Ar-Rahba

Founding

According to historian Thierry Bianquis, "Hardly anything definite is known about the history of the town [al-Rahba] before the Muslim era." Medieval Talmudic and Syriac writers (such as Michael the Syrian and Bar Hebraeus) identified it with the Biblical town of Rehobot han-Nahar ("Rehobot by the river [Euphrates]"). Some medieval Muslim historians, among them al-Tabari, have written that it was a place called "Furda" or "Furdat Nu'm", named after a monastery that supposedly existed in its vicinity called "Dayr Nu'm". However, the 9th-century Persian historian al-Baladhuri asserts that there was "no trace that ar-Rahba ... was an old city", and that it was first founded by the Abbasid general Malik ibn Tawk during the reign of Caliph al-Ma'mun (813–833 CE). As such, the fortress town was often referred to as "Rahbat Malik ibn Tawk" by Muslim historians. According to Syrian historian Suhayl Zakkar, al-Rahba held significant strategic value as it was "the key to Syria and sometimes to Iraq" and it was the first stop for Syria-bound caravans coming from Iraq. From al-Rahba, travelers, caravans and armies could proceed northwestward along the Euphrates route to Aleppo or traverse the desert route to Damascus. Because of its strategic value, it was frequently fought over by rival Muslim powers. Bedouin tribes in particular used al-Rahba as a main launch point for invasions of northern Syria, and as a safe haven and marketplace. Malik ibn Tawk served as its first lord, and after his death in 873, he was succeeded by his son Ahmad. The latter was expelled following al-Rahba's capture in 883 by the Abbasid lord of al-Anbar, Muhammad ibn Abi'l-Saj. By the 10th century, al-Rahba had become a large town.