Near East (909 BCE – 819 CE) Early Iron and Antiquity — Greeks of Ionia, Levantine Tyre, Roman–Byzantine Egypt, Arabia’s Caravans

Geographic and Environmental Context

• Anchors: the Nile Valley and Delta; Sinai–Negev–Arabah; the southern Levant (with Tyre as the sole Levantine node in this subregion); Hejaz–Asir–Tihāma on the Red Sea; Yemen’s western uplands/coast; southwestern Cyprus; western Anatolian littoral (Smyrna–Ephesus–Miletus–Halicarnassus–Xanthos; Troad).

Climate & Environment

• Nile’s late antique variability; Aegean storms seasonal; Arabian aridity persistent but terraces/cisterns mitigated.

Societies & Political Developments

• Western Anatolia Greek city-states (Ionia–Aeolia–Doria, with Troad): Miletus, Ephesus, Smyrna, etc.

• Tyre (sole Near-Eastern Levantine node here) dominated Phoenician seafaring.

• Egypt (Ptolemaic → Roman → Byzantine): Nile granary and Christianizing hub.

• Arabian west: caravan kingdoms and Hejaz–Asir oases; western Yemen incense terraces and caravan polities.

• Southwestern Cyprus embedded in Hellenistic–Roman maritime circuits.

Economy & Trade

• Grain–papyrus–linen from the Nile; olive–wine Aegean; incense–myrrh from Yemen; Red Sea lanes linked to Aden–Berenike nodes (outside core but connected).

• Tyre exported craft goods and purple dye.

Technology & Material Culture

• Iron agriculture and tools; triremes and merchant galleys; advanced terracing, cisterns; lighthouse/harbor works.

Belief & Symbolism

• Egyptian polytheism → Christianity (Alexandria); Greek civic cults; Tyrian traditions; Arabian deities; monasticism along Nile/Desert.

Adaptation & Resilience

• Canal maintenance buffered Nile shocks; terraces/cisterns stabilized Arabian farming; Aegean coastal redundancy protected shipping routes.

Transition

By 819 CE, the Near East was a multi-corridor world of Nile granaries, Ionia’s city-coasts, Tyre’s Phoenician legacy, and Arabian incense roads — a foundation for the medieval dynamics ahead (Ayyubids in Syria/Egypt next door, Abbasids beyond, and the Ionian–Anatolian littoral under Byzantine/Nicaean arcs).

Near East (189–46 BCE): Roman Expansion, Jewish Struggles, and Cultural Flourishing

In 189 BCE, the Near East enters an era marked by the inception of the Greco-Roman world, with the Roman Republic increasingly dominating the eastern Mediterranean Basin. Having defeated the Seleucid king Antiochus III, Rome rewards its allies, particularly Pergamon and Rhodes, with territories, despite previously claiming a policy of "liberation of the Greeks." The Romans, under consul Gnaeus Manlius Vulso, subsequently launch an unauthorized campaign against the Galatian tribes of central Anatolia, decisively defeating them at Mount Olympus and near Ankara in 189 BCE. Although Vulso faces political backlash in Rome for acting without Senate approval, he is eventually cleared and granted a triumph.

Egyptian Instability and Seleucid Decline (177–154 BCE)

Between 177 and 166 BCE, Egypt under young Ptolemy VI Philometor experiences internal turmoil, with regents Eulaeus and Lenaeus provoking the Sixth Syrian War against Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The war briefly places Egypt under Seleucid influence until Roman envoy Gaius Popilius Laenas famously forces Antiochus to withdraw at Eleusis in 168 BCE. Meanwhile, Antiochus IV's aggressive Hellenization policies in Judea ignite the Maccabean Revolt in 165 BCE, led by the priestly Hasmonean family from Modiin. By 164 BCE, Jewish rebels successfully retake Jerusalem, cleanse the Temple, and reestablish traditional worship, initiating Hasmonean autonomy.

