Al-Sanamayn (Arabic: ٱلصَّنَمَيْن, romanized: aṣ-Ṣanamayn, also spelled Sanamein, Sanamain, Sunamein) is a city in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate and the center of al-Sanamayn District. It is located 55 kilometres (34 miles) north of Daraa and 50 kilometres (31 miles) south of Damascus. Nearby localities include Kafr Shams to the northwest, Deir al-Bukht to the north, Jabab to the northeast, Bassir to the east, Tubna to the southeast, Inkhil to the southwest and Qayta to the west.[1]
Al-Sanamayn
ٱلصَّنَمَيْن Sunamein Sanamain | |
|---|---|
| Al-Sanamein | |
 The remains of the 2nd-century Roman temple of Tyche in al-Sanamayn, 2008 | |
  Al-Sanamayn Location in Syria | |
| Coordinates: 33°04′16″N 36°11′3″E / 33.07111°N 36.18417°E | |
| Grid position | 260/275 PAL |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Daraa |
| District | Al-Sanamayn |
| Subdistrict | Al-Sanamayn |
| Elevation | 640 m (2,100 ft) |
| Population (2004) | |
| • Total | 26,268 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | +3 |
According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), al-Sanamayn had a population of 26,268 in the 2004 census. In addition to being capital of the al-Sanamayn District, the city is also the administrative center and second largest locality of the al-Sanamayn nahiyah ("subdistrict") which consists of 16 localities with a collective population of 113,316 in 2004.[2] The city's inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims.[3] Al-Sanamayn has an altitude of 640 metres (2,100 feet).
Etymology
editThe name al-Sanamayn is Arabic for "the Two Idols."[4] See below for possible explanation (two Roman temples).
History
editRoman period
editSanamayn has been identified with the Roman-era village of Aere,[5][4][6] a station mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary on the road between Damascus to the north and Nawa to the south.[4] A temple in al-Sanamayn dedicated to Tyche, the Greek goddess of fortune, has been dated to 191 CE.[5][6] Another was apparently dedicated to Tyche's Roman equivalent, Fortuna, who was central to Bosra's state cult; it dates from the early to mid-3rd-century CE, during the reign of emperor Septimius Severus.[4] A Batanean inscription from the reign of Roman emperor Julian the Apostate in the mid to late 4th-century was discovered in al-Sanamayn.[7]
Sanamayn has also been associated with Bathyra, a village situated on the border between Batanaea and Trachonitis, where circa 7 BCE Herod established a Jewish Babylonian military colony under the leadership of Zamaris to safeguard the area from local brigands.[8][9][10]
Medieval Islamic and Crusader period
editAl-Sanamayn had its own governor under Ikhshidid rule (939–969) until 945 when the Banu Uqayl was entrusted with governing the Hauran region.[11]
A peace treaty between Baldwin I, the Crusader king of Jerusalem, and Toghtekin, the Muslim ruler of Damascus was signed at al-Sanamayn in 1111.[12] The treaty was signed after a Crusader army pursuing Muslim forces to the Lejah was taken by surprise and surrounded at al-Sanamayn.[13] In December 1168, a Zengid army was assembled at al-Sanamayn to launch an expedition towards Egypt to check the suspected independent ambitions of the Fatimid vizier Shirkuh, who was originally dispatched to Egypt by the Zengids to stave off a Crusader invasion. Zengid sultan Nur al-Din awarded each soldier 20 dinars before they departed.[14]
The place was visited by medieval Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi in the 1220s during Ayyubid rule, and noted it was "a town in the Hauran, 2 marches from Damascus."[15]
From the Middle Ages to the present day, the temple dedicated to Tyche was used as a mosque. Today it is also one of the best preserved Roman edifices in Syria.[6]
Ottoman period
editAs in other towns on the Hajj (Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca) caravan route, the Ottoman sultan Selim I constructed a fortress in al-Sanamayn sometime between 1516 and 1520.[16] Local janissaries were garrisoned at the fortress in al-Sanamayn in contrast to nearby Muzayrib, which was manned by imperial troops.[17] In 1596 the town appeared in the Ottoman tax registers as Sanamayn and was part of the nahiya (subdistrict) of Bani Kilab in the Hauran Sanjak. It had an entirely Muslim population consisting of 80 households and 37 bachelors. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 20% on various agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and beehives, in addition to on a water mill. The total taxes were 18,900 akçe.[18]
In 1672, the village contained a congregational mosque with a minaret, two small mosques, a large khan (caravanserai) and hammam (bathhouse), but had no market.[16] The Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi noted that some prostitutes sought work by the roadside in al-Sanamayn.[16]
