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Forword
Tomb raiders and treasure hunters
The Mediterranean in Antiquity – a short review
Life in Classical times
Burial customs simplified
Coffins and sarcophagi in many shapes and sizes
Life after death
Burying the dead
The Roman way of death
Houses for the dead
Remembering the dead
Cultural crossroads – the Roman provinces of Syria and Judaea 
A Roman Province
Decapolis and Palmyra – cosmopolitain cities of the East
The Jews
The first Christians
Martyrs and relics
Forgeries

Selected sources
People, places and events
Mythology
Glossary

CULTURAL CROSSROADS – THE ROMAN PROVINCES OF SYRIA AND JUDAEA

The region comprising present-day Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria has been known by various names; Canaan, Phoenicia, ash-Sham, Assyria, Philistia, the Holy Land, the Levant, the Near East and the Middle East. The problem of finding a common name for this area reflects its rich and complex history, the traditions of the many peoples who have lived here, and the conflicts that have taken place. We have chosen to use the terms the Romans used - the Province of Syria and its sub-province Judaea - and our focus is on the period of Roman occupation – c 64 BC to c 600 AD.

The area was then, as now, home to many religions and groups of people. It was inhabited by the Nabateans in the south with their desert capital Petra, as well as other Arab tribes in the deserts. There were cosmopolitan centres like Antioch in the north, the Decapolis cities in the east and the prosperous caravan oases, Palmyra.

With its seaports and caravan stations, Syria/Judaea was a major crossroads for the trade routes of Europe, Asia and Africa. The area’s inhabitants were mainly Semites (people who speak Semitic languages like Aramaic, Arabic or Hebrew), but people from all over the Greco-Roman world also settled here. Some were Roman officials and soldiers stationed in the Provinces. Others came to take part in the region’s booming trade and commerce.

Syria/Judea was the home of many cults and religions. The traditional Greco-Roman gods were worshipped by the Romans and Greco-Roman communities and there were numerous polytheistic sects and cults of Arabic, Persian, Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Aramaic origin. There were also the monotheistic religions; Judaism and Christianity. The rapid spread of Christianity greatly reduced the area’s religious diversity and by the 5^th century, only the Jewish community survived intact as a distinct minority within the Christian Eastern Empire.

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