From 153 to 140 BCE, the region of modern Jordan thrives under the waning Seleucid and Ptolemaic influence, marked by the rise of the Nabataeans, who extend their kingdom from their capital at Petra, dominating regional trade. Greek influence continues to permeate the region, reflected in city names such as Philadelphia (Amman) and Gerasa (Jarash). Meanwhile, the pharaonic tradition persists among rulers at Meroë, who erect pyramids and stelae to record their achievements, utilizing a new Meroitic script.

Hasmonean Expansion and Hellenistic Influence (141–106 BCE)

By 141 BCE, the Hasmonean rulers secure substantial autonomy for Judea from the declining Seleucid Empire. Under rulers like John Hyrcanus (134–104 BCE), the Hasmoneans expand territorially, notably annexing Edom (Idumea), whose inhabitants adopt Judaism. Hellenistic cultural influence is evident, exemplified by iconic sculptures like the Venus de Milo, attributed to Alexandros of Antioch, created between 130 and 100 BCE.

In southern Arabia, the powerful Himyarite kingdom emerges around 115 BCE, capitalizing on the decline of the inland Sabaean kingdom. The Himyarites establish their center at Zafar, extending their influence from southern Yemen to the Persian Gulf region.

Roman Dominance, Cultural Exchange, and Jewish Population Growth (105–46 BCE)

From 105 BCE onward, Roman political involvement in the Near East intensifies. In 63 BCE, the Roman general Pompey decisively intervenes in Judean affairs, ending Jewish independence. Prominent Jewish figures like Antipater, father of Herod the Great, emerge as pivotal mediators between Judea and Rome. Pompey organizes the Decapolis, a league of ten self-governing Greek cities including Amman, Jarash, and Gadara (modern Umm Qays) to protect Greek interests from Jewish encroachment.

Between 69 and 58 BCE, the Jewish population grows significantly, both in Palestine and throughout the Diaspora. Estimates suggest millions of Jews and proselytes practicing Judaism across the Mediterranean world. Technological advancements, such as glassblowing, likely discovered in Phoenicia around 50 BCE, revolutionize glassware production and trade.

The Wisdom of Solomon, a Greek text by an Alexandrian Jew, emphasizes Jewish religious commitment and showcases extensive Hellenistic influence on Jewish literature, philosophy, and religious thought during this period.

Legacy of the Age

The age from 189 to 46 BCE profoundly reshapes the Near East through the consolidation of Roman dominance, the dynamic rise and territorial expansion of Hasmonean Judea, significant demographic growth among Jewish populations, and notable cultural and technological advancements. These developments lay foundations for further Roman imperial integration, foster dynamic cultural exchanges, and leave enduring legacies influencing subsequent regional histories.

The new Greek rulers from Syria institute an aggressive policy of Hellenization among their subject peoples.

Efforts to suppress Judaism spark a revolt in 166 BCE led by Judas (Judah) Maccabaeus, whose kinsmen in the next generation reestablish an independent Jewish kingdom under the rule of the Hasmonean Dynasty.

The East Bank remains a battleground in the continuing struggle between the Jews and the Seleucids.

Roman legions under Pompey methodically remove the last remnants of the Seleucids from Syria
by the first century BCE, converting the area into a full Roman province.

The new hegemony of Rome causes upheaval and eventual revolt among the Jews while it enables the Nabataeans to prosper.

Rival claimants to the Hasmonean throne appeal to Rome in 64 BCE for aid in settling the civil war that has divided the Jewish kingdom.

The next year Pompey, fresh from implanting Roman rule in Syria, seized Jerusalem and installs the contender most favorable to Rome as a client king.

On the same campaign, Pompey organizes the Decapolis, a league of ten self-governing Greek cities also dependent on Rome that includes Amman, Jarash, and Gadara (modern Umm Qays), on the East Bank.

Roman policy here is to protect Greek interests against the encroachment of the Jewish kingdom.

Judah under the Hasmonean Dynasty becomes comparable in extent and power to the ancient Davidic dominion.

Internal political and religious discord run high, however, especially between the Pharisees, who interpret the written law by adding a wealth of oral law, and the Sadducees, an aristocratic priestly class who call for strict adherence to the written law.

