Salamiya

Early Muslim period

Salamiyah was conquered by the Muslim Arabs in 636, during the Muslim conquest of Syria, and became part of Jund Hims (the military district of Homs) through the early Muslim period (7th–11th centuries). Not long after the rise of the Abbasid Caliphate in 750, Salamiya was settled by the Abbasid dynast Salih ibn Ali and his descendants. Salih was made governor of Syria and the Jazira in 758 and thereafter began the reconstruction of Salamiyah. His son Abdallah undertook significant reconstruction efforts there and built the irrigation networks of the town and the surrounding villages. Caliph al-Mahdi, Abdallah's cousin and brother-in-law, stayed in Salamiyah and admired his house there on his way to Jerusalem in 779–780 and appointed him governor of the Jazira. Abdallah's son Muhammad controlled the town in the early 9th century and made it a thriving commercial center. Two Abbasid inscriptions have been found in the town: a mosque foundation inscription likely dated to 767 and another mosque inscription likely dated to 893; otherwise no Abbasid remains in Salamiyah are extant.