Syria's communities and civilizations – history, sites and heritage
Amorites
العموريون (الأموريون)
Civilizations and historical peopleshistorical
The Amorites were a Semitic-speaking people who dominated Mesopotamia, Syria and Palestine from about 2000 to 1600 BC. In Syria their kingdoms included Mari on the Euphrates, Qatna near Homs, Halab (Aleppo) and Shubat-Enlil (Tell Leilan). This is a historical people, not a modern community.
The Amorites appear in sources from about 2400 BC as nomads and later formed a patchwork of kingdoms, rapidly adopting Sumero-Akkadian culture. Mari was one of their capitals; farther west the political centre was Halab (Aleppo), where the newcomers mixed with the Hurrians.
Sources and details
Mari's palace under Zimri-Lim had about 300 rooms and yielded thousands of archival texts before Hammurabi of Babylon destroyed the city in the 18th century BC. Qatna became the capital of an Amorite regional kingdom by 2000 BC, and the Amorite ruler Shamshi-Adad I made Tell Leilan his seat as Shubat-Enlil.
By about 1100 BC the term Amurru referred only to a region. Finds from Mari are shown in the National Museum of Damascus.
Sites connected with this community 7
- Tell Leilan (Shekhna / Shubat-Enlil)Hasakah · Churches & monasteries
Tell Leilan, Shubat-Enlil, seat of Shamshi-Adad I.
- Ancient City of AleppoAleppo · Castles & fortresses
Halab (Aleppo), the western Amorite political centre.
- National Museum of DamascusDamascus, Damascus · Museums
Displays tablets and seals from Mari.
- MariDeir ez-Zor · Archaeological sites
Mari (Tell Hariri), an Amorite capital.
- Royal Palace of MariDeir ez-Zor · Historic architecture
Zimri-Lim's palace with its archives.
- QatnaHoms · Archaeological sites
Qatna, capital of an Amorite kingdom by 2000 BC.
- Royal Hypogeum of QatnaHoms · Archaeological sites
Royal tomb beneath the palace of Qatna, in use for about 350 years.
These categories describe history, language and faith – not exclusive identities. Many Syrians belong to several, and some names refer to civilizations of the past.