Arak (, also spelled Urak or Araq) is a village in eastern
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
Homs Governorate
Homs Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥimṣ'') is one of the fourteen Governorates of Syria, governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in central Syria. Its geography differs in various locations in the governorate, from to . ...
. It is situated on an
oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment[Syrian Desert
The Syrian Desert ( ''Bādiyat Ash-Shām''), also known as the North Arabian Desert, the Jordanian steppe, or the Badiya, is a region of desert, semi-desert, and steppe, covering about of West Asia, including parts of northern Saudi Arabia, ea ...]
along the road between
Palmyra
Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...
which is 28 kilometers to the southwest and
al-Sukhnah to the northeast. According to the
Central Bureau of Statistics of Syria (CBS), Arak had a population of 111 in the 2004 census.
[General Census of Population and Housing 2004](_blank)
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Homs Governorate.
History
Roman era
Settlement in Arak existed at least from the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
-era in Syria when it was known "Aracha." Milestones were found in the village dating back to 75 CE and indicated that the Roman governor of Syria at the time,
Marcus Ulpius Traianus, was ordering the construction of a road connecting Palmyra with
Sura
A ''surah'' (; ; ) is an Arabic word meaning 'chapter' in the Quran. There are 114 ''suwar'' in the Quran, each divided into verses (). The ''suwar'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' ( al-Kawthar) has only three verses, while the ...
on the
Euphrates River
The Euphrates ( ; see below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through S ...
.
An
altar
An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...
in Arak during this era was dedicated to
Yarhibol,
[Kaizer, 2002, p. 148.] the local
deity
A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...
of
pagan
Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...
Palmyra who was worshiped as the patron of the Efqa spring in that city since the
Amorite
The Amorites () were an ancient Northwest Semitic-speaking Bronze Age people from the Levant. Initially appearing in Sumerian records c. 2500 BC, they expanded and ruled most of the Levant, Mesopotamia and parts of Egypt from the 21st century BC ...
period. The altar, which was built in 209 CE,
read: "The altar which Maliku son 'mrbn erected to Yarhibol, to the one who irrigates Arak, to the
Gad of the locality, the bountiful god."
[Teixidor, p. 100.]
Early and Middle Islamic periods
Khalid ibn al-Walid
Khalid ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi (; died 642) was a 7th-century Arabs, Arab military commander. He initially led campaigns against Muhammad on behalf of the Quraysh. He later became a Muslim and spent the remainder of his career ...
, the
Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
general of the
Rashidun army
The Rashidun army () was the core of the Rashidun Caliphate's armed forces during the early Muslim conquests in the 7th century. The army is reported to have maintained a high level of discipline, strategic prowess and organization, grantin ...
, conquered Arak during the initial stage of the
Muslim conquest of Syria
The Muslim conquest of the Levant (; ), or Arab conquest of Syria, was a 634–638 CE invasion of Byzantine Syria by the Rashidun Caliphate. A part of the wider Arab–Byzantine wars, the Levant was brought under Arab Muslim rule and developed ...
in 634.
[le Strange, 1890, p]
395
/ref> The town was fortified and defended by an Arab Christian
Arab Christians () are the Arabs who adhere to Christianity. The number of Arab Christians who live in the Middle East was estimated in 2012 to be between 10 and 15 million. Arab Christian communities can be found throughout the Arab world, bu ...
garrison led by a Roman officer. Following their sighting of Khalid's army, the troops retreated to the fort and were subsequently besieged. An elderly scholar in Arak warned the Roman officer of Khalid's successful war record, telling him "beware of fighting this army." Consequently, the garrison surrendered the fort and negotiated terms with Khalid who imposed a ''jizya
Jizya (), or jizyah, is a type of taxation levied on non-Muslim subjects of a state governed by Sharia, Islamic law. The Quran and hadiths mention jizya without specifying its rate or amount,Sabet, Amr (2006), ''The American Journal of Islamic Soc ...
'' tax on the residents, but otherwise did not attack or plunder the town. The Rashidun army camped outside of Arak before continuing their march towards al-Sukhnah. There has also been evidence of Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...
and early Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...
occupation at Arak.
During Ayyubid
The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, 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 Egyp ...
rule, 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 ...
noted Arak was a "small town on the border of the Aleppo Desert, near Palmyra and 'Urd, possessing palm
Palm most commonly refers to:
* Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand
* Palm plants, of family Arecaceae
** List of Arecaceae genera
**Palm oil
* Several other plants known as "palm"
Palm or Palms may also refer to:
Music ...
s and olives." During the early Mamluk era, in the mid-14th century, Ayyubid geographer Abu'l Fida noted that Arak, which he called "Araka" as the local Bedouin
The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...
tribes referred to it, played a role in an attempted conspiracy by Aleppo's governor, Qara Sunqur, and the '' amir al-ʿarab'' (commander of the Arabs), Muhanna ibn Isa, to defect from Sultan an-Nasir Muhammad
Al-Malik an-Nasir Nasir ad-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun (), commonly known as an-Nasir Muhammad (), or by his kunya: Abu al-Ma'ali () or as Ibn Qalawun (1285–1341) was the ninth Mamluk sultan of the Bahri dynasty who ruled Egypt between 12 ...
's authority. In the conspiracy, Arak was used by Qara Sunqur as a way station between the Hejaz
Hejaz is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al Bahah, Al-B ...
(where he was on pilgrimage) to Aleppo in his evasion of an-Nasir's troops to confer with Muhanna.
Modern era
In 1838, during late Ottoman era, Arak was classified as a seasonal village or ''khirba'' by English scholar Eli Smith
Eli Smith (September 13, 1801 – January 11, 1857) was an American Protestant missionary and scholar.
Biography
Smith was born in Northford, Connecticut, to Eli and Polly (née Whitney) Smith. He graduated from Yale College in 1821 and from A ...
. In the late 19th-century, Arak consisted of fifteen huts and contained an Ottoman Army
The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922.
Army
The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...
garrison. Not long after the garrison's establishment in the 1870s, the soldiers stationed in the village were withdrawn. Regular raids by Bedouin tribesmen ensued and made life increasingly difficult for Arak's inhabitants.
In 1908, Czech explorer Alois Musil
Alois Musil (30 June 1868 – 12 April 1944) was a Czech theologian, orientalist, explorer and bilingual Czech and German writer.
Biography
Musil was the oldest son born in 1868 into an poor farming family in Moravia (then Cisleithanian ...
noted that Arak contained fifteen abandoned huts; their former occupants had left together for their native Palmyra due to Bedouin raids. This was a frequently occurring cycle, whereby people from Palmyra would settle Arak for a time, then abandon it due to Bedouin raiding. The regional Al Abd Allah tribe plundered the village along with nearby al-Sukhnah in 1917, taking with them large hoards of furnishings and household goods. Consequently, Arak's residents largely abandoned the village and resettled in Palmyra.[Mundy and Musallam, 2000, p. 42.] In the 1960 Syrian census, Arak had a population of 163.
During the Syrian civil war, the Islamic State
The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...
captured the village during their Tadmur offensive in May 2015 and it was retaken by the Syrian government forces in June 2017.
References
Bibliography
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{{Homs Governorate, tadmur
Populated places in Tadmur District