Hama (Syria)

حماة / Ḥamāh Hama
Hama
Coordinates	35 ° 8 ′  N , 36 ° 45 ′  E Coordinates: 35 ° 8 ′  N , 36 ° 45 ′  E
Basic data
Country	Syria
Governorate	Hama
height	280 m
Residents	546,604 (2010)
Website	ehama.sy
politics
mayor	Abdul Razzaq al-Qutainy
Old town of Hama

Hama ( Arabic حماة, DMG Hamah , Luwian Imat , Aramaic ܚܡܬ Ḥamat , Hebrew חמה Ḥamah "fortress" ) is the capital of the Hama Governorate in Syria . The city lies on the Orontes in the center of the central Syrian arable plain on the trunk road between Aleppo and Damascus . It is one of the oldest continuously populated cities in Syria. Hamas residents have a reputation for being Islamic conservative.

population

The population is calculated to be 527,429 for 2012. For the 1920s 35,000 are given, for the 1960s 130,000, with suburbs 200,000. In the first half of the 20th century, just under a fifth of the population were Christians.

history

The area around Hama has been around since 10,000 BC. Settled throughout, individual traces go back to the Paleolithic .

During excavations from 1931 to 1938, Danish archaeologists discovered traces of settlement from the 5th millennium BC and a total of twelve layers up to the Islamic period on the main hill on the northern outskirts of modern Hama. The tell was 336 m long, 215 m wide and 46 m high.

Building layers from Hama

layer	Dating according to Ingholt	Culture
M.	5th millennium BC Chr.
L.	2700-2200 BC Chr.
K	approx. 3000 BC Chr.
J	2400-2000 BC Chr.
H	1950–1750 BC Chr.
G	1750–1600 BC Chr.
F.
E.	up to 720 BC Chr.	Aramaic
D.		Assyrian to Hellenistic
C.		Roman
B.		Byzantine
A.	950–1400 AD	Arabic

Hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions and some graffiti in the Aramaic language have been found in Hama . There are also about twenty cuneiform tablets . After the collapse of the Hittite Empire, from around the beginning of the last millennium BC to around 720 BC, Hama was the capital and seat of the Syro - Hittite kingdom of Hamath, which extended into the area of Aleppo .

Assyrian rule

The western expansion of the Assyrian Empire also brought Hama into distress in the 9th century. In the battle of Qarqar on the Orontes in 853 BC King Irhuleni (Urhilina) joined the Assyrians under Salmānu-ašarēd III. (858 BC to approx. 824 BC) together with his allies, u. a. Damascus , Israel and the Phoenician coastal cities, at Qarqar on the Orontes. The Assyrian king was able to conquer several cities. As subsequent battles from the years up to 845 show, it does not seem to have been a resounding success.

From when Hama came under Assyrian rule is unclear, but it is documented for the beginning of the 8th century. The events reported by King Zakkur of Hama in his stele fall during this period : He was founded by a coalition of Qu'e , Unqi , Meliddu , Ja'udi and Bir-Hadad III. threatened, but by divine help and not least a campaign by Adad-niraris III. rescued.

After an uprising in 738 BC, Hama was Recaptured by the Assyrians and its territory reduced in size, but not annexed. Rather, a vassal king named Eni-ilu comes across in the tribute lists of 738 and 732. A short time later there was a final uprising under King Jau-bi'di . According to an inscription from Sargon II , Jau-bi'di, “one of the supply chain”, “an evil Hittite ” had usurped power in Hama and then allied himself with Arpad , Simirra , Aram and Samaria . The Assyrian king gathered his troops in Qarqar, the favorite city of Jau-bi'di, which he besieged and burned. Jau-bi'di had his skin peeled off while he was alive , “his skin was dyed red as wool”, and Sargon, as he boasted, restored order and harmony in the region. Jau-bi'dis is shown in Room VIII (plate 25) in Nimrud . Then Sargon went against Hanunu of Gaza, who was defeated and captured at Rapihu , while his ally Re'e , the "tartan" of the Egyptian Pharaoh, fled back to Egypt . According to 2 Kings 17 in the Bible, Sargon settled the inhabitants of the conquered Hamath in the 722 BC. BC newly conquered Samaria. 719 BC Itti of Allabria and his followers were deported by Sargon II to Hamath. It is unclear whether Hama subsequently became the seat of an Assyrian provincial governor.

