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List of Syrian monarchs

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Summary

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The title King of Syria appeared in the second century BC in referring to the Seleucid kings who ruled the entirety of the region of Syria. It was also used to refer to Aramean kings in the Greek translations of the Old Testament, mainly indicating the kings of Aram-Damascus. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, the region came under the rule of France, the United Kingdom and Prince Faisal of Hejaz, who was proclaimed King of Syria on 8 March 1920. Faisal's reign lasted a few months before he was overthrown by France and the title fell out of use.

Background

Main article: Syria (region), Name of Syria

The term Syria was first applied by Herodotus in the 5th century BC to indicate a region generally extending between Anatolia and Egypt. With the advent of the Hellenistic period, Greeks and their Seleucid dynasty used the term "Syria" to designate the region between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates. The usage of the name in referring to the region during the Iron Age (ended 586 BC) is a modern practice.

List of monarchs

Seleucid dynasty

According to Polybius, King Antigonus I Monophthalmus established the Syrian kingdom which included Coele-Syria. The Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great defeated the Ptolemaic Kingdom in the Battle of Panium (200 BC); he annexed the Syrian lands controlled by Egypt (Coele-Syria) and united them with his Syrian lands, thus gaining control of the entirety of Syria. Starting from the 2nd century BC, ancient writers, such as Polybius and Posidonius, began referring to the Seleucid ruler as the king of Syria. The evidence for this title's usage by the kings is provided by the inscription of Antigonus son of Menophilus, who described himself as the "admiral of Alexander, king of Syria" (Alexander refers either to Alexander I Balas or Alexander II Zabinas).

Portrait	Monarch
(and lifespan)	Reign	Consort
(and tenure)	Parents, co-regents, and notes
110px	Antiochus III the Great
(c. 241–187 BC)	200–187 BC	Laodice III
(200–187 BC)
Euboea
(191–187 BC)
	Antiochus
(221–193 BC)	200–193 BC	Laodice IV
(196–193 BC)
110px	Seleucus IV Philopator
(c. 218–175 BC)	187–175 BC	Laodice IV
(187–175 BC)
110px	Antiochus
(c. 180–170 BC)	175–170 BC	Unmarried
110px	Antiochus IV Epiphanes
(c. 215–164 BC)	175–164 BC	Laodice IV
(c. 175–c. 164 BC)
110px	Antiochus V Eupator
(172–161 BC)	164–162 BC	Unmarried
110px	Demetrius I Soter
(187–150 BC)	162–150 BC	Laodice V
(161–150 BC)
110px	Antiochus	150 BC
110px	Alexander I Balas
( –145 BC)	150–145 BC	Cleopatra Thea
(150–145 BC)
110px	Demetrius II Nicator
( –125 BC)	145–138 BC
(first reign)	Cleopatra Thea
(145–138 BC)

110px	Antiochus VI Dionysus
(148 BC–142/141 BC)	144–142/141 BC	Unmarried

Non-dynastic

Diodotus Tryphon, who opposed Demetrius II by raising Antiochus VI to the throne, killed his protege and declared himself king ruling until 138 when the Seleucids unified Syria again.

Portrait	Monarch
(and lifespan)	Reign	Consort
(and tenure)	Parents, co-regents, and notes
110px	Diodotus Tryphon
( –138 BC)	142/141–138 BC

Seleucid dynasty

Portrait	Monarch
(and lifespan)	Reign	Consort
(and tenure)	Parents, co-regents, and notes
110px	Antiochus VII Sidetes
( –129 BC)	138–129 BC	Cleopatra Thea
(138–129 BC)
110px	Demetrius II Nicator
( –125 BC)	129–125 BC
(second reign)	Cleopatra Thea
(129–125 BC)
110px	Antiochus VIII Grypus
( –96 BC)	128 BC
(first reign)
110px	Alexander II Zabinas
( –123 BC)	128–123 BC

Ptolemaic dynasty

Portrait	Monarch
(and lifespan)	Reign	Consort
(and tenure)	Parents, co-regents, and notes
110px	Cleopatra Thea
(c. 165–121 BC)	125–121 BC

