Kyrrhus
Kyrrhos (Κύρρος), also Cyrrhus, Kiros, Kibros, Ḳūrus (حوروس), Hagioupolis, today Nebi Huri ; was an ancient city on the road from Antioch to Zeugma in what is now northern Syria .
location
The ruins of Nebi Huri are located about 70 kilometers northwest of Aleppo and 28 kilometers north of Azaz near the Turkish border on a stony hill. Olive trees thrive in the area. The nearest village of Dayr Sawwan on the access road from the south is six kilometers away. In the plain one and two kilometers south of the village, two road bridges from Roman times (3rd century) are still intact, including their paving. The closest five-arched bridge crosses the Sabun River, which formed the natural border of the ancient city in the east, and a three-arched bridge crosses the Afrin River .
history
The provincial city was founded by Antigonus I Monophthalmos around 300 BC. BC or beginning of the 3rd century BC Founded by the Seleucids . 64 BC Cyrrhos was taken by the Roman general Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus , the place served as a military base in the fighting between the Romans and the Parthians . The Sassanids plundered the city 256. In late antiquity the graves of the martyrs Kosmas and Damian were venerated here. In Byzantine times, Kyrrhos was the capital of the province of Kyrrhestike in the Diocese of the East. Under Bishop Theodoret , the city became a popular destination for pilgrimages. Kyrrhos was a suffragan diocese of Hierapolis Bambyke in the Euphratensis province . As building inscriptions show, the fortification of the city was expanded under Justinian I until the 6th century . In 637 the city fell to the Arabs. Under the Crusaders it was part of the Principality of Edessa until 1150 . In that year Kyrrhos was conquered by the Zengid Nur ad-Din , who later gave it to the Rubenid Mleh as a fief. Eventually the city came under the rule of the Zengid Atabegs of Aleppo . It gradually lost its importance and was abandoned.
Kyrrhos was excavated from 1952 to 1980 by French archaeologists under the direction of Edmond Frézouls.
Cityscape
The urban area was surrounded by an enclosure wall that was restored in Byzantine times (end of the 5th century) and the location of which is still recognizable. Their irregular course was adapted to the height differences of the terrain, which rises 120 meters from the river to the west. The citadel, the first building of which dates from the Hellenistic period, was at the highest point on the western edge of the city. In the center, the city was criss-crossed between the city gates by a seven-meter-wide columned street running north-south. Another street connected two more city gates at right angles. A large amphitheater with 14 rows of seats used the hill rising to the west. Near the former north gate, the small remains of two basilicas made of black basalt can be seen.
Mausoleum of Nebi Huri
Outside the city wall, about 300 meters from the south gate, a hexagonal mausoleum with a pyramid roof from Roman times (2nd or 3rd century) has been completely preserved. The state of preservation is explained by the dedication of the building in Islamic times as the tomb of Huri, venerated as a saint, to whom the place owes its current name Nebi Huri ("Prophet Huri"). Above the burial chamber with barrel vault on the ground floor, accessible via a narrow staircase, there is a semi-open dome room on the upper floor. The lower massive part is separated on the facade by a cornice from the upper round arch construction via corner pillars. A similar, but square tower from the same period stands further south in Brad , a Roman city founded on the level of Jebel Siman.
The mausoleum is an important pilgrimage destination. In the west is the former Roman cemetery, which is still used today as an Islamic burial place with its elaborately designed tombstones. In the courtyard of the mausoleum, some trees provide shade in the otherwise treeless environment. There is a simple lounge for the pilgrims; the flat limestone mosque built right next to the mausoleum is said to date from the 14th century. The tomb of the saint is believed to have been installed at this time.
Sunni believers stick colorful strips of fabric into the branches of the trees next to them. Any kind of fabric can be used for these shred offerings. Required for the wish- fulfilling or baraka- giving effect is a personal relationship with the piece that remains as part of the person giving the gift. In order to express personal wishes, there are also some shallow depressions on the north outer wall of the mosque, in which small stones are placed. If they stick to the wall, this is a sign that the wish has been recognized. Here a vow can be made that does not require sacrifice in return.
An old well provides drinking water, which is valued for its purity, although the water itself should not contain any baraka (power of blessing) and at most has an indirect effect, in that the walk to the well equals the pilgrimage to the mausoleum.
Traditionally, sacrificial animals are slaughtered here every Friday - usually sheep or goats - and then hung in the trees to bleed. The right hand is dipped into the bloodstream and left as an imprint ( hand of Fatima ) on the walls. The meat can be prepared on site or taken home by families.
Known residents
- Avidius Cassius , Roman (counter) emperor in 175 AD, was born in Kyrrhos.
- Theodoret von Kyrrhos (423–457), a Byzantine theologian of the 5th century, whose writings were condemned in the three chapters dispute .
Roman auxiliary unit
During the Roman Empire , the Cohors II Cyrrhestarum auxiliary unit was recruited from the city of Cyrrhus and its surroundings.
literature
- Frank Rainer Scheck, Johannes Odenthal: Syria. High cultures between the Mediterranean and the Arabian desert. 4th edition, DuMont, Ostfildern 2009, ISBN 978-3-7701-3978-1 , pp. 276-279.
- Jean-Paul Rey-Coquais: Kyrrhos Syria . In: Richard Stillwell et al. a. (Ed.): The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 1976, ISBN 0-691-03542-3 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Jeanine Abdul Massih: Cyrrhus - Nebi Houri - Aleppo Overview. The Shelby White - Leon Levy Program for Archaeological Publications ( Memento of the original from October 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Gebhard Fartacek: pilgrim sites in the Syrian periphery. An ethnological study on the cognitive construction of sacred places and their practical relevance. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2003, pp. 133–137
Coordinates: 36 ° 44 ′ 39 ″ N , 36 ° 57 ′ 33 ″ E