we're accepting pre-arab times, Antioch, while now in modern Turkey, was historically the traditional capital of Syria. It was the capital of the Seleucid Empire and probably the second city in the Eastern Roman Empire.

Syria was from very early on a major center of civilization. In fact the Arameans where hugely influential to the developement of societies.
The region was also very prosperous
Really the region only recently fell into turmoil after decolonization.
As it turns out drawing arbitrary boarders that disregard the local populations can make an uneasy political climate. Then when the only stable government strong enough to hold the country together gets torn apart by the Arab spring, everything fell apart

File: check'em.jpg (74KB, 600x400px) Image search: [Google]

74KB, 600x400px

>>387806
Syria had two golden ages: During seleucid rule in the 2nd century BC
Between 660 and 750 when the Ummayyad Caliphate was centered around Syria.

Syria was in the 12th century the bastion of islam against the crusades and in 1260 the battlefield where the mongol invasion of the Levant was beaten back, but syria itself was not really much worth. The Timurids later burned down Damascus.
During Ottoman rule aleppo became the third most important town of the empire but the rest of the country was rather unimportant.

>>387806
The Palmyrene empire was pretty based while it lasted. It could hold its own against the Sassanids with little difficulty. But then along came Aurelian.

>>387834
>Probably before the arrival of Islam?
>Wasn't Syria a thriving center of Christianity (both Arab and Byzantine)?

And during Islam.

Terrorists will lose

>>388344

What is a terrorist?

Anyone who uses the threat of violence to influence policy?

Or violent non-state actors with goals other than profit?

Or, since you're posting in a Syria thread, you mean Muslims?

Neo Assyria

>>388380
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEZWE8NqZiY

>>388344
this

>>387806
Probably during the Umayyad Caliphate. It experience a resurgence, in importance at least, during the Crusades

>>388220
Underrated post.