Maryamin (, also spelled Mariamin or Meriamen) is a village in central

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 . ...

starting from 2008 after being part of the

Hama Governorate Hama Governorate ( / 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 to the north, Raqqa Gove ...

, located in

Homs Gap The Homs Gap () (also called the Akkar Gap and known in Arabic as al-Buqay'a) is a relatively flat passage in the Orontes River Valley of southern Syria. Nicknamed the "gateway to Syria," the gap separates the An-Nusayriyah Mountains and Jabal Z ...

southwest of

Hama Hama ( ', ) is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 996,000 (2023 census), Hama is one o ...

. Nearby localities include

Aqrab Aqrab (, also spelled Akrab) is a village in central Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located southwest of Hama. Nearby localities include Nisaf and Baarin to the west, Awj to the southwest, Qarmas to the south, Taldou an ...

, Nisaf and

Baarin Baarin (, ''Baʿrīn'' or ''Biʿrīn'') is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located in Homs Gap roughly southwest of Hama. Nearby localities include Taunah and Awj to the south, Aqrab and Houla to th ...

to the north,

Kafr Kamrah Kafr Kamra (, also spelled Kfar Kamrah) is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located west of Hama. Nearby localities include Awj to the north, Aqrab and Qarmas to the northeast, Houla to the east, Maryam ...

and

Mashta al-Helu Mashta al-Helou (, also known as Mashta al-Helu or Mashta al-Helo) is a town and resort in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Tartus Governorate, located 35 kilometers east of Tartus. Mashta al-Helou is situated in a verdant area on ...

to the west, Shin,

al-Shinyah Al-Shinyah (, also spelled al-Shiniyeh) is a village in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate, located northwest of Homs. Nearby localities include Fahel to the southwest, al-Qabu to the south, Sharqliyya to the southeast, ...

and al-Qabu to the south, and

Taldou Taldou (, also spelled Tall Daww, Taldo, Tall Dhu or Taldao) is a town in the Houla region of northern Syria, north of Homs in the Homs Governorate. Nearby towns include Burj al-Qa'i to the east, Tallaf to the northeast, Kafr Laha and Tell Dah ...

and

Tell Dahab Tell Dahab (, also spelled Tal Dhahab) is a village in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate, located northwest of Homs. Nearby localities include Taldou and Kafr Laha, Maryamin and al-Taybah al-Gharbiyah to the southwest, ...

to the east. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Maryamin had a population of 4,174 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Its inhabitants are predominantly

Alawite Alawites () are an Arabs, Arab ethnoreligious group who live primarily in the Levant region in West Asia and follow Alawism, a sect of Islam that splintered from early Shia as a ''ghulat'' branch during the ninth century. Alawites venerate A ...

History

Maryamin is believed to be located on the site of a town founded by

Ramses II Ramesses II (sometimes written Ramses or Rameses) (; , , ; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was an Pharaoh, Egyptian pharaoh. He was the third ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty. Along with Thutmose III of th ...

of the

New Kingdom of Egypt The New Kingdom, also called the Egyptian Empire, refers to ancient Egypt between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC. This period of History of ancient Egypt, ancient Egyptian history covers the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth, ...

.Boulanger (1966), p. 453. Maryamin, or ancient "Mariamme", was mentioned by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

and in late Roman lists.Butcher (2003), p. 110. The town likely served as the capital of the Mariamnitai tribe,Butcher (2003), p. 89. but very little mention of the Roman town survives. The Roman Catholic Church still maintains a titular "Bishop of Mariamme". An important late fourth-century mosaic from the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

era was discovered in the ruins of a villa in Maryamin in 1960.Braun (2002), p. 286. The mosaic has an area of 20 square meters and depicts six female musicians playing instruments. The depiction is one of the few artifacts that give an indication on how the

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

was used in antiquity. The other instruments seen in the mosaic are a pair of forked cymbals, a double

aulos An ''aulos'' (plural ''auloi''; , plural ) or ''tibia'' (Latin) was a wind instrument in ancient Greece, often depicted in art and also attested by archaeology. Though the word ''aulos'' is often translated as "flute" or as " double flute", ...

, an ''oxyvaphi'' (a percussion instrument, here consisting of eight yellow-coloured metal bowls played with two sticks), a

kithara The kithara (), Latinized as cithara, was an ancient Greek musical instrument in the yoke lutes family. It was a seven-stringed professional version of the lyre, which was regarded as a rustic, or folk instrument, appropriate for teaching mu ...

(a type of

lyre The lyre () (from Greek λύρα and Latin ''lyra)'' is a string instrument, stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the History of lute-family instruments, lute family of instruments. In organology, a ...

), and cymbals. The mosaic is currently displayed at the regional museum of Hama. The 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 that Maryamin was "one of the villages of

Hims Hims could refer to: * Homs Homs ( ; ), known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa ( ; ), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level, above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Locate ...

" when he visited in 1225, 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. During the first decade of Ottoman rule, Maryamin's population consisted of 22 households. By the end of the 16th century, the number had increased to 51 households, in addition to 20

bachelors A bachelor is a man who is not and never has been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (). Etymo ...

(who were taxed separately). In 1929 Maryamin and a number of other Alawite villages in the

Masyaf Masyaf ( ') is a city in northwestern Syria. It is the center of the Masyaf District in the Hama Governorate. As of 2004, Masyaf had a religiously diverse population of approximately 22,000 Ismailis, Alawites and Christians. The city is well kno ...

district were transferred to the

Alawite State The Alawite State (, '; ), initially named the Territory of the Alawites ()—after the locally-dominant Alawites—from its inception until its integration to the Syrian Federation in 1922, was a French mandate territory on the coast of pre ...

after negotiations with their landlords. The villages' cultivated lands were distributed among the peasantry that worked them.Bosworth (1989), p. 791. In the early 1960s Maryamin had a population of 600 residents. It was a center for growing grape vines and contained a number of springs.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{Homs Governorate, homs Populated places in Homs District Alawite communities in Syria