Aleppo
Aleppo is a city in northern Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the country's most populous governorate. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents as of 2021 it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and was the largest by population until it was surpassed by Damascus, the capital of Syria. Aleppo is also the largest city in Syria's northern governorates and one of the largest cities in the Levant region.
Aleppo is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world; it may have been inhabited since the sixth millennium BC. Excavations at Tell as-Sawda and Tell al-Ansari, just south of the old city of Aleppo, show that the area was occupied by Amorites by the latter part of the third millennium BC. That is also the time at which Aleppo is first mentioned in cuneiform tablets unearthed in Ebla and Mesopotamia, which speak of it as part of the Amorite state of Yamhad, and note its commercial and military importance. Such a long history is attributed to its strategic location as a trading center between the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia. For centuries, Aleppo was the largest city in the Syrian region, and the Ottoman Empire's third-largest after Constantinople and Cairo. The city's significance in history has been its location at one end of the Silk Road, which passed through Central Asia and Mesopotamia. When the Suez Canal was inaugurated in 1869, much trade was diverted to sea and Aleppo began its slow decline.
At the fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, Aleppo lost its northern hinterland to modern Turkey, as well as the important Baghdad Railway connecting it to Mosul. In 1939, it lost its main access to the sea, by Antakya and İskenderun, also to Turkey. The growth in importance of Damascus in the past few decades further exacerbated the situation. This decline may have helped to preserve the old city of Aleppo, its medieval architecture and traditional heritage. It won the title of the Islamic Capital of Culture 2006 and has had a wave of successful restorations of its historic landmarks. The battle of Aleppo occurred in the city during the Syrian civil war, and many parts of the city suffered massive destruction. Affected parts of the city are currently undergoing reconstruction. An estimated 31,000 people were killed in Aleppo during the conflict.
Etymology
Proto-Semitic Origins
The etymology of the name Aleppo is ancient and rooted in the long history of the region.The name Ḥalab is believed to originate from a Semitic root, possibly the Proto-Semitic root ḥlb, meaning "to milk" or "milk". This connection might have arisen due to the area's association with pastoralism and the production of milk. Another possibility is that the name refers to the color "white", as the root ḥlb could metaphorically describe the pale or white hue of certain local soils or materials. Similarly, the modern-day nickname al-Shahbāʾ, meaning "the white-colored mixed with black", is said to be derived from its famed white marble.
Amorite Origins and Hittite Influence
During the second millennium BCE, it became a key city of the Amorite state, who referred to it as Ḥalab. The Hittites, a contemporary Anatolian Empire within the region, referred to the city as Ḥalpa or Ḥalpu in their inscriptions. This indicates the name was already well-established by this time.Aramaic and Akkadian Adaptations
In Aramaic, the city retained a similar name, with forms like Ḥalba. Akkadian sources also refer to the city as Ḥalab.Greek and Roman Periods
During the Hellenistic and Roman periods, Aleppo was known as Beroea, a name likely assigned by the Seleucid rulers after the Macedonian city of the same name. Despite this, the local population continued to use the original Semitic name.Islamic Period
With the advent of Islam and the Arabization of the region, the name Ḥalab remained in use, reflecting its deep historical continuity. The Arabic form also preserved its earlier meanings, with folklore often associating the name with the prophet Abraham, who is said to have "milked" his livestock in the area to provide for travelers.Modern-day English
The adoption of "Aleppo" into English likely coincided with the Crusades and subsequent increased trade and travel between Europe and the Middle East. By the late 14th to early 15th centuries, the term Aleppo was well-established in English literature and travel accounts.The earliest documented use of "Aleppo" in English occurs in translations of medieval texts and chronicles, such as the travel writings of Marco Polo, where the city is mentioned as a key trading hub. Additionally, it was featured in maps and documents produced during the European Renaissance as a center of commerce on the Silk Road.