Seleucid dynasty

Portrait	Monarch
(and lifespan)	Reign	Consort
(and tenure)	Parents, co-regents, and notes
	Seleucus V Philometor
( –125 BC)	125 BC
110px	Antiochus VIII Grypus
( –96 BC)	125–96 BC
(second reign)	Tryphaena
(124–111 BC)
Cleopatra Selene
(103–96 BC)
110px	Antiochus IX Cyzicenus
( –95 BC)	114–95 BC	Cleopatra IV
(114–112 BC)
Cleopatra Selene
(96–95 BC)
Antiochus VIII died in 96 BC and Antiochus IX followed him in 95 BC; the country became embroiled in a civil war in which Antiochus VIII's five sons and the descendants of Antiochus IX fought between themselves. The chronology of all those monarchs is problematic and is specially vague regarding Seleucus VI's successors.
110px	Demetrius III Eucaerus
( –88 BC)	96–88 BC
110px	Seleucus VI Epiphanes
( –94/93 BC)	96–94/93 BC
110px	Antiochus X Eusebes
( –92)	95–92 BC	Cleopatra Selene
(95–92 BC)
110px	Antiochus XI Epiphanes
( –93 BC)	94–93 BC
110px	Philip I Philadelphus
( –83 BC)	94–84/83 BC
110px	Antiochus XII Dionysus
( –84 BC)	87–84/83 BC

Ptolemaic dynasty

Portrait	Monarch
(and lifespan)	Reign	Consort
(and tenure)	Parents, co-regents, and notes
110px	Cleopatra Selene
(c. 135/130–69 BC)	83–69 BC

Seleucid dynasty

Portrait	Monarch
(and lifespan)	Reign	Consort
(and tenure)	Parents, co-regents, and notes
110px	Antiochus XIII Asiaticus
(c. 94–63 BC)	83 or 83–74 BC
(first reign)

Artaxiad dynasty

Portrait	Monarch
(and lifespan)	Reign	Consort
(and tenure)	Parents, co-regents, and notes
110px	Tigranes the Great
(140–55 BC)	83/74–69 BC

Seleucid dynasty

Portrait	Monarch
(and lifespan)	Reign	Consort
(and tenure)	Parents, co-regents, and notes
110px	Antiochus XIII Asiaticus
(c. 94–63 BC)	69–67 BC
(second reign)
	Philip II Philoromaeus
( –after 57 BC)	67–65 BC
110px	Antiochus XIII Asiaticus
(c. 94–63 BC)	65–64 BC
(third reign)

Antonian dynasty

Portrait	Monarch
(and lifespan)	Reign	Consort
(and tenure)	Parents, co-regents, and notes
	Ptolemy Philadelphus
(36–after 30 BC)	34–30 BC

Hashemite dynasty

On 8 March 1920, prince Faysal of the House of Hashim, supported by the Syrian National Congress, declared himself king of the Arab Kingdom of Syria; the kingdom collapsed on 24 July of the same year.

Portrait	Name
(and lifespan)	Reign	Consort
(and tenure)	Standard	Notes
110px	Faisal
(20 May 1885 – 8 September 1933)	8 March 1920 – 24 July 1920	Huzaima bint Nasser
(8 March 1920 – 24 July 1920)	[[Image:Royal Standard of the King of Syria (1920).svg	110px]]

Biblical usage for Aramean kings

In the first translation of the Old Testament into Greek written during the third century BC (called the Septuagint), Aram and Arameans were often translated as Syria and the Syrians; hence, the king was referred to as the king of Syria, and this was carried on by many English translations. Aram in the Hebrew Old Testament and Syria in the translation indicated the kingdom of Aram-Damascus most of the times. Occasionally, other Aramean regions were also referred to as Syria. In the view of W. Edward Glenny, the rendering of Aram by Syria might be explained by an anti-Syrian bias, since at the time of the translation, Syria belonged to the Seleucids, the Jews' main enemy; Aram-Damascus was the Jews' enemy during its Iron Age prime in the 9th century BC.

Aramean kings referred to as "kings of Syria"

Portrait	Name	Reign
	Rezon	10th century BC
	Hezion	10th century BC
	Ben-Hadad I
	Ben-Hadad II
110px	Hazael	c. 842–800 BC
	Ben-Hadad III
	Rezin	750s–733 BC

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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