Al-Dana () is a town in northern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, administratively part of the

Idlib Governorate Idlib Governorate ( / 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 Governorate to the sou ...

, located north of

Idlib Idlib (, ; also spelt Idleb or Edlib) is a city in northwestern Syria, and is the capital of the Idlib Governorate. It has an elevation of nearly above sea level, and is southwest of Aleppo. It is located near the border with Turkey. History ...

, 38 kilometers west of

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

, and just east of the border with

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Nearby localities include

Sarmada Sarmada () is a town in the Harem District, Idlib Governorate of Syria.Sarmada

to the southwest, Tell Elkarame to the south,

Atarib Atarib (), also known as Atharib or Athareb, is a town in western Aleppo countryside, Aleppo Governorate, Syria. Located west of the city of Aleppo and southeast of Reyhanlı in Turkish-administered Hatay Province, it is the regional center of ...

to the southeast,

Turmanin Turmanin () is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Idlib Governorate, located north of Idlib. Nearby localities include al-Dana and Sarmada to the southwest, Darat Izza to the northeast and Atarib to the south. According to t ...

to the northeast,

Salwah Salwah () is a village in Syria, administratively part of Idlib Governorate. It is located just west of the Dead Cities The Dead Cities () or Forgotten Cities () are a group of 700 abandoned settlements in northwest Syria between Aleppo and Id ...

to the north and

Qah Qah (, also spelled Kah) is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Idlib Governorate, located north of Idlib and just east of the Syria–Turkey border. Nearby localities include Atme to the west, Jindires to the north, Deir Sa ...

to the northwest. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Dana had a population of 14,208 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Idlib Governorate. The town is also the administrative center of the al-Dana ''

nahiyah A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, 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 divisi ...

'' consisting of thirteen villages with a combined population of 60,058. Al-Dana was notable for its

indigo dye Indigo dye is an organic compound with a distinctive indigo, blue color. Indigo is a natural dye obtained from the leaves of some plants of the Indigofera#Uses, ''Indigofera'' genus, in particular ''Indigofera tinctoria''. Dye-bearing ''Indigofer ...

industry which has since disappeared.

History

Al-Dana has been identified with the

Aramaean The Arameans, or Aramaeans (; ; , ), were a tribal Semitic people in the ancient Near East, first documented in historical sources from the late 12th century BCE. Their homeland, often referred to as the land of Aram, originally covered cent ...

city of "Adennu" or "Adinnu."Lipinsky, p. 259.Yamada, p. 154. Adennu was the first Aramaean city conquered by the Assyrians during

Shalmaneser III Shalmaneser III (''Šulmānu-ašarēdu'', "the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent") was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 859 BC to 824 BC. His long reign was a constant series of campaigns against the eastern tribes, the Babylonians, the nations o ...

's military campaign against Syria in 853 BCE. The city was captured without resistance. As part of the so-called

Dead Cities The Dead Cities () or Forgotten Cities () are a group of 700 abandoned settlements in northwest Syria between Aleppo and Idlib. Around 40 villages grouped in eight archaeological parks situated in north-western Syria provide an insight into rura ...

, al-Dana, and its vicinity contain numerous ancient ruins which date back to the 3rd and 4th-century CE. A well-preserved Roman pyramid tomb, made of yellow stone and bearing elaborate carvings, is located to the north of the modern town center. A

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

gateway and the porticoes of several other

Roman-era In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman civilisation from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdo ...

edifices also survive.Buckingham, 1825, p
573
/ref> In the late 11th-century CE, al-Dana and nearby

Sarmada Sarmada () is a town in the Harem District, Idlib Governorate of Syria.Sarmada

were sacked by the

Crusader Crusader or Crusaders may refer to: Military * Crusader, a participant in one of the Crusades * Convair NB-36H Crusader, an experimental nuclear-powered bomber * Crusader tank, a British cruiser tank of World War II * Crusaders (guerrilla), a C ...

s. The 13th-century Syrian geographer

Yaqut al-Hamawi Yāqūt Shihāb al-Dīn ibn-ʿAbdullāh al-Rūmī al-Ḥamawī (1179–1229) () was a Muslim scholar of Byzantine ancestry active during the late Abbasid period (12th–13th centuries). He is known for his , an influential work on geography con ...

visited al-Dana in the 1220s, noting that it was located on the slopes of

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon (, ; , ; ) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It is about long and averages above in elevation, with its peak at . The range provides a typical alpine climate year-round. Mount Lebanon is well-known for its snow-covered mountains, ...

near Aleppo in the

al-'Awasim ''Al-ʿAwāṣim'' (, "the defences, fortifications"; sing. ''al-ʿāṣimah'', , "protectress") was the Arabic term used to refer to the Muslim side of the frontier zone between the Byzantine Empire and the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates in Cil ...

area. He described the village as a "very ancient place" near which was a "large platform, as wide as a horse-racing course, cut in the hillside, square and leveled. At its center is a dome, within which is a tomb, as one of the ancient Adites, but of whom it is not known."Le Strange, 1890, p
436
/ref> In the mid-19th-century al-Dana was visited by English traveler

James Silk Buckingham James Silk Buckingham (25 August 1786 – 30 June 1855) was a British author, journalist and traveller, known for his contributions to Indian journalism. He was a pioneer among the Europeans who fought for a liberal press in India. Early life B ...

who noted that the village was built along the slopes of a rock in the center of a plain. Most of its houses were built from the ruins of older structures, suggesting to Buckingham that al-Dana had previously been a considerable settlement. Around 500

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

s lived in the village and worshiped in a small

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

, with a

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

and six domes arranged in two separate rows corresponding with each interior aisle.Buckingham, 1825, p
574
/ref> The town is currently under the control of the

-backed

Syrian National Army The Syrian National Army (SNA; ), also known as the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (TFSA), is a coalition of armed Syrian opposition groups that participate in the Syrian civil war. Comprising various rebel factions that emerged at the sta ...

. On 16 February 2022, 3 civilians were killed in the town after

Syrian Arab Army The Syrian Arab Armed Forces (SAAF; ) were the combined armed forces of Syria from 1963 to 2024. They served during the rule of the Ba'ath Party in Syria. The SAAF consisted of the Syrian Arab Army, Syrian Arab Air Force, Syrian Arab Air D ...

bombarded the town with artillery.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * *

External links

Photos of Al-Dana
at the

American Center of Research The American Center of Research (ACOR) is a private, not-for-profit scholarly and educational organization. Based in Alexandria, Virginia, with a facility in Amman, Jordan, ACOR promotes knowledge of Jordan and the interconnected region, past an ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dana Populated places in Harem District Dead Cities Towns in Syria Archaeological sites in Idlib Governorate