Syria's borders are roughly the Euphrates, the Mediterranean, Turkey and Palestine. In the 9th millennium B.C. people living in the region cultivated einkorn wheat. By the mid-4th millennium, they were producing bronze, and soon after, cities. Syria was settled by Akkadians, Arameans, and Canaanites. The major centers of ancient Syria were at Damascus and Antioch. The kingdom of David (see Judaea) reached to Damascus.
Egyptians, Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites, Persians, and in the 4th century, Alexander the Great conquered the area that includes Syria. It then became part of the Roman Empire.