Dynastic contenders for the throne in 64 BCE appeal for support to Pompey, who is establishing Roman power in Asia.

The next year Roman legions seize Jerusalem, and Pompey installs one of the contenders for the throne as high priest, but without the title of king.

Eighty years of independent Jewish sovereignty end, and the period of Roman dominion begins.

Ptolemy's successors are in turn supplanted in Palestine by the Seleucids, and Antiochus IV seizes power in 175 BCE.

He launches a campaign to crush Judaism, and in 167 BCE he sacks the Temple.

The violation of the Second Temple, which had been built about 520-515 BCE, provokes a successful Jewish rebellion under the generalship of Judas (Judah) Maccabaeus.

The Hasmonean Dynasty begins in 140 BCE under the leadership of Simon Maccabaeus, who serves as ruler, high priest, and commander in chief.

Simon, who is assassinated a few years later, formalizes what Judas had begun, the establishment of a theocracy, something not found in any biblical text.

The Seleucid pretender Diodotus recognizes Hasmonean rule over Judea in exchange for a minor tribute; this is the origin of the Judaean theocracy, an institution not found in any biblical text.

Judah's native Hasmonean rulers gradually drive the Greco-Syrian Seleucids from the country and set up a revived kingdom of Judaea, bringing it to its greatest extent since the semi-legendary United Monarchy under David.

Internal political and religious discord continues, however.

The Jews of Judea are now essentially independent of the Seleucids.

Over the past several years of turmoil in the Seleucid realms, Mithridates and his Parthian forces have seized several Anatolian cities, making them vassals and oppressing their Greek inhabitants.

The Greeks appeal to Seleucid king Demetrius II Nicator to free them from Parthian overlordship.

The internal situation in the Seleucid domains is so convoluted, and the rebel general and Seleucid pretender Diodotus so eager to gain allies, that he recognizes Hasmonean rule over Judea in exchange for little gain beyond a minor tribute of one hundred talents.

Simon Thassi in 142-141 forces the surrender of the Syrian garrison on the Akra, which apparently had remained loyal to Seleucid king Demetrius II Nicator, and the Jews pass a decree in Simon’s honor, granting the right of permanent incumbency to him and to his successors, until “an accredited prophet” should arise (the Hasmoneans claim no descent from the Davidic line, who had provided the hereditary kings of ancient Judah).

It is thus in Simon's reign that the rule of the priest-prince is transformed into a secular hereditary rule.

Diodotus recognizes this, granting Simon the right to issue his own coins.

Several Jewish armies now march against Diodotus' rival Demetrius and opposing cities.

The child Antiochus VI does not actually rule in Syria.

Either already in 145 or in early 144 BCE he had been nominated by the general Diodotus Tryphon as heir to the throne in opposition to Demetrius II, and remains the general's tool.

The young king dies in about 142/41 BCE.

While some ancient authors make Diodotus Tryphon responsible for the death of the king, others write that he died during a surgery.

Diodotus seizes power in Coele-Syria where the rival Seleucid king, Demetrius II Nicator, is unpopular for his oppressive treatment of the Jews. (Strictly speaking, Coele, or 'hollow', Syria, the region of southern Syria disputed between the Seleucid dynasty and the Ptolemaic dynasty, is the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, but it is often used to cover the entire area south of the river Eleutherus including Judea.)

The division of the kingdom between the legitimate Seleucid heir and the usurper in Antioch persists.

Demetrius's queen Cleopatra Thea meanwhile is regent; but the usurper Trypho has gained strength in the south and threatens to seize full power.

Antiochus, the twenty-year-old brother of Demetrius (and the son of Demetrius I) has spent his youth in the Greek islands.

The energetic prince now arrives in Syria, marries Cleopatra Thea, and takes the throne as Antiochus VII Euergetes, or Sidetes. (His nickname comes either from the city of Side, in Pamphylia, where he had possibly been brought up, or from the city of Sidon.)

A passage in the Bible (I Maccabees 14:1-14) suggests that he had first assured himself of the neutrality of possible opponents, such as Judah.