in
Hatay Archaeology Museum Antiquity , first half of sixth century,
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Humans have occupied the area of Antioch since the
Chalcolithic (
6th millennium BCE), as revealed by
archaeological excavations of
Alalakh, among others. The
Macedonian King Alexander the Great, after defeating the
Achaemenid Empire in the
Battle of Issus in 333 BC, followed the
Orontes south into
Syria and occupied the area. The city of Antioch was founded in 300 BC, after the death of Alexander, by the
Seleucid emperor Seleucus I Nicator. It played an important role as one of the largest cities in the Seleucid,
Roman, and
Byzantine empires. The city swapped hands between the Romans and the
Sasanian Empire in the
3rd century. It was the battleground for the
siege of Antioch (253) when
Shapur I defeated the Roman army and the later
Battle of Antioch (613) where the Persians were successful at capturing the city for the last time. It was a key city during the early
history of Christianity, in particular that of the
Syriac Orthodox Church, the
Antiochian Orthodox Church and the
Maronite Church, as well as during the
spread of Islam and the
Crusades.
Biblical era Acts 11:26: "So it was that for an entire year they met withe the church and taught a great many people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called 'Christians.'"
Rashidun period In 637, during the reign of the Byzantine emperor
Heraclius, Antioch was conquered by the
Rashidun Caliphate during the
Battle of the Iron Bridge. The city became known in Arabic as (). Since the
Umayyad Caliphate was unable to penetrate the
Anatolian plateau, Antioch found itself on the frontline of the conflicts between two hostile empires during the next 350 years, so that the city went into a precipitous decline. After the demise of Umayyad rule, Antioch became part of the
Abbasid empire (except for a brief rule of the
Tulunids),
Ikhshidids and
Hamdanids. In 969, the city was reconquered for the
Byzantine Emperor
Nikephoros II Phokas by
Michael Bourtzes and the
stratopedarches Peter. It soon became the seat of a
dux, who commanded the forces of the local
themes and was the most important officer on the Empire's eastern border, held by such men as
Nikephoros Ouranos. In 1078,
Philaretos Brachamios, an Armenian hero, seized power. He held the city until the
Seljuk Turks captured it from him in 1084. The
Sultanate of Rum held it only fourteen years before the Crusaders arrived.
Crusader era by
Louis Gallait The Crusaders'
Siege of Antioch between October 1097 and June 1098 during the
First Crusade resulted in its fall. The Crusaders caused significant damage, including a massacre of its population, both Christian and Muslim. Following the defeat of Seljuk forces arriving to break the siege only four days after its capture by the crusaders,
Bohemond I became its overlord. The massacre of men, women, and children at Antioch "was the single greatest massacre of the entire crusading era." Priests had their throats slit inside their churches, and women were sold into slavery. In addition to suffering the ravages of war, the city lost its commercial importance because trade routes to
East Asia moved north following the
Mongol invasions of the Levant. Antioch never recovered as a major city, and much of its former role fell to the port of
Alexandretta. The diary of the English naval chaplain
Henry Teonge records an account of both cities in 1675.
Ottoman city The city was initially the centre of Antakya
sanjak, which was part of the
Damascus Eyalet. It was later the center of the sanjak of Antakya in
Aleppo Eyalet. It was finally the
kaza of the
Aleppo Sanjak, part of the
Aleppo vilayet. In 1822 (and
again in 1872), Antakya was hit by
an earthquake and damaged. When Egyptian general
Ibrahim Pasha established his headquarters in the city in 1835, it had only some 5,000 inhabitants. Supporters hoped the city might develop thanks to the
Euphrates Valley Railway, which was supposed to link it to the port of is-Swēda (, now
Samandağ), but this plan never came to fruition. This scheme is the subject of
Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poem (1836) in which she reflects of the superiority of trade and commerce over war and conflict. The city suffered repeated outbreaks of
cholera due to inadequate infrastructure for sanitation. Later the city developed and rapidly resumed much of its old importance when a railway was built along the lower
Orontes valley.
French Mandate and Turkish annexation Antioch was part of the
Sanjak of Alexandretta during the
Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, until it was made
Hatay State in 1938 after Turkish pressure. An
Arab nationalist newspaper in the city run by
Zaki al-Arsuzi was shut down by the Turks. On 30 May 1938, an Arab was killed during a riot by a Turkish crowd. On 7 July 1938, the
Turkish army entered Antioch. == Demographics ==