Al-Asharah ( ar, ٱلْعَشَارَة, al-ʿAšārah, also spelled al-Ashareh or Esharah) is a town in eastern
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 ...
, administratively part of the
Deir ez-Zor Governorate
Deir ez-Zor Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة دير الزور / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Dayr az-Zawr'') is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in eastern Syria, bordering Iraq. It has an area of 33,060 km2 ( ...
, located along the
Euphrates River
The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...
al-Quriyah
Al-Quriyah ( ar, القورية, al-Qūriyah, also spelled Qurieh) is a city in eastern Syria, administratively part of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate, located along the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, south of Deir ez-Zor. Nearby localities i ...
Mayadin
Mayadin ( ar, ٱلْمِيَادِين/ALA-LC: ''al-Miyādīn'') is a town in eastern Syria. It is the capital of the Mayadin District, part of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate. Mayadin is about 44 kilometers southeast of Deir ez-Zor. The Euphrates Riv ...
Dablan
Dablan ( ar, دَبْلَان, Dablān) is a Syrian town located in Mayadin District, Deir ez-Zor
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to the south. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Asharah had a population of 17,537 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative seat of a ''
nahiyah
A nāḥiyah ( ar, , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level division w ...
'' ("subdistrict") which consists of seven localities with a total population of 96,001 in 2004. Al-Asharah is the third largest locality in the ''nahiyah''.General Census of Population and Housing 2004 Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Deir az-Zawr Governorate. Its inhabitants are predominantly
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 ...
Al-Rahabi
Al-Rahabi ( ar, الرحبي) or Rahabis is an Arab clan. It is a branch of the Taghlib tribe. Al-Rahabi are cousins with the tribe of Anizzah, Rahba and Khabur and the cities of Abu Kamal and Asharah, and a large section in Iraq in Anbar an ...
and
Al Uqaydat Al-Uqaydat ( ar, الْعُقَيْدَات, al-ʿUqaydāt) is a large Arab tribe which straddles Syria's eastern border with Iraq. It is the largest tribe in the Deir ez-Zor province and according to Max von Oppenheim, it is the largest tribe in a ...
.
History
Al-Asharah is built on the site of the ancient
Aramean
The Arameans ( oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; syc, ܐܪ̈ܡܝܐ, Ārāmāyē) were an ancient Semitic-speaking people in the Near East, first recorded in historical sources from the late 12th century BCE. The Aramean h ...
-
Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
n settlement of
Terqa
Terqa is the name of an ancient city discovered at the site of Tell Ashara on the banks of the middle Euphrates in Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Syria, approximately from the modern border with Iraq and north of the ancient site of Mari, Syria. Its ...
. A
stele
A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...
dated to 886 BCE honoring the victory of Assyrian king
Tukulti-Ninurta II Tukulti-Ninurta II was King of Assyria from 890 BC to 884 BC. He was the second king of the Neo Assyrian Empire.
History
His father was Adad-nirari II, the first king of the Neo-Assyrian period. Tukulti-Ninurta consolidated the gains made by his f ...
over the Arameans was found in al-Asharah. The stele is currently located in the
National Museum of Aleppo
The National Museum of Aleppo ( ar, متحف حلب الوطني) is the largest museum in the city of Aleppo, Syria, and was founded in 1931. It is located in the heart of the northern city on Baron Street, adjacent to the famous Baron Hotel and ...
.Nelles Guide, 1999, p. 127. Terqa was the capital of the Neo-Assyrian
kingdom of Khana The Kingdom of Khana or Kingdom of Hana (end of 18th century BC – middle of 17th century BC) was the Syrian Kingdom from Hana Land located in the middle Euphrates region north of Mari which included the ancient city of Terqa. The kingdom emerged ...
and continued to develop until the end of the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
when its decline began. Excavations in al-Asharah revealed evidence that Terqa contained urban institutions and its inhabitants had exploited the area's soil for economic benefit.Kuhne, p. 134.
In the mid-19th-century, it was noted by the Bombay Geographic Society that al-Asharah was a "little town" that consisted of an unorganized grouping of
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, ...
huts and a population whose traditions suggested the place was ancient. From around that time until the dissolution of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
in 1917, al-Asharah served as the center of a ''
kaza
A kaza (, , , plural: , , ; ota, قضا, script=Arab, (; meaning 'borough')
* bg, околия (; meaning 'district'); also Кааза
* el, υποδιοίκησις () or (, which means 'borough' or 'municipality'); also ()
* lad, kaza
, ...
'' ("district"), bearing its name, that was part of the larger
Sanjak of Zor
The Sanjak of Zor ( tr, Deyr-i-Zor sancağı) was a sanjak of the Ottoman Empire, which was created in 1857. Some of its area was separated from the Baghdad Vilayet. Zor was sometimes mentioned as being part of the Aleppo Vilayet,nawahi'': al-Asharah and
al-Busayrah
Al-Busayrah ( ar, الْبُصَيْرَة, al-Buṣayrah) is a town in eastern Syria, administratively part of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate. The town is located, at the confluence of the Euphrates River, Euphrates and Khabur (Euphrates), Khabur Riv ...
.
In 1920, a meeting between officials and officers of the
Sharifian Army
The Sharifian Army ( ar, الجيش الشريفي, links=yes), also known as the Arab Army ( ar, الجيش العربي, links=yes), or the Hejazi Army ( ar, الجيش الحجازي, links=yes) was the military force behind the Arab Revolt wh ...
and the nascent
Kingdom of Syria
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* Kingdom (British TV series), ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 200 ...
was held in al-Asharah and hosted by
Emir Faisal
Faisal I bin Al-Hussein bin Ali Al-Hashemi ( ar, فيصل الأول بن الحسين بن علي الهاشمي, ''Faysal el-Evvel bin al-Ḥusayn bin Alī el-Hâşimî''; 20 May 1885 – 8 September 1933) was King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria ...
. There negotiations over the borders between Syria and
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
were discussed and it was concluded the
Abu Kamal
Abu Kamal ( ar, أَبُو كَمَال, ʾAbū Kamāl) or Al-Bukamal ( ar, ٱلْبُوكَمَال, al-Būkamāl) is a city on the Euphrates river in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate of eastern Syria near the border with Iraq. It is the administrat ...