Hama
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2008-06-21T01:49:59Z
AnnaFrance
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/* Muslim and crusader feudal era */ disambiguated wikilink
{{dablink|This article is about the city in Syria. For other uses of the same word, see [[Hama (disambiguation)]]}}
{| class="infobox" style="font-size: 100"
|-
! colspan="2" style="background:#EFEFEF" |''مدينة حماة ''<br>City of Hama
|-
| colspan="2" align="center" | [[Image:Hama-3 norias.jpg|300px]]
|-
| colspan="2" align="center" |<small>''The Orontes River and 3 [[water wheel|norias]]''</small>
|-
! colspan="2" style="background:#EFEFEF"|General Information
|-
| [[Country]]:
| [[Syria]]
|-
| [[Governorates of Syria]]:
| [[Hama Governorate|Hama]]
|-
| [[Area code]]:
|
|-
| Website:
| [http://www.ehama.sy/ eHama]
|-
! colspan="2" style="background:#EFEFEF"|Hama in Syria
|-
| colspan="2" align="center" | {{Location map|Syria|label=Hama|lat_deg=35|lat_min=8|lon_deg=36|lon_min = 45|position=right|background =|width=300|}}
|-
| [[Governor]]:
| [[Abdul Razzaq al-Qutainy]]
|- valign="top"
! colspan="2" style="background:#EFEFEF"|Population
|-
| valign="top" | [[Population]]:
|
|-
! colspan="2" style="background:#EFEFEF"|Geography
|-
| valign="top" | [[Geographic coordinate system|Location]]:
| 35° 8' N, 36° 45'E
|-
| valign="top" | Elevation:
|
|-
|}
{{Ancient Near East portal}}
'''Hama''' (ancient '''Hamath'''; [[Arabic language|Arabic]]: حماة, meaning fortress) is a city on the banks of the [[Orontes]] river in central [[Syria]]. It is the provincial capital of the [[Hama Governorate]]. It is the location of the historical city Hamat.
==Description==
Its population numbers 410,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth-largest city in Syria, after [[Damascus]], [[Aleppo]], [[Homs]] and [[Latakia]].
Hama is an important agricultural and industrial center in Syria, with 3,680 square kilometres (over a third of the governorate's area) under cultivation. The governorate produces over half of the national crop of potatoes and pistachio nuts, as well as growing a variety of other vegetables and supporting a healthy livestock ranching industry besides.
The city proper is renowned for its 16 [[noria]]s used for watering the gardens, which—it is claimed—date back to 1100 BC. Though historically used for purpose of irrigation, nowadays the norias are almost entirely aesthetic and traditional.
==Ancient history==
The ancient settlement of Hama was occupied from the early [[Neolithic]] to the [[Iron Age]]. It was excavated between 1931-1938 by a Danish team under the direction of H. Ingholt. The stratigraphy is very generalised, which makes detailed comparison to other sites difficult. Level M (6 m thick) contained both [[white ware]], vessels made from lime-plaster and true pottery. It may be contemporary with [[Ras Shamra]] VA and B (6000-5000 BC). The overlying level L dates to the [[Chalcolithic]] [[Halaf]]-period.
The [[Hittites|Hittite]] levels are overlain by [[Aramaic]] remains which date to the end of the 11th century. At this time, Aramaic tribes seem to have taken over the whole [[Orontes]] and [[Litani]]-valley.
[[Iron age]] "Hamath" seems to have been a centre of [[ivory]]-working. It shows strong [[Egypt]]ian influence. Together with Aram ([[Damascus]]), Hama formed an important Aramaic state in the Syrian interior. As the [[Aramaic script]] was written on paper, very few records have been recovered in Hama itself.
[[Image:Hama-map.png|thumb|left|Location of the governorate of Hama]]
[[Bible|Biblical]] reports are scarce, but state that Hamath was the capital of a [[Canaan]]ite kingdom (2 Kings 23:33; 24:21) whose king, congratulated king David on his victory over the king of Soba (2 Samuel 8:9-11; 1 Chronicles 13:9-11). [[Solomon]], it would seem, took possession of Hamath and its territory (1 Kings 4:21-24; 2 Chronicles 8:4). The prophet [[Amos (prophet)|Amos]] (vi, 2) calls the town "Hamath the Great". Indeed, the name appears to stem from Phoenician ''khamat'' "fort" <ref>Room, Adrian. ''Placenames of the World''. London: MacFarland and Company, Inc., 1997.</ref>. The Assyrians took possession of it towards the end of the eighth century B.C.
When the Assyrian king [[Shalmaneser III]] (858-824 BC) conquered the North of Syria he reached Hamath in 835 BC; this marks the beginning of Assyrian sources on the kingdom. [[Irhuleni]] of Hamath and [[Im-idri]] of Aram (biblical [[Bar-Hadad]]) led a coalition of Syrian cities against the encroaching [[Assyria]]n armies. According to Assyrian sources, they were confronted by 4,000 chariots, 2,000 horsemen, 62,000 foot-soldiers and 1,000 Arab camel-riders in the [[Battle of Qarqar]]. The Assyrian victory seems to have been more of a draw, although Shalmaneser III continued to the ocean and even took a ship to open sea. In the following years, Shalmaneser III failed to conquer Hamath and Aram as well. After the death of Shalmaneser III the former allies Hamath and Aram fell out, and Aram seems to have taken over some of Hamath's territory.
An Aramaic inscription by [[Zakir of Hamath|Zakir]], king of Hamath and [[La'ash]], tells of an attack by a coalition including [[Sam'al]] under [[Ben-Hadad III]], son of [[Hasael]], king of Aram. Zakir was besieged in his fortress of [[Hazrak]], but saved by intervention of the God [[Be'elschamen]]. Later on, [[Ja'udi-Sam'al]] came to rule both Hamath and Aram.