In the mid-19th-century, explorer Josias Leslie Porter noted that the ruins of a few temples were present and that the most "striking building" was a Corinthian-style, ornamented limestone temple that had since been converted to a Christian church. In addition he noted "there are the remains of several large and beautiful buildings, and some of the houses are in the best style of Hauran architecture." Among the features of these structures were large walls, stone doors, roofs and window shutters and basalt character.[dubious – discuss][4] During roughly the same time period it was reported by the Royal Geographical Society that al-Sanamayn was an entirely Muslim village with about 60 houses and with an entrance marked by large basalt blocks.[19] It belonged[clarification needed] to a Turkoman family known as Kawwas-oghlu who maintained encampments between the town and Khan Dannun to the north. Al-Sanamayn was "well supplied with water," contained several bird species and its pools were filled with leeches which would be collected and sold in the markets of Damascus.[20] In 1898 the Baedeker Palestine and Syria: Handbook for travellers noted it as "an excellent example of a Hauran village."[21]
20th and 21st centuries
editFrench Mandate, WWII
editTowards the end of World War II the Free French forces maintained a headquarters at al-Sanamayn. Syria was ruled by the French Mandate at the time.[22]
Civil war
editAl-Sanamayn was among the first cities to stage mass demonstrations against the government of Bashar al-Assad on 18 March 2011, joining other Hauran cities like Daraa, Inkhil, Jasim and Da'el. According to opposition activists security forces did not fire on demonstrators that day.[23] On 25 March, however, 20 protesters were shot and killed by government forces after burning down[dubious – discuss] a statue of late president Hafez al-Assad, the current president's father.[24] An opposition activist in Damascus claimed that several protesters – as many as 20 according to some witnesses – were killed while attempting to march towards Daraa in a show of solidarity before being attacked by security forces, although that claim could not be confirmed. A government official claimed an armed group assaulted the Syrian Army headquarters in al-Sanamayn.[25] Al-Sanamayn is base to the 9th Division's 15th Brigade.[26] Activists alleged that on 18 September an eleven-year boy was killed after being shot in the head by security forces during a boycott protest by students in al-Sanamayn on the first day of the 2011–2012 school year.[27]
Local rebels were active in Sanamayn, and controlled large parts of the city,[28] but never completely controlled the city as it was home to a number of military security centers, and the 9th division.[29] Rebels would engage in small scale clashes or attack army positions with projectiles such as mortars.[28] The town was besieged by the Syrian Army and shelling commenced. Rebels and civilians in the town entered negotiations that concluded with a reconciliation agreement in which the rebels were to hand over their weapons and pledge not to carry out attacks against the government. They, along with draft-dodgers were also ordered to join the regular forces and the Russian-led 5th corps. 500 people including 150 rebel fighters signed the agreement, and Sanamayn came under nominal government control.[29]
Following the 2018 Southern Syria offensive, one of the terms of the reconciliation agreements was to allow civilians and rebel fighters to return to homes they were displaced from. Multiple civilians and former rebels returned to Sanamyan. Like other areas of Daraa governorate, Sanamayn became the frequent location of attacks against the Syrian Army and pro-government militias. Walid al-Zahra, a former commander and one of the rebels who returned to Sanmayn in 2018, led many of these attacks.[29]
Sanamayn was stormed by the Syrian Army in the 2020 Daraa clashes. Following this, the fighters either reconciled and settled their status or were evacuated to rebel-held northwest Syria.[30]
Climate
editAl-Sanamayn has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification: BSk). Rainfall is higher in winter than in summer. The average annual temperature in Al-Sanamayn is 17.1 °C (62.8 °F). About 278 mm (10.94 in) of precipitation falls annually.
| Climate data for Al-Sanamayn | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 12.2 (54.0) |
14.1 (57.4) |
17.8 (64.0) |
22.4 (72.3) |
28.3 (82.9) |
32.0 (89.6) |
33.2 (91.8) |
33.7 (92.7) |
31.3 (88.3) |
27.6 (81.7) |
20.8 (69.4) |
14.8 (58.6) |
24.0 (75.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 2.6 (36.7) |
3.3 (37.9) |
5.9 (42.6) |
8.7 (47.7) |
12.7 (54.9) |
15.5 (59.9) |
17.3 (63.1) |
17.6 (63.7) |
15.2 (59.4) |
12.7 (54.9) |
7.9 (46.2) |
4.7 (40.5) |
10.3 (50.6) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 68 (2.7) |
52 (2.0) |
39 (1.5) |
14 (0.6) |
7 (0.3) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
8 (0.3) |
30 (1.2) |
60 (2.4) |
278 (10.9) |
| Source: Climate-Data.org, Climate data | |||||||||||||
References
edit- ^ Sanamayn Map. Mapcarta. Map depicts al-Sanamayn and nearby localities.
