Suqailabiyya
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السقيلبية / as-Suqailabiyya Suqailabiyya |
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| Coordinates | 35 ° 22 ′ N , 36 ° 24 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | Syria | ||
| Hama | |||
| ISO 3166-2 | SY-HM | ||
| height | 220 m | ||
| Residents | 18,825 (2010) | ||
As-Suqailabiyya ( Arabic السقيلبية, DMG as-Suqailabiyya ), partly also Suqailabiyya and in the local dialect Sqailbiyya , is a Syrian city in the Hama Governorate . According to calculations based on previous data, the city had an estimated 18,825 inhabitants in 2010. The majority of the residents are Christians , most of whom belong to the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch .
history
Antiquity
Suqailabiyya was founded in ancient times as Seleucia ( Greek Σελεύκεια ). The name goes back to Seleukos I Nikator , a general in the retinue of Alexander the Great and later founder of the Seleucid Empire . The city was given the nickname "ad Belum" due to its proximity to the Belus massif and became known as Seleucobelos or Seleucopolis ( Arabic سلوقوبيلوس). Only a few kilometers away from the Seleucid metropolis of Apamea , the settlement belonged to its extended, densely populated area.
Seleucobelos benefited economically mainly from its favorable location on the Orontes River , which served as a trade route between the coastal metropolises such as Laodicea (today's Latakia ) and the interior.
Resettlement in the modern age
According to information from a handwriting of a sheikh named Abdallah Said, modern Suqailabiyya dates back to around 1800, but Arab researchers assume that the middle of the 19th century is more likely, the year 1840 being the most likely. The settlers came mainly from a mountain village called Ayn al-Kurum and were supplemented over time by other newcomers from the villages of Mardasch, Aanab, Dibasch, Arnaba and Qal'at al-Mudiq (the former Apameia).
In contrast to the ancient Seleucobelos, which was on the west side of the Orontes in the north-west of Apamea, today's settlement is a few kilometers further southeast on the east side of the river.
In the civil war since 2011
During the civil war in Syria , the city is considered a stronghold of supporters for the government of the Baath party of Bashar al-Assad , but also of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP). A Syrian army base is located here. On March 16, 2013, Christian residents set up the Quwat al-Ghadab ("Forces of Anger") militia to defend the city against Islamist forces , which was deployed alongside the Republican Guard against the rebels.
Since nearby Idlib came under the control of the Islamist Al-Nusra Front on March 27, 2015 , there have been repeated attacks on Suqailabiyya, where the majority of Antiochene Orthodox Christians live. On May 12, 2019, Islamists from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militia from the rebel area of Idlib targeted the Orthodox Peter and Paul Church in Suqailabiyya with grenades, killing five children and a teacher in the Sunday school there (one of the five children died after six Days of his injuries).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Syria: The most important places with statistics on their population. In: World Gazetter. Retrieved April 1, 2011 .
- ↑ a b Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi: Quwat al-Ghadab: A Pro-Assad Christian Militia in Suqaylabiyah. Syria Comment, July 3, 2016.
- ↑ a b Syria: Christians pay the bill. Vatican News , May 23, 2019.
- ^ Friedrich Heinrich Theodor Bischoff, Johann Heinrich Möller: Comparative dictionary of old, middle and new geography , Gotha 1829, p. 906
- ↑ Vanessa Beeley: As Suqaylabiyah: The Syrian Christian Town Near Idlib the West Has Never Heard Of - a Christian enclave under attack from Al Qaeda affiliated militants in the nearby Idlib province. Mint Press, June 7, 2019.