In 743 BC [[Tiglath-Pileser III]] took a number of towns in the territory of Hamath, but not the city itself. In 738 BC Hamath is listed among the cities conquered by Assyrian troops. Over 30,000 Syrians from the environs of Hamath were deported to the [[Zagros]]-mountains.
In 605 BC, the remains of the Egyptian garrison of [[Carchemish]] was annihilated at Hamath by the [[Babylon]]ian king [[Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon|Nebuchadnezzar]]. In 554/553 Hamath was the target of a campaign by [[Nabonidus]] of [[Babylon]].
At the time of the [[Alexander the Great]]'s conquest it was given the name [[Epiphania]], no doubt in honour of and probably by king [[Antiochus Epiphanes]]. The inhabitants took no notice and continued to use the old name. Aquila and Theodoretus call it '''Emath-Epiphania'''.
The city later came under the control of [[Roman Empire|Rome]] and of the [[Byzantine Empire]], as part of the province of [[Syria Secunda]].
==Muslim and crusader feudal era==
[[Image:Hama-AlNouri minaret.jpg|right|thumb|The Ainouri Mosque minaret]]
Conquered by the Arabs in A.D. 638 or 639, the town regained its ancient name, and has since retained it, under the form Hama(h), meaning a fortress.
[[Tancred, Prince of Galilee|Tancred]] took it in 1108, but in 1115 the Franks lost it definitively. The Arab geographer [[Yaqut al-Hamawi]] (1179-1229), was born there. Christian Crusaders held Hama briefly (1108), but in 1188 it was re-taken by [[Saladin]], under whose [[Ayyubid]] family it remained until it passed to Egyptian [[Mamluk]] control in 1299. An early Mamluk governor of Hama was [[Abu al-Fida]] (reigned 1310–30), the historian and geographer.
In the early 16th century the city came under the control of the [[Ottoman Empire]], during which period a variety of [[Khan (title)|Khans]], and a beautiful Palace (the [[Al-Azem Palace]] - still existent), were built. '''Hamah''' (in Turkish) was a town of 45,000 inhabitants, prettily situated on the Orontes, and the residence of a [[Mutessarif]] (governor), depending on Damascus. The main portion of the population was Muslim, besides about 10,000 Christians of various rites.
==Modern history==
After World War I Hama was made part of the French [[Levant]] States League of Nations mandate, and in 1941 it became part of independent Syria.
{{main|Hama Massacre}}
Political insurgency by Islamic groups, particularly the [[Muslim Brotherhood]] beginning in the early 1980s culminated in an [[Hama massacre|uprising]] in February, 1982. Government forces led by the president's brutal brother, [[Rifaat al-Assad]], quelled the revolt, but killed thousands of civilians and destroyed much of the old part of the city in the process. The town was shelled by the Syrian military, and the estimated deaths numbered more than 20,000 and may have been as high as 30,000 or 40,000, a big portion of them were women and children. The story is suppressed in Syria.
==Ecclesiastical history==
[[Image:Hama-RomanOrthodoxChurch.jpg|right|thumb|Greek Orthodox church]]
Hamatha or Amatha is still a Roman Catholic [[titular see]], [[suffragan]] of [[Apamea]].
It is as Epiphania that it is best known in ecclesiastical documents. [[Lequien]] (''Oriens Christianus'', II, 915-918) mentions nine Greek bishops of Epiphania. The first of them, whom he calls Mauritius, is the Manikeios whose signature appears in the [[First Council of Nicaea]] (Gelzer, "Patrum Nicaenorum Nomina", p. lxi).
It has two Catholic archbishops, a Greek [[Melkite Greek Catholic Church|Melkite]] and a Syrian, the one residing at [[Labroud]], the other at [[Homs]], reuniting the titles of Homs ([[Emesus]]) and Hamah (Missiones Catholicae, 781-804). The Orthodox Greeks have a bishop of their own for either see.
== See also ==
{{listen|filename=Hama-sound of noria.ogg|title=''Sound of a noria''|description=Sound of a noria}}
==External links==
*[http://www.hama.ws/|Official site of Hama governorate]
* Pictures of [http://web.mac.com/dwb217/iWeb/WorldViewBender/Hama%20and%20Homs.html Hama] and Homs
==Sources==
(incomplete)
*{{Catholic}} [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07120c.htm]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Further reading==
*P. J. Riis/V. Poulsen, Hama: ''fouilles et recherches 1931-1938'' (Copenhagen 1957).
{{coor title dm|35|08|N|36|45|E|region:SY_type:city}}
{{Template:Cities of Syria}}
{{Palestinian refugee camps|state=collapsed}}
[[Category:Hama| ]]
[[Category:Hittite cities]]
[[Category:Aramaean cities]]
[[Category:Syro-Hittite states]]
[[Category:Canaanite cities]]
[[Category:Cities, towns and villages in Syria]]
[[Category:History of Syria]]
[[Category:Palestinian refugee camps in Syria]]
[[ar:حماة]]
[[br:Hama]]
[[cy:Hama]]
[[de:Hama]]
[[es:Hama (Hamáh)]]
[[eo:Hamao]]
[[fa:حمات]]
[[fr:Hama]]
[[is:Hama]]
[[it:Hama]]
[[he:חמאת]]
[[nl:Hama]]
[[ja:ハマー (都市)]]
[[no:Hamat]]
[[pl:Hama (miasto)]]
[[ru:Хама]]
[[sl:Hama]]
[[fi:Hama]]
[[tg:Вилояти Ҳамоҳ]]
[[ur:حماہ]]