- ^ General Census of Population and Housing 2004. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Daraa Governorate. (in Arabic)
- ^ Yassin-Kassab, Robin. After all this bloodshed, there is no going back for Syria. The Guardian. 2011-06-16.
- ^ a b c d e Porter, 1858, p. 535
- ^ a b Butcher, 2003, p. 237
- ^ a b c Nelles Guide, 1999, p. 56
- ^ Satre, 2005, p. 209
- ^ Applebaum, Shimon (1989-01-01), "The Troopers of Zamaris", Judaea in Hellenistic and Roman Times, Brill, p. 47, ISBN 978-90-04-66664-1, retrieved 2024-06-15
- ^ Rogers, Guy MacLean (2021). For the Freedom of Zion: the Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66-74 CE. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 293, 534. ISBN 978-0-300-24813-5.
- ^ Gaube 1982, p. 593.
- ^ Amabe, Fukuzo (2016). Urban Autonomy in Medieval Islam: Damascus, Aleppo, Cordoba, Toledo, Valencia and Tunis. Leiden: Brill. p. 31. ISBN 9789004315983.
- ^ Shatzmiller, 1993, p. 204.
- ^ Gibb, 2003, p. 113
- ^ Burns, 2005, p. 159
- ^ Le Strange, 1890, pp. 530-531.
- ^ a b c Petersen 2012, p. 55
- ^ Peters, 1994, p. 154
- ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 209
- ^ Newbold, 1846, p. 335
- ^ Newbold, 1846, p. 337
- ^ Baedeker 1898:183.
- ^ Michie, 1942, p. 82.
- ^ Sterling, Joe. Daraa: The spark that lit the Syrian flame. CNN. 2012-03-01.
- ^ Protests in Syria: Road to Damascus. The Economist. 2011-03-26.
- ^ Troops open fire as protests explode across Syria. USA Today. Originally published by Associated Press. 2011-03-25.
- ^ Holliday, Joseph (March 2013). "The Assad Regime: From Counterinsurgency To Civil War" (PDF). Institute for the Study of War.
- ^ Child shot dead in Syria protests. UPI. United Press International, Inc. 2011-09-18.
- ^ a b Al-Tamimi, Aymenn Jawad (27 April 2017). "'Reconciliation' in Syria: The Case of Al-Sanamayn". Middle East Forum. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
- ^ a b c bassamalahmed (2020-04-22). "Daraa: Concern over Repeating "al-Sanamayn Scenario" in Other Areas despite the "Settlement Agreement"". Syrians for Truth and Justice. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
- ^ "In Daraa, revolutionary anniversaries mired somewhere between dread and hope | SyriaUntold | حكاية ما انحكت". Retrieved 2020-05-31.
Bibliography
edit- Burns, Ross (2005). Damascus: A History. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-27105-3.
- Butcher, Kevin (2003). Roman Syria and the Near East. Getty Publications. ISBN 0892367156.
- Hütteroth, W.-D.; Abdulfattah, K. (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
- Gibb, H.A.R. (2003). The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades: Extracted and Translated from the Chronicle of Ibn Al-Qalanisi. Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 0486425193.
- Le Strange, G. (1890). Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- Michie, Allan Andrew (1942). Retreat to Victory. Alliance Book Corporation.
Sanamain.
- Nelles Guide (1999). Syria and Lebanon. Hunter Publishing, Inc. ISBN 3886181057.
- Newbold, Captain (1846). "On the site of Ashtaroth". The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society. 16. Murray: 331–338. doi:10.2307/1798240. JSTOR 1798240.
- Peters, F.E. (1994). The Hajj: The Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca and the Holy Places. Princeton University Press. ISBN 069102619X.
- Petersen, Andrew (2012). "8: The Hajj Route in Syria". The Medieval and Ottoman Hajj Route in Jordan: An Archaeological and Historical Study. Council for British Research in the Levant. ISBN 978-1842175026.
- Porter, J.L. (1858). A Handbook for Travellers in Syria and Palestine. Vol. 1. Murray.
- Sartre, M. (2005). The Middle East Under Rome. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674016831.
- Shatzmiller, Maya (1993). Crusaders and Muslims in Twelfth-century Syria. BRILL. ISBN 9004097775.
External links
edit- Burns, Ross. Pictures of the Roman temple in al-Sanamayn. Monuments of Syria. 2011-12-06.
- Map of the town, Google Maps
- Sanameine-map; 19L