An-Nabek or Al-Nabek ( ar, ٱلنَّبْك, an-Nabk) is a

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

n city administratively belonging to

Rif Dimashq Rif Dimashq Governorate ( ar, محافظة ريف دمشق, ', literally, the "Governorate of the Countryside of Damascus", Damascus Suburb) is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in the southwestern part of the c ...

and the capital of the Qalamoun. Located north of Damascus and south of

Homs Homs ( , , , ; ar, حِمْص / ALA-LC: ; Levantine Arabic: / ''Ḥomṣ'' ), known in pre-Islamic Syria as Emesa ( ; grc, Ἔμεσα, Émesa), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level ...

. It has an altitude of 1255 meters. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), An-Nabek had a population of 32,548 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Rif Dimashq Governorate. The

Monastery of Saint Moses the Abyssinian Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi ( syr, ܕܝܪܐ ܪܡܪܝ ܡܘܫܐ ܟܘܫܝܐ ''deiro d-mor mūše kūšoyo''; ar, دير مار موسى الحبشي, ALA-LC: ''dayr mār Mūsá al-Ḥabashī''), literally the Monastery of Saint Moses the Abyssinian, ...

(Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi) is located along the

Anti-Lebanon Mountains The Anti-Lebanon Mountains ( ar, جبال لبنان الشرقية, Jibāl Lubnān ash-Sharqiyyah, Eastern Mountains of Lebanon; Lebanese Arabic: , , "Eastern Mountains") are a southwest–northeast-trending mountain range that forms most of th ...

near Nabek and dates back to at least the 6th century. In the mid-19th century, the population was recorded as consisting mostly of

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagree ...

Syriac Catholic The Syriac Catholic Church ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܬܐ ܩܬܘܠܝܩܝܬܐ, ʿĪṯo Suryayṯo Qaṯolīqayṯo, ar, الكنيسة السريانية الكاثوليكية) is an Eastern Catholic Christian jurisdiction originating in t ...

and Melkite Catholic Christians. In the mid-1940s, its 6,000 inhabitants were noted to be Sunni Muslims.

History

An-Nabek has been mentioned by

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

geographers from the 12th to 13th centuries CE.

Ibn Jubayr Ibn Jubayr (1 September 1145 – 29 November 1217; ar, ابن جبير), also written Ibn Jubair, Ibn Jobair, and Ibn Djubayr, was an Arab geographer, traveller and poet from al-Andalus. His travel chronicle describes the pilgrimage he made to M ...

recorded that it was a village north of

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

"with much running water and broad arable fields."

Yaqut al-Hamawi Yāqūt Shihāb al-Dīn ibn-ʿAbdullāh al-Rūmī al-Ḥamawī (1179–1229) ( ar, ياقوت الحموي الرومي) was a Muslim scholar of Byzantine Greek ancestry active during the late Abbasid period (12th-13th centuries). He is known fo ...

wrote in 1225 that "is a fine village with excellent provisions... There is here a curious spring which runs cold in the summer, and with clear, excellent water. They say its source is at

Yabroud Yabroud or Yabrud ( ar, يَبْرُود, Yabrūd) is a city in Syria, located in the ''Rif Dimashq'' (i.e. Damascus' countryside) governorate about north of the capital Damascus. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Yab ...

."Le Strange, 1890, p
511
/ref> During the Syrian Civil War the town and surrounding area came under the influence of rebel fighters in an area that spilled over into Lebanon. This pocket was later liquidated by Syrian and Hezbollah troops in the

Qalamoun offensive (July–August 2017) The Qalamoun offensive (2017) was a military operation launched by Hezbollah, the Syrian Armed Forces, and later the Lebanese Armed Forces, against members of Tahrir al-Sham and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on the Lebanon–Syria bor ...

, with many rebel fighters surrendering to government troops.

Landmarks

Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi, the monastery of

, sits above the town to the east.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Al Nabk.netAl Nabk.com4nabk.com
Cities in Syria Populated places in An-Nabek District Christian communities in Syria {{RifDimashqSY-geo-stub