Hellenistic and Roman times

By Antiochus IV. Epiphanes the city was renamed Epiphania ( Epiphaneia ). The city fell to Rome after the liquidation of the Seleucid Empire . In late antiquity , three historians came from Epiphany: Eustathios of Epiphaneia , Euagrios Scholastikos and John of Epiphaneia . An inscription from 595 shows that the cathedral, later the mosque, was renovated that year.

middle Ages

Minaret of the Nur-ad-Din Mosque (from 1172), 2005

Great Mosque of Hama , 2020

In 639 the Muslim Arabs conquered the eastern Roman city. In 1108 Tankred of Tiberias conquered the city for the Crusaders , under whose rule it only remained until 1115. In 1157 the city was shaken by an earthquake and came under the control of the Zengids .

Hama was conquered by Saladin in 1178 and remained in the hands of his descendants, the Ayyubids , until 1341 , who lost Hama to the Mamluks . During this time, Hama had become an important trading center. In 1401 the city was destroyed by the Timurids .

Modern times

In 1516 the city came under the Ottomans and remained so until the end of the First World War . Only from 1831 to 1839 was it in the hands of the Egyptians under Muhammad Ali Pascha .

Nineteenth-century travelers described the utterly conservative spirit of the people of Hama.

During the French League of Nations mandate , the city revolted against French rule in 1925. The uprising in the city collapsed after an air raid by the Mandate power, which according to residents left several hundred dead. Syria gained independence in 1946.

In 1964 there were clashes between Islamist radicals and the security forces of the Baathre regime. The Syrian forces had to use tanks and artillery to regain control of the city.

Hama massacre

→ Main article : Hama massacre

The uprising of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria , whose stronghold was Hama, began in 1976. In February 1982, an internationally little known massacre occurred in Hama in which the Syrian army under Defense Minister Mustafa Tlas bombed the city because members of the Muslim Brotherhood Hama went to the resistance center against the Government had expanded. Great devastation was caused, especially in the historic old town, and an estimated 30,000 people were killed. Talking about the events was taboo in Syria for a long time until protesters marched on it during the Arab Spring in 2012.

Hama in the Syrian Civil War

→ Main article : Syria civil war

As a center of the protests in Syria in 2011, Hama moved into the focus of the world public. On July 31, 2011, Syrian forces violently entered the city, killing over 100 people, according to opposition information. Hama is also the place where the famous revolutionary song “Jalla, irhal ja Baschar” (Come on Bashar, it's time to leave) was sung by demonstrators for the first time at the end of June 2011. The later denied news that its supposed author and interpreter Ibrahim Qaschusch had been tortured and murdered by government forces in revenge, then spread around the world.

Attractions

Noria

Greek Orthodox St. George Cathedral in Hama

Hama is especially famous for its huge water pumping wheels , the Norias on the Orontes . After Damascus and Aleppo, Hama has the largest building stock from the Ottoman period. The city palace Qasr al-Azm was built in the 18th century. It is the oldest preserved governor's palace in Syria from Ottoman times.

The DAI Damascus has started the Topographical Survey of the Old Town of Hama project, with the researchers primarily devoting themselves to building documentation.

Kings of Hamath

• Toi (Tou) (Old Testament) in the early 10th century BC Chr.
• Parita (Luwish) in the 1st half of the 9th century BC Chr.
• Urahilina ( Luwisch ) / Irhuleni (Assyrian) 853 to 845 BC Chr.
• Uratami (Luwish) / Rudamu (Assyrian) approx. 840–820 BC Chr.
• Zakkur around 805/800 BC Chr.
• Azrijau (?) Until 738 BC Chr.
• Eni-ilu from 738 BC As an Assyrian vassal king
• Jahu-Bi'di (Jeho-bidi / Jau-bidi / Ilu-bidi) until 720 BC Chr.
• from 720 BC Assyrian province

sons and daughters of the town

• ʿAlī Farzāt (* 1951), cartoonist
• Akram al-Hawrānī (1915–1996), politician and co-founder of the Arab Ba'ath Socialist Party (ASBP)
• Muhammad al-Hamid (1910–1969), theologian and leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood
• Sa'id Hawwa (1935–1989), theologian and senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood
• Nadschīb ar-Rayyis (1898–1952), journalist, editor and anti-colonialist activist
• Abd al-Hamid as-Sarradsch (1925–2013), army officer and politician
• Anas Shakfeh (* 1943), former President of the Islamic Faith Community in Austria (IGGiÖ)
• Adib asch-Shishakli (1909–1964), military leader and president
• Ibrahim Qaschusch (1977–2011), dissident activist and popular singer

