( لمحة تاريخية ) ١_a .. كتاب حمص

(Historical overview)

Homs is the third largest city in the Syrian Arab Republic, in terms of population, after Damascus and Aleppo. It is the center of Surra in Syria. All transportation routes and railways that connect the capital, Damascus, to the north and west of the country pass through it. It seems that its location played the largest role in its establishment.

The huge trade road that extended from (Palmyra) in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west passed through it, and it was also a resting place for caravans coming from the north or south. When did it arise and what is the origin of its name?? . Our ancient Arabic sources used to attribute the construction of cities to people named by their names. The author of (Mu’jam al-Buldan) says:

“Homs with kasra, then sukun, and al-Sad is neglected, a famous, ancient, large town, and on its northern edge is a fortified castle on a high, large hill. It is halfway between Damascus and Aleppo. It is masculine and feminine. It was built by a man called: (1) Homs ibn al-Mahr ibn Jan ibn Maknaf. It was said that Homs bin Muknaf Al-Ateeqi, and there is no doubt that this claim and others like it are unacceptable and there is no historical support for it. The name (Homs) was not mentioned in the Tell el-Amarna letters (1400-1360) BC, while the names of Qatna (the honorable one), Hama and Qadesh were mentioned in them. The Hill of the Prophet Mendu) Homs was also not mentioned in the treaty that was signed between Rameses II and the Hittites in the year (1280) BC, in which Syria was divided into two parts: Kadesh and the north for the Hittites, and Kadesh to the south for the Egyptians.

We do not find the name Homs in the Torah, but rather we find in it (Hamath Zobah). In his book, The History of (Homs), Part 1, he states that the origin of the name (Homs) was Father Issa, “...and when this compound word became a flag for the city, tongues carved it and became (Hamisoba). The Hebrews confined themselves to the last half of it, saying (Soba), and the Greeks chose the first half. They reduced it and it became (Emiya) (1).

His claim is contradicted by the Bible Dictionary, which interprets Hamath Zobah as follows: “The two neighboring kingdoms of Hamath and Zobah, or a small place called Hamath, belong to the Aram or “Syrian” kingdom of Zobah. Bishop Gregory Saliba Shimon also confirms that “the kingdom of Zobah is “Bekaa today” (2), that is Dr. Philip Hitti, and he says: “Soba was the capital of a kingdom with the same name, and the word is derived from mahouba sihoba, meaning red or copper, and it is believed that its location is in modern Chalis (or Anjar), south of Zahle in the Bekaa” ( 3).

The word (suba) is therefore Aramaic and is close to the Arabic root: “blown away.”
If the hair has red or blonde hair” (4) and it is not (Homs) in any case, where did the name (Homs) come from and who were its first residents??

In the district of (Alia) in the Mount Lebanon Governorate, there is a village called (Homs) mentioned by Dr. Anis Freiha in his book The Names of Lebanese Cities and Villages and Their Meanings. The word (Homs) is a Canaanite root that means, among other things, (shame), perhaps from the red color and roasting.

It is known that the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea have been exposed to attacks since the middle of the fifteenth century BC. AD to the raids of the Sea Peoples on it, and one of the results of their last raids was the destruction and burning of (Ugarit) (1100 BC). Perhaps the Lebanese region of Homs was subjected to one of these raids, and the survivors of them headed east and north to seek security, and resided in the central region of Syria, at the site of ( Current Homs, a small village they raised on an artificial hill and called it (Homs) to express their attachment to their first homeland, as is the custom of displaced people and immigrants at all times and places!!!

This modest residential center began to grow due to its important commercial location, but it did not come to light until after the eclipse of Kadesh and the decline of its star, transforming the trade route from it to (Homs), whose star began to shine little by little since the third century BC. Some Greek writings are still present in Homs, including the writing engraved on a black basalt stone above the entrance to the Abu Labada Mosque in the Bani al-Siba’i neighborhood in Homs. This was during a reign in which there were eight princes, from (81 BC - 96 AD) and it was known. That dynasty is called the (Shamisgram) family, in reference to its founder and the second ruler of it, who built a temple for the sun (1) on the back of the castle, in which he placed the sacred black stone. We note from the names of its kings that they are Arabs, the first of whom is (Dabal), the second of them (Shamisgram) mentioned, and the third of them (Jamilik). The first and seventh of them (Aziz) and the eighth of them (Sahim). This family ruled at the beginning of the Roman rule of Syria, which began with the conquest of it by Pompey in the year 64 BC. AD, and its rulers suffered from the disputes of the early Roman leaders from (Pompey) to (Octavius) in the year (31) BC. As Roman peace prevailed in the eastern parts of the empire, Homs enjoyed stability and the uprightness of its ruling family.

This family is credited with erecting the building, which was known as (1) (the silo), and it was located in the west of (Homs), and its location is now the headquarters of the Homs branch of the Arab Socialist Baath Party, north of the cultural center, and its construction dates back to the year (78) or (79 AD). Homs was blessed with special care under Roman rule, during the reign of Domitian (51-96 AD). It was an important military center, and during the reign of Hadrian 138117 AD, Syria was divided into two parts: Phoenician Syria, with its capital (Tyre) and Hollow Syria, with Homs as its center. When Marcus Aurelbus ended his wars against Zenobia, he made it a Roman colony, and this means that its residents enjoyed privileges and rights. Roman law grants it autonomy and exemption from the poll tax and the tax tax.

(Homs) received the utmost care when the Sigirian family came to power. This family is attributed to the Emperor (Septimius Severus), who was of (2) origin. His grandfather was Alucius Septimius the African. His family lived in (Labada). Severus was a prominent figure in Leptis Magna and held multiple positions. He was a judge. In his country, then as a ruler, then he was transferred to (Rome) to be a judge there and one of the ten members of the Legislative Council. As for his grandson, Septimius Severus, he was born in the year 146 AD in the city of Lebdah and remained there until he reached the age of eighteen. Then he moved through various administrative positions until the Roman government assigned him to eliminate the chaos that arose in the Homs region and to cut off the wretched and corrupt people, so he carried out the task. The best prayer.

In Homs, he met the priest of the Temple of the Sun, Bassianus, in the year 179 AD and admired his daughter, Julia Domna, who was of breathtaking beauty and penetrating thought. This admiration ended in love and marriage in the year 187 AD. Al-Saad was fortunate in this marriage, and it was not until the year 193 AD that the army proclaimed Septimius Severus as emperor, thus laying the foundation for the edifice of the Severian emperors of Homs origin through Julia Domna.

During the reign of the Severian dynasty, Homs gave birth to one of the most senior legislators and law professors at the Institute of Law established by Emperor Septimius Severus (1) in Beirut. He was the scholar Aemilius Pa Penianus, who was a relative of the Empress Julia Domna. The Emperor summoned him in the year 203 AD. To be his legal advisor in Rome, he accompanied the emperor as a legal advisor during the military campaign against Britain, where he recommended on his deathbed that he entrust the raising of his two sons (Caracalla) and (Geta) to Papinianus, but Caracalla assumed the throne (211-217). He dismissed him from service and then ordered his beheading (212 AD) because he asked him to justify the killing of his brother (Geta), but Papenianus later refused, saying that the crime of murder was less severe than the justification for committing it!!