The "dead cities“ of Northern Syria and their demise

The „dead cities“ of Northern Syria form a region to the west of Aleppo. The well preserved ruins of churches and other buildings show that they date from the last centuries of Antiquity. When they were abandoned and for what reasons are questions which have occupied scholars for several years. In 2010 an interdisciplinary workshop was held at the Danish Institute at Damascus with the purpose to find the certain facts and if possible suggest the direction of future studies. Whereas earlier scholars saw the abandonment of the dead cities as a consequence of the Arab conquest of Syria, contemporary research recognizes that the dead cities were inhabited still in the eighth century AD, if not longer. In the conclusion the hypothesis is formulated that the dead cities were deserted only in the late tenth or early eleventh century. English/French