Climate table

Hama
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.     72   12 3     59   14th 4th     47   18th 6th     32   23 10     11   29 14th     1   34 18th     0   36 20th     0   37 21st     1   34 18th     16   28 13     37   20th 8th     60   13 4th Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm Source: wetterkontor.de

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Hama Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 11.5 14.0 18.0 23.4 29.4 34.1 36.2 36.9 33.6 28.1 20.3 13.3 O 24.9 Min. Temperature (° C) 3.0 3.8 6.4 9.8 13.8 18.1 20.4 20.6 17.7 13.3 7.7 4.3 O 11.6 Precipitation ( mm ) 72 59 47 32 11 1 0 0 1 16 37 60 Σ 336 Hours of sunshine ( h / d ) 4.1 5.4 7.0 8.3 10.5 12.2 12.5 11.5 10.4 8.3 6.4 4.2 O 8.4 Rainy days ( d ) 10 9 8th 5 1 0 0 0 0 4th 6th 8th Σ 51 Humidity ( % ) 81 75 69 61 49 40 39 42 43 51 69 83 O 58.4 Source: wetterkontor.de

See also

• Epiphany

literature

• Immanuel Benzinger : Epiphaneia 3 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume VI, 1, Stuttgart 1907, Col. 192.
• James A. Reilly: A Small Town in Syria: Ottoman Hama in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Oxford et al. a. 2002. ISBN 3-906766-90-X
• Poul Jørgen Riis : Ḥamā: danske arkæologers udgravninger i Syria 1930–1938. Copenhagen 1987. ISBN 87-7245-209-9
• Ingolf Thuesen: Hama - fouilles et recherches de la Fondation Carlsberg (1931–1938) 1.1: The Pre- and Protohistoric periods (= National Museum skrifter: Større beretninger 11). Copenhagen 1988. ISBN 87-480-0613-0
• Poul Jørgen Riis, Marie-Louise Buhl: Hama - fouilles et recherches de la Fondation Carlsberg (1931–1938) 1,2: Bronze Age Graves in Ḥamā and its Neighborhood (= National Museum skrifter: Større beretninger 14). Copenhagen 2007. ISBN 978-87-7602-073-6
• Ejnar Fugmann: Hama - fouilles et recherches de la Fondation Carlsberg (1931–1938) 2.1: L'architecture des périodes pré-hellénistiques (= National Museum skrifter: Større beretninger 4). Copenhagen 1958.
• Poul Jørgen Riis, Marie-Louise Buhl: Hama - fouilles et recherches de la Fondation Carlsberg (1931–1938) 2.2: Les objects de la période dite syro-hittite (= National Museum skrifter: Større beretninger 12). Copenhagen 1990. ISBN 87-89438-00-0
• Poul Jørgen Riis: Hama - fouilles et recherches de la Fondation Carlsberg (1931–1938) 2,3: Les cimetières à crémation (= National Museum skrifter: Større beretninger 1). Copenhagen 1948.
• Gunhild Ploug: Hama - fouilles et recherches de la Fondation Carlsberg (1931–1938) 3.1: The Graeco-Roman Town (= National Museum skrifter: Større beretninger 9). Copenhagen 1985. ISBN 87-480-0565-7
• Aristéa Papanicolaou Christensen, Charlotte Friis Johansen: Hama - fouilles et recherches de la Fondation Carlsberg (1931–1938) 3.2: Les poteries hellénistiques et les terres sigillées orientales (= National Museum skrifter: Større beretninger 8). Copenhagen 1971.
• Aristéa Papanicolaou Christensen: Hama - fouilles et recherches de la Fondation Carlsberg (1931–1938) 3.3: The Graeco-Roman Objects of Clay, the Coins and the Necropolis (= National Museum skrifter: Større beretninger 10). Copenhagen 1986.
• Peter Pentz: Hama - fouilles et recherches de la Fondation Carlsberg (1931–1938) 4.1: The Medieval Citadel and Its Architecture (= National Museum skrifter: Større beretninger 13). Copenhagen 1997. ISBN 87-89438-03-5
• Poul Jørgen Riis, Vagn Poulsen: Hama - fouilles et recherches de la Fondation Carlsberg (1931–1938) 4.2: Les verreries et poteries médiévales (= National Museum skrifter: Større beretninger 3). Copenhagen 1957.
• Gunhild Ploug et al. a .: Hama - fouilles et recherches de la Fondation Carlsberg (1931–1938) 4.3: Les petits objets médiévaux sauf les verreries et poteries (= National Museum skrifter: Større beretninger 7). Copenhagen 1969.

