Maskanah ( ar, مَسْكَنَة) also spelled, Meskene is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the

Manbij District Manbij District ( ar, منطقة منبج, mantiqah, manṭiqat Manbiǧ) is a Districts of Syria, district of Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria. The administrative centre is the city of Manbij. At the 2004 census, the district had a population ...

of the

Aleppo Governorate Aleppo Governorate ( ar, محافظة حلب / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥalab'' / ) is one of the fourteen governorates of Syria. It is the most populous governorate in Syria with a population of more than 4,867,000 (2011 Est.), almost 23% of t ...

. The town is located southeast of Aleppo on the

Lake Assad Lake Assad ( ar, بحيرة الأسد, ''Buhayrat al-Assad'') is a reservoir on the Euphrates in Raqqa Governorate, Syria. It was created in 1974 when construction of the Tabqa Dam was completed. Lake Assad is Syria's largest lake, with a maxim ...

part of the

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eup ...

. Nearby localities include

Dayr Hafir Dayr Hafir ( ar, دَيْر حَافِر / ALA-LC: ''Dayr Ḥāfir'') is a Syrian city in the Aleppo Governorate, east of Aleppo on the Aleppo-Raqqa highway, to the north of Sabkhat al-Jabbul. It is the regional centre of Dayr Hafir District ...

, Humaymah Kabirah and Tell Ayoub to the northwest and

al-Thawrah Al-Thawrah ( ar, ٱلثَّوْرَة, aṯ-Ṯawrah), also known as Al-Tabqah ( ar, ٱلطَّبْقَة, aṭ-Ṭabqah, also ), is a city in Raqqa Governorate, Syria, approximately west of Raqqa. The name "al-Thawrah" literally means "The Revo ...

to the southeast. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Maskanah had a population of 15,477 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Aleppo Governorate. The Syrian government took control of Maskanah on 3 June 2017.

History

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 prin ...

city of

Emar ) , image = View_from_the_Byzantine_Tower_at_Meskene,_ancient_Barbalissos.jpg , alt = , caption = View from the Byzantine Tower at Meskene, ancient Barbalissos , map_type = Syria , map_alt = , map_size = 200 ...

lies a few kilometres north of the present town. The earliest mention of Maskanah comes through Stephanus of Byzantium where it is mentioned in the context of

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary suc ...

's campaigns against the

Parthian Empire The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conque ...

. After the

Muslim conquest of Syria The Muslim conquest of the Levant ( ar, فَتْحُ الشَّام, translit=Feth eş-Şâm), also known as the Rashidun conquest of Syria, occurred in the first half of the 7th century, shortly after the rise of Islam."Syria." Encyclopædia Br ...

, the town was overshadowed by the nearby Balis, Syria, Balis. The region was under the lordship of the rulers of Aleppo until the 12th century when the Zengid dynasty, Atabegs of Mosul started asserting more control. The area was devastated by the Mongol invasions of Syria, Mongol invasions in the 13th and 14th centuries. In 1210, during Ayyubid dynasty, Ayyubid rule, the al-Adil Minaret was constructed. The brick structure was built in the simple, Persian architecture, Persian architectural style. It was restored during Hafez al-Assad's rule (1970-2000) and is one last historic architectural remains in the town. During Ottoman Syria, Ottoman times, the area was mostly inhabited by nomadic tribes. In 1838 Maskanah was classified as a ruined village ("''khirba''") by Biblical scholar Eli Smith. The cultivable lands of the Aleppo Vilayet, including Maskanah, were confiscated in 1876 by Abdul Hamid II, Sultan Abdulhamid II as his own personal property. The lands were later integrated back into the state as public property. In 1915 the town was visited by orientalist Alois Musil who mentions the town having barracks, a large ''Caravanserai, khan'', and the residence of the head of the telegraph service. A year later, Maskanah became a major deportation route during the Armenian genocide where an estimated 80,000 Armenians died. Under the French Mandate of Syria, French mandate, the town was the center of a ''qadaa'', and served as a center for milk production and cattle merchants. In 1945 the village had 430 inhabitants. Maskanah nahiyah

On 3 June 2017, the city was Maskanah Plains offensive, captured by the Syrian Armed Forces from ISIL.

Tribes

The pre-Islamic Hadidin tribe is attested in the region of Maskanah through a tomb of Shaykh Hadid, a venerated ancestor of the tribe. After the Muslim conquest, the area was continuously inhabited by the `Anizzah, Anizzah and Banu Bakr tribes. The 17th and 18th centuries saw another wave of migration to the area by the Anizzah. Nowadays, the region is mostly composed of the Anizzah and Shammar tribes.

Geography

The town lies on the left bank of the

in an area where the river bends eastwards due to a Pleistocene terrace. The town's distance to the river has varied over the years due to changes in the river's bed. Maskanah lies on the border between the Syrian Desert to the south, and the northern fertile Manbij Plain.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* {{Aleppo Governorate, manbij Populated places in Manbij District Towns in Aleppo Governorate