History
Pre-history and pre-classical era
Aleppo has scarcely been touched by archaeologists, since the modern city occupies its ancient site. The earliest occupation of the site was around 8,000 BC, as shown by excavations in Tallet Alsauda.Aleppo appears in historical records as an important city much earlier than Damascus. The first record of Aleppo comes from the third millennium BC, in the Ebla tablets when Aleppo was referred to as Ha-lam. This has been identified as an early form of Ḥalab due to an interchange of /m/ and /b/ that has been attested in Sumerian texts, including with the cuneiform sign Lam. Some historians, such as Wayne Horowitz, identify Aleppo with the capital of an independent kingdom closely related to Ebla, known as Armi, although this identification is contested. The main temple of the storm god Hadad was located on the citadel hill in the center of the city, when the city was known as the city of Hadad.
Naram-Sin of Akkad mentioned his destruction of Ebla and Armanum, in the 23rd century BC. However, the identification of Armani in the inscription of Naram-Sim as Armi in the Eblaite tablets is heavily debated, as there was no Akkadian annexation of Ebla or northern Syria.
In the Old Babylonian and Old Assyrian Empire period, Aleppo's name appears in its original form as Ḥalab for the first time. Aleppo was the capital of the important Amorite dynasty of Yamḥad. The kingdom of Yamḥad, alternatively known as the 'land of Ḥalab,' was one of the most powerful in the Near East during the reign of Yarim-Lim I, who formed an alliance with Hammurabi of Babylonia against Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria.
Hittite period
Yamḥad was devastated by the Hittites under Mursili I in the 16th century BC. However, it soon resumed its leading role in the Levant when the Hittite power in the region waned due to internal strife.Taking advantage of the power vacuum in the region, Baratarna, king of the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni instigated a rebellion that ended the life of Yamhad's last king Ilim-Ilimma I in c. 1525 BC, Subsequently, Parshatatar conquered Aleppo and the city found itself on the frontline in the struggle between the Mitanni, the Hittites and Egypt. Niqmepa of Alalakh who descends from the old Yamhadite kings controlled the city as a vassal to Mitanni and was attacked by Tudhaliya I of the Hittites as a retaliation for his alliance to Mitanni. Later the Hittite king Suppiluliumas I permanently defeated Mitanni, and conquered Aleppo in the 14th century BC. Suppiluliumas installed his son Telepinus as king and a dynasty of Suppiluliumas descendants ruled Aleppo until the Late Bronze Age collapse. However, Talmi-Šarruma, grandson of Suppiluliumas I, who was the king of Aleppo, had fought on the Hittite side, along with king Muwatalli II during the Battle of Kadesh against the Egyptian army led by Ramesses II.
File:Al_Qaiqan-Moschee3.JPG|thumb|Al-Qaiqan Mosque was originally a Hittite pagan temple during ancient times; in addition, a stone block with Anatolian hieroglyphs can be found on the southern wall.
Aleppo had cultic importance to the Hittites as the center of worship of the Storm-God. This religious importance continued after the collapse of the Hittite empire at the hands of the Assyrians and Phrygians in the 12th century BC, when Aleppo became part of the Middle Assyrian Empire, whose king renovated the temple of Hadad which was discovered in 2003.
In 2003, a statue of a king named Taita bearing inscriptions in Luwian was discovered during excavations conducted by German archeologist Kay Kohlmeyer in the Citadel of Aleppo. The new readings of Anatolian hieroglyphic signs proposed by the Hittitologists Elisabeth Rieken and Ilya Yakubovich were conducive to the conclusion that the country ruled by Taita was called Palistin. This country extended in the 11th-10th centuries BC from the Amouq Valley in the west to Aleppo in the east down to Maharda and Shaizar in the south. Due to the similarity between Palistin and Philistines, Hittitologist John David Hawkins hypothesizes a connection between the Syro-Hittite states Palistin and the Philistines, as do archaeologists Benjamin Sass and Kay Kohlmeyer. Gershon Galil suggests that King David halted the Arameans' expansion into the Land of Israel on account of his alliance with the southern Philistine kings, as well as with Toi, king of Ḥamath, who is identified with Tai II, king of Palistin.