Web links

Commons : Hama  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Hama: et vindue til Syriens fortid (Danish)
• YouTube: Protesters in Hama sing the song "Yalla, Irhal ya Bashar", June 27, 2011

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Syria: The most important places with statistics on their population. World Gazetteer.
2. ^ Orontes Survey: Archaeological Prospections in the Hama Region , German Archaeological Institute.
3. ↑ Harald Ingholt : Report préliminaire sur la première campagne des fouilles de Hama. Copenhagen, Levin & Munksgaard 1934; ders., Rapport préliminaire sur sept campagnes de fouilles à Hama en Syrie (1932–1938). Copenhagen, Munksgaard 1940; ders., The Danish Excavations at Hama on the Orontes. In: American Journal of Archeology 46, 1942, pp. 469-476.
4. ^ John David Hawkins : Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions. Vol. 1: Inscriptions of the Iron Age (= studies on Indo-European linguistics and cultural studies. NF 8,1). Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2000, ISBN 3-11-010864-X , pp. 398-423.
5. ↑ Benedikt Otzen: Appendix 2: The Aramaic Inscriptions. In: Poul Jørgen Riis, Marie-Louise Buhl: Hama - fouilles et recherches de la Fondation Carlsberg (1931–1938) 2.2: Les objects de la période dite syro-hittite. Copenhagen 1990, pp. 266-318. The Aramaic Zakkur stele also comes from Tell Aphis, presumably the ancient Hazrak , in the domain belonging to Hama .
6. ↑ K. Lämmerhirt: Re'e. In: Erich Ebeling , Bruno Meissner , Dietz-Otto Edzard (eds.): Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Aräologie . Volume 11: Prince, Princess - Samug. de Gruyter, Berlin a. a. 2008, ISBN 978-3-11-020383-7 , p. 288.
7. ^ Hugh N. Kennedy: Justinianic Plague in Syria and the Archaeological evidence. In: Lester K. Little (ed.): Plague and the End of Antiquity: The Pandemic of 541-750. Cambridge University Press, 2007, pp. 87-96, here: p. 93.
8. ↑ Michael Provence: The Great Syrian Revolt and the Rise of Arab Nationalism. Austin, 2005, pp. 95-99
9. ^ Alison Pargeter: The Muslim Brotherhood - From Power to Opposition , London, 2013, p. 80
10. ↑ Silke Lode: Hama, place of the grave silence. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , March 24, 2011, accessed on August 1, 2011.
11. ↑ Patrick J. McDonnell, Alexandra Sandels: In Syria, attacks continue as 1982 massacre victims are honored. Los Angeles Times, February 4, 2012
12. ↑ Horror at the massacre of the army. In: taz , August 1, 2011, accessed August 1, 2011.
13. ↑ James Harkin: The incredible story behind the Syrian protest singer everyone thought was dead, in: GQ Magazine, December 7, 2016, accessed March 21, 2017
14. ↑ Karin Bartl (ed.): Qaṣr al-ʿAẓm - an Ottoman governor's palace in Hama: building history and historical context (= Damascus research 15). von Zabern, Darmstadt 2013. ISBN 978-3-8053-4669-6
15. ↑ Hama: The Ottoman Governor's Palace Qasr al-ʿAzm, website of the German Archaeological Institute, accessed on March 22, 2017
16. ^ A. Malamat: Aspects of the Foreign Policies of David and Solomon. In: Journal of Near Eastern Studies 22, 1963, pp. 1–17, here p. 7.
17. ^ Trevor Bryce : The World of the Neo-Hittite Kingdoms; A Political and Military History . Oxford, New York 2012, pp. 133-138, p. 306.