Tal Salhab ( ar, تل سلحب, also spelled Tal Selhab) is a town in the western center of

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 ...

, located northwest of

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

. It is situated on the southern edge of the

Ghab plain The Ghab Plain ( ar, سَهْلُ ٱلْغَابِ, Sahl al-Ġāb, literally: Forest Plain) is a fertile depression lying mainly in the Al-Suqaylabiyah District in northwest Syria. The Orontes River, flowing north, enters the Plain near Muhradah, ...

and by the western bank of the

Orontes River The Orontes (; from Ancient Greek , ) or Asi ( ar, العاصي, , ; tr, Asi) is a river with a length of in Western Asia that begins in Lebanon, flowing northwards through Syria before entering the Mediterranean Sea near Samandağ in Turkey. ...

. Nearby localities include

Nahr al-Bared Nahr al-Bared ( ar, نهر البارد, literally: Cold River) is a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, 16 km from the city of Tripoli. Some 30,000 displaced Palestinians and their descendants live in and around the camp, which ...

, Asharnah and

al-Suqaylabiyah Al-Suqaylabiyah ( ar, السقيلبيه, As Suqailabiya) is a Greek Orthodox Christian Syrian city administratively belonging to Hama Governorate. Al-Suqaylabiyah is located at a height of 220 meters above sea level. According to the 2004 officia ...

to the north,

Deir Shamil Deir Shamil ( ar, دير شميل, also spelled Deir el-Shemil) is a village in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located west of Hama. Nearby localities include Nahr al-Bared to the north, Tell Salhab to the north ...

and

Deir Mama Deir Mama ( ar, ديرماما) is a village in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located west of Hama. It is situated at the eastern side of the coastal al-Ansariyah mountains. Nearby localities include Masyaf to t ...

to the south,

Tremseh Tremseh ( ar, التريمسة, ''al-Turaymisah''), or in various dialects ''Tremseh'', ''Treimsa'', ''Taramsah'', ''Taramseh'' in the Hama Governorate in northern Syria. It is roughly 22 miles northwest of the central city of Hama. Nearby localiti ...

Mhardeh Maharda ( ar, محردة, Maḥarda, ), also spelled Mhardeh or Muhardah, is a city in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located about 23 kilometers northwest of Hama. It is situated along the Orontes River, near t ...

and

Halfaya Halfaya ( ar, حلفايا, also spelled Helfaya) is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located about 25 kilometers northwest of Hama. Nearby localities include Mahardah and Shaizar to the west, al-Lataminah a ...

to the east. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Tell Salhab had a population of 15,454 in the 2004 census. It is also the center 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"), part of the

Al-Suqaylabiyah District Al-Suqaylabiyah District ( ar, السقيلبية ') is a district ( mantiqah) administratively belonging to Hama Governorate, Syria. At the 2004 official census, the district had a population of 240,091. Its administrative centre is the city of ...

, consisting of 18 localities and with a combined population of 38,783 in 2004.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Hama Governorate. In the early 1960s its population was around 700. Its inhabitants are predominantly

Alawite The Alawis, Alawites ( ar, علوية ''Alawīyah''), or pejoratively Nusayris ( ar, نصيرية ''Nuṣayrīyah'') are an ethnoreligious group that lives primarily in Levant and follows Alawism, a sect of Islam that originated from Shia Isl ...

s. The town was the traditional seat of the Jnaid clan, which typically provided the leaders of the Alawite

Kalbiyya The Kalbiyya, ( ar, القلبية) Qalbiyya are one of four tribes, or tribal confederations, of the Alawite community in Syria. Syrian Presidents Hafez al-Assad and his son Bashar al-Assad are from the Kalbiyya. Alawite background The Kalbi ...

confederation. In 1978 a sugar refinery was built in Tell Salhab at a cost of $50 million. The refinery complex boasted a sugar beet silo, a washing plant, pulp presses and dryers, and a water reservoir.

Archaeological excavations

Near Tell Salhab is located ''Tell 'Acharneh'', a large mound which is believed to be the location of the ancient city of

Tunip Tunip was a city-state in western Syria in 1350– 1335 BC, the period of the Amarna letters. The name "Syria" did not yet exist, though this was already the time of ancient Assyria. The regions were: Amurru, Nuhašše, the Amqu (the Beqaa), Ni ...

. Archaeological excavations have been ongoing at the site.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tell Salhab Populated places in al-Suqaylabiyah District Towns in Hama Governorate Alawite communities in Syria