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https://i.servimg.com/u/f89/13/29/64/23/250px-10.png[/img][size=18]Hims (Arabic: حمص, transliteration: Ḥims, also spelled Homs and anciently called "Emesa"[1] (Greek: ἡ Ἔμεσα) is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Hims Governorate. It is 501 metres (1,640 ft) above sea level and is located 162 kilometres (101 mi) north of Damascus.[2] Located on the Orontes River, Hims is also the central link between the interior cities and the Mediterranean Sea coast.
Hims did not emerge into the light of history until the 1st century BCE at the time of Seleucids. It later became the capital of a kingdom ruled by the Emesani dynasty who gave the city its name. Originally a pagan center of worship for the Sun god El-Gabal, it later gained importance in Christianity under the Byzantines. It was conquered by the Muslims in the 7th century and made capital of a district that bore its current name. Throughout the Islamic era, Muslim dynasties contending for control of Syria sought after Hims due to the city's strategic position in the area. It began to decline under the Ottomans and only in the 19th century did the city regain its economic importance when its cotton industry boomed.
Today, Hims is a major industrial center in Syria, and with a population of 823,000, it is the third largest city in the country. Its population reflects Syria's general religious diversity, composed mostly of Arabic-speaking Sunni Muslims, with a Christian minority. The city boasts a number of historic mosques and churches and is near the Krak des Chevaliers, a world heritage site[/size]
[size=24][color:502c=red]Etymology[/color][/size]
[size=18]Emesa" is a compound of "Ham-Es", with the Es representing an assemblage of the locally-revered sun god in (El-Gabal) in ancient times.[3] The name "Emesa" or "Hemesa" is also attributed to "Emesenoi", the name of the Arab tribe that ruled the area before its incorporation into the Roman Empire.[4] When the name of the tribe became attached to the city is indiscernible, but is generally thought to have been used under the Romans.[5]
"Emesa" was called "Hems" or "Hims" by its Arab inhabitants, many of whom settled there prior to the Muslim conquest of Syria.[5][6] This name has been preserved throughout the period of Islamic rule continuing to the present day. It was known as "la Chamelle" by the Crusaders, although they never ruled the city.[7][8] A second possibility about the origin of the city's modern name is that it is an Arabic form of the city's Latin name "Emesus", derived from the Greek "Emesa" or "Emesos[/size]
[size=24][color:502c=red]History[/color][/size]
[size=18]For roughly 2,000 years, Hims has served as a key agricultural market, production site, and trade center for the villages of northern Syria. It has also provided security services to the hinterland of Syria, protecting it from invading forces.[5]
[edit] Emesani dynasty and Roman rule
The Emesa temple to the sun god El-Gabal, with the holy stone, on the reverse of this bronze coin by Roman usurper Uranius AntoninusExcavations at the Citadel of Hims indicate that the earliest settlement at the site dates back to around 2300 BCE. Biblical scholars have identified the city with Zobah mentioned in the Bible.[10] .[5] In 1274 BCE,[11] a battle took place between the forces of the Egyptian Empire under Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatalli II at the city of Kadesh on the Orontes River near Hims.[12] It was possibly the largest chariot battle ever fought, involving perhaps 5,000–6,000 chariots.[13][14]
Hims itself may have been founded by Seleucus I Nicator who established the Seleucid Empire upon the death of Alexander the Great, although the city did not emerge in the light of history until the 1st century BCE. At this time, Greek philosopher Strabo spoke of a tent-dwelling tribe called the "Emesani" living in the area around the Orontes and south of the Apamea region.[5] They were an Arab tribe in the area and settled in Emesa—which derived its name from them. Upon Pompey's incorporation of the Seleucid state of Syria into the Roman Empire in 64 BCE, the Emesani dynasty were made vassals to the Romans for aiding their troops in various wars. Their chief at the time, Samsigeramus I, gained the status as king of the Emesanis, but their capital was at Arethusa, a city north of Emesa, also along the Orontes River. At its greatest extent, the kingdom's boundaries extended from the Bekaa Valley in the west to the border with Palmyra in the east, and from Yabrud in the south to al-Rastan (Arethusa) in the north. Semsigeramus's kingdom was the first of Rome's Arab clients on the desert fringes.[4]
The city of Emesa grew to prominence after the new-found wealth of the Emesani dynasty, governed first by Samsigeramus's son Iamblichus who made it the kingdom's capital.[4] The Emesani proved their loyalty to Rome once more when they aided Caesar in his siege of Alexandria in 41 BCE, by sending him army detachments. Subsequently, they became embroiled in the Roman Civil War between the rebelling Mark Antony and the pro-Caesar Octavian. King Iamblichus took the side of Octavian, and so upon encouragement from Antony, the king's brother Alexas usurped the throne and put him to death in 31 BCE. Octavian's forces prevailed in the war, however, and as a result the kingdom's throne was reverted to Iamblichus II after Alexas was executed for treason. Under his stable rule emerged a new era of peace from 20 BCE and 14 CE, known as Emesa's "golden age". In 32 CE, Heliopolis and the Bekaa Valley came under the kingdom's control.[4]
Relations with the Roman government grew closer when King Sohaemus inherited the kingship. Under him, Emesa sent the Roman military a regular levy of archers and assisted them in their siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. His loyalty to Rome gained the Emesani dynasty little, however; in 75 CE the Kingdom of Emesa was completely incorporated into the Roman Empire, diminishing the dynasty's autonomy. It is unclear whether King Sohaemus abdicated his throne or had died with an incapable heir, prompting the Romans to annex the territory.[15]
Some frescoes inside the Church of Saint Elian date back to the 6th centuryUnder the Romans, Emesa began to show attributes of a Greek city-state and traces of Roman town planning still remain. Its transformation into a major city was completed under the reign of Antoninus Pius (138-161) when Emesa began to mint coins.[5] By the 3rd century, it grew prosperous and well-integrated into the Roman Orient. This was partly due to the marriage of Septimus Severus to a woman from a family of notables based in Emesa. It attained the coveted status as a Roman colonia by Severus, and two other emperors of Severan Dynasty were raised in Emesa. One of them was Elagabalus who served as the high priest at the Temple of El-Gabal, the local sun god. He brought the image of this god, a conical black stone, to the Elagabalium in Rome.[16][17]
Emesa also grew wealthy because it formed a link in the eastern trade funneled through Palmyra, however, this dependence also caused the city's downfall when Palmyra sank to insignificance in the 4th century. Nonetheless, Emesa at this time had grown to rank with the important cities of Tyre, Sidon, Beirut, and Damascus. It also continued retain local significance, because it was the market center for the surrounding villages. The city remained a strong center of paganism, because of the Temple of El-Gabal. After one of his victories over Zenobia, emperor Aurelian visited the city to pay thanks to the deity.[16]
Due to the strength of the pagan sun-cult in Emesa, Christians initially did not settle in the city. Eusibius writes that Silvanus, the city's first bishop, had no jurisdiction over the city, but the surrounding villages. He was executed by Emperor Julian and succeeded by Bishop Antonius—the first bishop to settle Emesa.[18] By the 5th century, Christianity was well-established under the Byzantine Empire; however, few ancient Christian inscriptions exist in Hims today.[16] Under the Byzantines, it became an important center for Eastern Christianity.[19] Initially a diocese, Hims was given the status of ecclesiastical metropolis after the discovery John the Baptist's head in a nearby area in 452[/size]
THE BEST PARTS IN DIS CITY
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