Sfireh
الضمير / as-Safīra Sfireh |
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Coordinates | 36 ° 4 ′ N , 37 ° 22 ′ E | |
Basic data | ||
Country | Syria | |
Aleppo | ||
ISO 3166-2 | SY-HL | |
District | Sfireh District | |
height | 348 m | |
Residents | 106,382 (2007) |
Sfireh (formerly Sipri , Arabic السفيرة, DMG as-Safīra ; Northern Syrian Arabic Sfīre ) is a major Syrian city that belongs to the Aleppo Governorate . It is also the administrative center of the Sefireh district . The city, which is about 348 m above sea level, had a population of 106,382 in 2007, making it the eleventh largest city in all of Syria.
Surname
The medieval geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi names the cityأسفيرة / Asfīra , don'tالسفيرة / as-Safīra , indicating that the definitive article in modern pronunciation is a result of hypercorrection .
Sefireh was known as Sipri in pre-Islamic times. Historians suspect that the name Sipri could come from the Akkadian word siparru (bronze), which shows that copper was mined and bronze was worked here.
history
In ancient times, Sefireh was the place of origin of salt collected in the nearby Lake Jabbuk . During the Syrian Civil War , the city changed hands several times.
Archaeological sites
The Sefire steles were found here, including the Sfire Treaty I , which mentions a deity named Eljon ("the Most High") from the 8th century BC.
literature
- Guy le Strange: Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from AD 650 to 1500 . Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund, 1890.
Web links
- Traditional Dwellings in Sfireh "Traditional Architecture in Syria: a Mediterranean Dwelling" , European Commission Meda-euromed Heritage, page 14, left photo and page 16, top right photos.
Individual evidence
- ^ Le Strange, 1890, p. 400
- ^ Ball, Warwick (2006) "The desert edges" Syria: A Historical And Architectural Guide Interlink Publishing Group, Northampton, Massachusetts, page 157, ISBN 1-56656-665-7
- ↑ Notably Dossin and Lewy, see Sasson, Jack M. (1966) "A Sketch of North Syrian Economic Relations in the Middle Bronze Age" (PDF; 1.2 MB) Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 9 (3 ): Pages 161–181, Page 169, Note 2
- ↑ Liz Sly: "Rebels lose ground to Assad forces in Syria war; Free Syrian Army official Akaidi resigns", WP, November 3, 2013, viewed on November 4, 2013