ABSTRACT

This chapter describes some facets of the ways in which ‘ordinary’ Syrians lived their lives in Late Antiquity. It explores the different landscapes and climatic regions covered by the Syriac-speaking communities, the networks of physical communications that existed between those communities, the variety of crop types that were cultivated in the region as well as new varieties that were introduced during Late Antiquity, and types of animal husbandry. Also mentioned is the specific contributions of the Syriac communities towards the transmission of special agricultural and botanical knowledge in antiquity. Stress is laid on continuities over time and also on the level of integration of the Christian Syriac communities into the wider economic networks of the whole region.