An ancient trading city in N Syria controlling one of the main crossing points of the Euphrates. It was ruled by the Hittites in the second millennium BC, survived the destruction of the Hittite empire (c.1200 BC), and remained an important centre of Hittite culture until its conquest by Assyria in 716 BC.
Carchemish (called Europus by the Romans) was an important ancient city of the Mitanni and Hittite empires, now on the frontier between Turkey and Syria. The city is said to be known locally as Jarablos (also Jarâblos) , linking it to the Biblical city of Jerablus;
The site
Carchemish is now an extensive set of ruins, located on the West bank of Euphrates River, about 60 km southeast of Gaziantep, Turkey and 100 km northeast of Aleppo, Syria.
In ancient times, the city commanded the main ford across the Euphrates, a situation which must have contributed greatly to its historical and strategic importance.
History
The site has been occupied since the Neolithic period, with pottery finds from ca. The city is mentioned in documents found in the Ebla archives of the 3rd millennium BC. 1800 BC, Carchemish was then ruled by a king named Aplahanda, and an important center of timber trade.
Pharaoh Thutmose I of the Eighteenth Dynasty erected a stela near Carchemish to celebrate his conquest of Syria and other lands beyond the Euphrates. Around the end of the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten, Carchemish was captured by king Suppiluliuma I of the Hittites (ca. 14th century BC), who made it into a kingdom ruled by his son Piyashshili.
The city became one of the most important centres in the Hittite Empire, during the Late Bronze Age, and reached its apogee around the 11th century BC. After the Hittite empire fell to the Sea Peoples, Carchemish continued to be the capital of an important "Neo-Hittite" kingdom in the Iron Age, and important trade center. Although Ramesses III states in an inscription dating to his 8th Year from his Medinet Habu mortuary temple that Carchemish was destroyed by the Sea Peoples, the city evidently survived the onslaught of the Sea Peoples. under the title of 'Great Kings.' This Empire lasted from c.1175 to 990 BC when its lost control of its imperial possessions and became a mere local city state centred around Carchemish.
The patron of Carchemish under the Hittites was Kubaba, a goddess of apparently Hurrian origins.
In the 9th century BC, the city paid tribute to Kings Ashurnasirpal II and Shalmaneser III of Assyria, and was conquered by Sargon II in 717 BC, in the reign of King Pisiris.
In the summer of 605 BC (or 607 BC by some sources), an important battle was fought there by the Babylonian army of Nebuchadrezzar II and that of Pharaoh Necho of Egypt (Jer.
Rediscovery and exploration
Carchemish has always been well-known to scholars because of its mentions in the Bible (Jer.
User Comments Add a comment…