Sirmaniyah ( ar, سرمانية ''Sirmāniyah'', also spelled ''Sarmania'', ''al-Sarmaniyah'', ''Sermaniye'') is a village in northern

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

Hama Governorate Hama Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة حماة / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥamā'') is one of the 14 Governorates of Syria, governorates of Syria. It is situated in western-central Syria, bordering Idlib Governorate, Idlib and Aleppo Governorates ...

, northwest of

Hama , timezone = EET , utc_offset = +2 , timezone_DST = EEST , utc_offset_DST = +3 , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , ar ...

. Nearby localities include

Jisr al-Shughur Jisr ash-Shughūr ( ar, جِسْرُ ٱلشُّغُورِ, jisr aš-šuġūr, , also rendered as ''Jisser ash-Shughour'' and other spellings), known in antiquity as Seleucobelus ( el, Σελευκόβηλος, translit=Seleukóbēlos), is a city i ...

12 kilometers to the north,

Qarqur Qarqur ( ar, قرقور, also spelled Qarqar or Karkour) is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located northwest of Hama. It is situated in the al-Ghab plain, on the eastern bank of the Orontes River. Nearby ...

to the northeast,

al-Ziyarah Al-Ziyarah ( ar, الزيارة, also spelled Zeyareh) is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located 75 kilometers northwest of Hama. It is situated in the Ghab plain, on the eastern bank of the Orontes River.L ...

to the southeast and

Farikah Farikah ( ar, فريكة, also spelled Frikka, Freike, Freikeh or Furaykah) is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located north of Hama. It is situated in the Ghab plain. Nearby localities include Shath ...

to the south. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Sirmaniyah had a population of 2,087 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Hama 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 ...

History

Sirmaniyah has been identified as the village of "Sarum" where

John Maron John Maron ( ar, يوحنا مارون, ''Youhana Maroun''; la, Ioannes Maronus; syc, ܝܘܚܢܢ ܡܪܘܢ, label=Syriac) (628, Sirmaniyah or Sarmin, present Syria – 707, Kfarhy, Lebanon), was a Syriac monk, and the first Maronite Patriarch. ...

, the first

Maronite The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the larges ...

patriarch was born. However, the Syrian village of

Sarmin Sarmin ( ar, سَرْمِين, Sarmīn also spelled Sarmeen) is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Idlib Governorate, located 15 kilometers southeast of Idlib. It has an altitude of about 390 meters. Nearby localities inclu ...

to the north has also been identified as "Sarum." In the 12th century Sirmaniyah served as a Crusader fortress and

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

known as "Sarmania", part of the

Principality of Antioch The Principality of Antioch was one of the crusader states created during the First Crusade which included parts of modern-day Turkey and Syria. The principality was much smaller than the County of Edessa or the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It extende ...

. Its name derived from the Sarmani family who controlled the castle. The Sarmani were a Germanic family, many of whose members occupied high-ranking offices within the Principality, including Gervais of Sarmania.Moosa, 1986, p. 329. The fortress was captured by

Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سه‌لاحه‌دین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...

, the Muslim sultan of the

Ayyubid dynasty The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni ...

, on 19 August 1188 after a brief siege. Sirmaniyah has seen violence during the ongoing Syrian civil war between the government and opposition forces. According to opposition activists, the village was assaulted by

Syrian Army " (''Guardians of the Homeland'') , colors = * Service uniform: Khaki, Olive * Combat uniform: Green, Black, Khaki , anniversaries = August 1st , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = 1948 Arab–Israeli War Six ...

tanks on 10 June 2011, early in the uprising. Fleeing residents of Sirmaniyah were reportedly pursued by Syrian troops. Activists stated that the Syrian Army entered with hundreds of soldiers and "cleaned out three villages," including Sirmaniyah. At least one person was reportedly killed in the village. On 23 April 2015, heavy clashes were reported in the village as part of a rebel campaign to capture Jisr al-Shughur. On 14 October, the Syrian Army took over the village. Eventually, the village was captured by the Jihadist

Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) (, transliteration: ', "Organization for the Liberation of the Levant" or "Levant Liberation Committee"), commonly referred to as Tahrir al-Sham, is a Sunni Islamist political and armed organisation involved in the ...

, who rule over much of Idlib governorate. On 15 April 2022, a militant of

Ansar al-Islam Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan ( ku, ئەنسارولئیسلام له کوردستان),Chalk, Peter, ''Encyclopedia of Terrorism'' Volume 1, 2012, ABC-CLIO simply called Ansar al-Islam ( ku, ئەنسارولئیسلام), also nicknamed the Kurdi ...

blew himself up in a

suicide attack A suicide attack is any violent Strike (attack), attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has suicide, accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have oc ...

aimed at destroying Syrian army positions near the village. One Syrian soldier was killed and 4 others were wounded in the attack.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Hama Governorate, suqaylabiyah Populated places in al-Suqaylabiyah District