Al-Suqaylabiyah
Al-Suqaylabiyah is a city in western Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate. It is located about from Hama and overlooks the Ghab Valley. According to the 2004 official census, the town had a population of 13,920. In 2009, the population was recorded at around 20,000. Its inhabitants are largely Greek Orthodox Christians.
The city derives its name from Seleucia ad Belum, an ancient Seleucid city that was located in its vicinity. Modern al-Suqaylabiyah was established in the mid to late 19th century, during the late Ottoman period, by Greek Orthodox Christians from the villages of the Syrian coastal mountains, including many emigrants originally from the Hauran. Travelers in the made note of its prosperity. During the French Mandatory period, it was a large village that grew quality wheat and, rare for the Hama region, its lands were owned by its residents rather than the urban elites of Hama.
Al-Suqaylabiyah developed significantly in the 1960s as a result of the land reclamation projects in the Ghab Valley and became the administrative center of the newly-formed Ghab District in 1964, attaining city status in the process. The city serves as a major agricultural and commercial center for its area, connecting communities in the coastal mountains with the major cities of Syria's interior plain.
Geography
Al-Suqaylabiyah is located in the northwestern section of the Hama Governorate, about from the governorate capital of Hama. The city overlooks the Ghab Valley and is a commercial center connecting the communities of the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range with the country's interior plains. The old center of al-Suqaylabiyah sits on a hill with an elevation of about above sea level.In its latest master plan, al-Suqaylabiyah consisted of over 450 hectares. Its districts or neighborhoods were the Old Town, Sahm al-Baydar, Sultaniya, al-Tell, al-Souq, al-Abra and Ayn al-Barada. Sahm al-Baydar is the largest district, lying to the city's south along the road to Hama. Sultaniya lies along the southwestern edge of al-Suqaylabiyah. The Old Town and al-Tell form the old center of the city and contain a number of archaeological remains, including Roman-era olive presses. Along the latter two districts' southern and southwestern edge is al-Souq, where residents of the surrounding communities sell their dairy and produce and buy goods. Most government offices, the public hospital and schools are located in the Abra district.
History
The name goes back to the ancient Seleucia ad Belum, a town of Hellenistic foundation that was located almost at the same place. The site was abandoned during the Middle Ages.Ottoman period
According to an 1828/29 Ottoman tax record, al-Suqaylabiyah was a farm or hamlet consisting of 12 feddans. By 1838, it was a khirba.The modern town was established at a later point in the 19th century by Greek Orthodox Christians who had emigrated from the Hauran region in southern Syria in the late 18th century to escape persecution by Ottoman authorities. The emigrants had first settled in Ayn al-Kurum, in the foothills of the largely Alawite-inhabited Coastal Mountain Range, before moving down to the site of al-Suqaylabiyah. The Hauranis were joined by several Christian families originally from the Coastal Mountain Range, including from the villages of Ayn al-Kurum, Maradash, Anab, Dabbash and Arnaba. According to a late 20th-century local authority, Ghaith al-Abdallah, the Christian emigrants of these villages had gathered and decided together to settle the tell of al-Suqaylabiyah, trading the high mountains, lush forests and hunting grounds, fertile gardens and copious springs of their original homes for the impregnability and strategic location of their new home.
During the 1860 civil conflict in Syria, local Bedouin tribes attacked al-Suqaylabiyah. In 1879, the German orientalist Eduard Sachau visited al-Suqaylabiyah during a tour of the Hama region and noted it was a Christian village crowning a flat, round hilltop. Its leader was Sheikh Rustum and the village contained 100 houses and 200 riflemen. The Swiss historian Max van Berchem was hosted by its sheikh in 1885 and he described al-Suqaylabiyah as a large Orthodox Christian village perched on a mound with a wealthy and prosperous appearance. The sheikh's house was described as being surrounded by huts which formed the outbuildings of his residence; the complex was enclosed by a high wall of beaten earth with a crenellated top. The sheikh who hosted van Berchem was likely Sheikh S'ayyid, one of the village's leaders at that time; the other was Sheikh Ilyas.