Harem or Harim ( ar, حَارِم, Ḥārim, also ) 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 within the
Idlib Governorate
Idlib Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة ادلب / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Idlib'') is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in northwestern Syria, bordering Turkey's Hatay province to the north, Aleppo Governorate to the east, Hama ...
. It has an altitude of 160 meters and a population of 21,934. Harem is situated on the
border with Turkey, 55 km west of
Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
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History
The city lies along the route between
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...
and
Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
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, and has been around since the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
era.
[
]
Harem Castle: Byzantines to Seljuks
There is an important castle in Harem which has been built in a unique military style. The castle was originally Byzantine and was built by Nikephoros II Phokas
Nikephoros II Phokas (; – 11 December 969), Latinized Nicephorus II Phocas, was Byzantine emperor from 963 to 969. His career, not uniformly successful in matters of statecraft or of war, nonetheless included brilliant military exploits whi ...
shortly after 959, it then fell to the Arabs and then to the Seljuk Turks
The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes
by the Turk ...
.[
]
Crusaders, Zengids and Ayyubids
In 1097, it was taken by the Crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
, who kept it for the next forty years, except for a short time in 1098 when it was taken by the Muslim Arabs. After Nur al-Din's victory over Raymond of Poitiers
Raymond of Poitiers (c. 1105–29 June 1149) was Prince of Antioch from 1136 to 1149. He was the younger son of William IX, Duke of Aquitaine, and his wife Philippa, Countess of Toulouse, born in the very year that his father the Duke began his ...
at the Battle of Inab
The Battle of Inab, also called Battle of Ard al-Hâtim or Fons Muratus, was fought on 29 June 1149, during the Second Crusade. The Zengid army of Atabeg Nur ad-Din Zangi destroyed the combined army of Prince Raymond of Poitiers and the Assass ...
, the castle fell to Muslim forces in 1149. It was taken back by the Crusaders under Baldwin III in 1158. However, Nur al-Din besieged the castle once more in 1164. When the Crusaders attempted to relieve the siege, Nur al-Din defeated them decisively at the Battle of Harim, capturing many of the Christian leadership including Raymond III of Tripoli
Raymond III (1140 – September/October 1187) was count of Tripoli from 1152 to 1187. He was a minor when Assassins murdered his father, Raymond II of Tripoli. Baldwin III of Jerusalem, who was staying in Tripoli, made Raymond's mother, Hodierna ...
, Bohemond III of Antioch
Bohemond III of Antioch, also known as Bohemond the Child or the Stammerer (french: Bohémond le Bambe/le Baube; 1148–1201), was Prince of Antioch from 1163 to 1201. He was the elder son of Constance of Antioch and her first husband, Raymond of ...
, Hugh VIII of Lusignan
Hugh VIII the Old of Lusignan or (French: ''Hugues le Vieux'') was the Seigneur de Lusignan, Couhé, and Château-Larcher on his father's death in 1151. He went on crusade, was captured at battle of Harim, and died in captivity.
Biography
Born in ...
, and Joscelin III of Edessa
Joscelin III of Edessa (1139 – after 1190) was the titular Count of Edessa, who during his lifetime managed to amass enough land to establish the '' Seigneurie of Joscelin.''
Early life
He was the son of Joscelin II and his wife Beatri ...
. After this, the castle remained in Muslim hands for the remainder of the Crusader period, though Count Philip I of Flanders unsuccessfully attempted to recapture it one last time during his pilgrimage to the east in 1177. The Crusader castle was rebuilt by the son of Saladin, Malik Al Zaher Ghazi.[
]
Mongol destruction
When the Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...
led by Hulagu Khan
Hulagu Khan, also known as Hülegü or Hulegu ( mn, Хүлэгү/ , lit=Surplus, translit=Hu’legu’/Qülegü; chg, ; Arabic: fa, هولاکو خان, ''Holâku Khân;'' ; 8 February 1265), was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of West ...
invaded in 1260, much of Harem was destroyed including its castle, and its population was massacred. What is left of the castle dates back to the Muslim-Crusader wars between 1164 and 1268.[
]
19th and 20th centuries
In the early 1800s, the Barmada family rebuild Harem after it was completely destroyed by the Mongols in the 13th century.
The landlords of Harem between the 1800s until 1963 belonged to four main families: Barmada, Kayali, Al-Kikhia and Hananu.
In 1980, the Syrian government confiscated all the properties and lands of Barmada family.
Syrian Civil War
During the Syrian Civil War, the town remained loyal to the Syrian government led by Bashar al-Assad
Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the S ...
before surrendering to the Islamist militants. By late 2014, Harem had become the local headquarters for al-Nusra Front
Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra ( ar, جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام, Jabhat an-Nuṣrah li-Ahl ish-Sham lit. ''Front of the Supporters of the People of Syria/the Levant''), known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham ( ar, جبهة فتح ال ...
, the Syrian affiliate of Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
.Ahrar ash-Sham
Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya ( ar-at, حركة أحرار الشام الإسلامية, Ḥarakat Aḥrāru š-Šām al-Islāmiyah, lit=Islamic Movement of the Freemen of the Levant), commonly referred to as Ahrar al-Sham, is a coalition ...
expelled al-Nusra Front from the Syrian town of Harem
Harem (Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A hare ...
, after tensions between the two groups boiled over. Subsequent clashes erupted in the nearby town of Salqin
Salqin ( ar, سَلْقِين, Salqīn) is a town in Syria, administratively part of Idlib Governorate. Nearby localities include Kafr Takharim to the southeast, Abu Talha to the south, Delbiya to the southwest, al-Alani to the northwest and I ...
.
Climate
Due to Harem's location being very close to Aleppo, the climate is very similar.
Below is the climate table for Aleppo, because there is no climate data concerning Harem.
References
Bibliography
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{{Idlib Governorate, harem
Cities in Syria
Populated places in Harem District
Crusader castles