جولة ٢ : حماه - معرة النعمان - حلب .. كتاب في ربوع سورية

Round 2 Hama - Maarat al-Numan - Aleppo

The first human gathering that one encounters while heading to Aleppo after crossing Morek (the last human gathering in the Hama governorate) is the town of Khan Shaykhun (the center of al-Kabirah district), which about thirty years ago was like a small village to the west of the road, so that we find it today and its urbanization has gone beyond the road to the east. It is spread over some high hills, and its population today is estimated at about 20,000 people who live primarily on agriculture and animal husbandry.

To the east of Khan Shaykhun, about 9 km, is the village of Al-Taman’a, in which the decisive battle took place between the army of the Abbasid caliph al-Muktafi and the Qarmatians, and the Qarmatians were defeated. To the north of the town of Khan Shaykhun is an artificial hill that contains the ruins of an ancient town dating back about a thousand years, and beneath it are the ruins of other, older cities. To the northwest of Khan Sheikhoun, about seven kilometers, are the ruins of the ancient village of Kfartab, which was mentioned by Abu al-Fida in Taqweem al-Buldan. An asphalt road extends from Khan Sheikhoun towards the west to the village of Al-Habeet affiliated to the district of Khan Sheikhoun, and then to the town of Kafr Nabudah (Hama Governorate), passing through Apamea and Qalaat Al-Madiq. To the east and northeast of Khan Shaykhun, a few kilometers away, there is a group of archaeological hills and ancient ruins (Tal al-Sheikh, Tall Khazneh, Umm Hilal, Umm al-Khalas, Khwain Kabir).

Continuing to the north after Khan Shaykhun, we enter directly into the weakly sloping eastern fronts of Jabal al-Zawiya. Shortly after (9 km from Khan Shaykhun) we see the village of Haysh, about 500 meters west of the road. And it is only a distance of 10 km after that, until we enter the city of Ma`arat al-Nu`man, which is famous for its history and its resplendent monuments in its lofty location on a high plateau west of the road, with a few houses scattered to the east of the road, along which restaurants and rest houses abound.

It is high, and it is one of the most important historical monuments of Maarat. We mention its famous castle, erected to its west on a hill now in ruins, the Great Mosque, which is still to date in its best architectural and artistic forms, the Shafi’i school, and the tomb of the Arab philosopher Abi Al-Ala’ Al-Ma’arri (367-449 AH). There is also a shrine for the Prophet Joshua and a mosque in which there is a cave that includes the tomb of Atallah bin Rabah, the standard-bearer of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. In the eastern part of the old town, there are two large khans dating back to the Ottoman era, one of which dates back to the year 971 AH, and the other, which is more recent, is the Khan Asaad Pasha al-Azm and dates back to the year 1196 AH. . The first caravanserai has been turned into a museum of the antiquities of Maarat, which includes in its current flanks antiquities dating back to different periods. It also contains traces of several baths, mills, and oil presses. And the old Maarat was surrounded by a wall, which indicates that it was a great town, the remains of which still indicate it and the gates that were in it. To the southeast of Maarat, about 3 km, is the village of Deir al-Sharqi, in which there is a tomb that is said to be the tomb of the Umayyad caliph. Omar bin Abdul Aziz, a modest shrine. In the vicinity of Ma`arat al-Nu`man, to the east of it, about 2 km, Tal Mansi stands out, which contains the ruins of an ancient town, and around it is the town of Tal Mansi - Figure (24). current.

From Maarat al-Nu`man, several roads diverge, including an eastern road to a district

Sinjar (30 km), passing through Tal Mansi, Jarjanaz, Surman, etc., from the scattered villages along the road and a western road to the town of Kafr Nabl, penetrating Jabal Al-Zawiya in its central and southern part to the village of Sufuhan. The eastern forest. There is a road that extends towards the northwest to the village of Benin, after which it deviates west to the town of Ahsim (the center of the district located in the northeastern part of Jabal Al-Zawiya).

namesake. And it is only 20 km from Ma`arat al-Nu`man. After Al-Maarrah, we will pass through some small villages and leave some of them to the west and east of the road. After about 12 km, we will pass the village of Khan Al-Sabil, which was attributed to Khan. In it, we will reach the road branching east for a distance of about a kilometer, which will lead us to the huge Mardikh hill, among whose layers the ruins of the historic city of Ebla, which was the center of the city, were found. A rich kingdom in Syria in the third and second millennium BC. About 17,000 cuneiform clay tablets were found in it, telling the story of the region at that time.

About 4 km after the Tel Mardikh junction, the city of Saraqib is located to the west of the road, where a road branches off from it towards the west towards Idlib, and another towards the west, southwest to Jericho and Jisr al-Shughour. A road also branches east and southeast to Abu Dahour, passing through many small villages.