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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 of the four largest cities in Syria, with Damascus, Aleppo and Homs, Also notably being the only Governorate with no land borders with any foreign countries, Hama is also known for its Cheese-making tradition, notably reflected in a signature local dessert Halawet el Jibn. Updated: Your Cheat Sheet to the Syrian Conflict . PBS.
The city is renowned for its seventeen norias used for watering the gardens, Which are claimed to date back to 1100 BC. Though historically used for irrigation, the , Today they are purely for show and currently serve no direct purpose, it's used as a tourist attraction and a symbol of the city.
In the south, the Hittites were in conflict with the Egyptians. Hamath became an important urban center. The conflict culminated in the famous Battle of Kadesh against Ancient Egypt under Ramesses II near Homs in 1285 BC.
In early 19th century, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt was the first to discover Hittite or Luwian hieroglyphic script at Hama. The Decipherment of Hittite James Norman (Schmidt), Ancestral Voices: Decoding Ancient Languages, Four Winds Press, New York, 1975.
An Aramaic inscription of Zakkur, dual king of Hamath and Luhuti, tells of an attack by a coalition including Sam'al under Ben-Hadad III, son of Hazael, king of Aram-Damascus. Zakir was besieged in his fortress of Tell Afis, but saved by intervention of the God Baalshamin. Later on, the state of Sam'al came to rule both Hamath and Aram.
In 743 BC, Tiglath-Pileser III took a number of towns in the territory of Hamath, distributed the territories among his generals, and forcibly removed 1,223 selected inhabitants to the valley of the Upper Tigris; he exacted tribute from Hamath's king, Eni-Ilu (Eniel).
In 738 BC, Hamath is listed among the cities again conquered by Assyrian troops. Over 30,000 natives were deported to Ullaba (located in Urartu) and replaced with captives from the Zagros Mountains.
Styling himself the "Destroyer of Hamath," Sargon II razed the city c. 720 BC,"Hamath Wrecked to Terrify Small Opponents of Assyria" The Science News-Letter. 39:13 (29 March 1941:205–206.) recolonized it with 6300 Assyrians and removed its king to be flayed alive in Assyria. He also carried off to Nimrud the ivory-adorned furnishings of its kings.The ivories were found there by Layard. One of the ivory panels found at "Fort Shalmaneser" is inscribed "Hamath." (R. D. Barnett, "Hamath and Nimrud: Shell Fragments from Hamath and the Provenance of the Nimrud Ivories." Iraq. 25:1. Spring)
Displaced persons from Hamath subsequently comprised an important part of the multi-ethnic Aramaean community at Elephantine and Syene (now Aswan) in Egypt starting in 700 BCE, where alongside similarly displaced Jews they produced a large corpus of materials in Imperial Aramaic known as the Elephantine papyri and ostraca.
Assyria's defeat of Hamath made a profound impression on Isaiah (). The prophet Amos also named the town "Hamath the Great" ().
In the second half of the 4th century BC the modern region of Syria came under the influence of Greco-Roman culture, following long lasting semitic and Persian cultures. Alexander the Great's campaign from 334 to 323 BC brought Syria under Hellenic rule. Since the country lay on the trade routes from Asia to Greece, Hama and many other Syrian cities again grew rich through trade. After the death of Alexander the Great his Near East conquests were divided between his generals, and Seleucus Nicator became ruler of Syria and the founder of the Seleucid dynasty. Under the Seleucids there was a revival in the fortunes of Hama. The Aramaeans were allowed to return to the city, which was renamed Epiphaneia (), after the Seleucid Emperor Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Seleucid rule began to decline, however, in the next two centuries, and Arab dynasties began to gain control of cities in this part of Syria, including Hama.
The Roman Empire took over original settlements such as Hama and made them their own. They met little resistance when they invaded Syria under Pompey and annexed it in 64 BC, whereupon Hama became part of the Roman province of Syria, ruled from Rome by a proconsul. Hama was an important city during the Greek and Roman periods, but very little archaeological evidence remains. As Syria became part of the Roman Empire, five hundred Hamian archers, known as " Cohors Prima Hamiorum Sagittaria", were stationed at Magnis on Hadrian's Wall in northern Roman Britain starting from AD 120. The same unit or another one was later renamed to " Numerus Syrorum Saggitariorum" and located at Derventio Brigantum (Malton). The garrison unit was transferred to Bar Hill Fort on the Antonine Wall in Scotland in AD 142–157, then back to Magnis in AD 163–166, during the early reign of Marcus Aurelius. They might have also stationed at Housesteads, as a tombstone of an archer was located there. However, the cohort's presence in Britain was proven by military diplomas, found in Stannington (AD 122) and Ravenglass (AD 124), in addition to altars dedicated to Syrian Goddesses discovered at Catterick.
In AD 330, the capital of the Roman Empire was moved to Byzantium, and the city continued to prosper. In Byzantine days, Hama was known as Emath or Emathoùs ( Εμαθούς in Greek language). Roman rule from Byzantium meant the Christian religion was strengthened throughout the Near East, and churches were built in Hama and other cities. The Byzantine historian John of Epiphania was born in Hama in the 6th century.
Two main personalities from Hama were documented during Greek-Roman times. The first is Eustathius of Epiphaneia (), who was a Greek historian but all his works were lost. His most famous work was the "Brief Chronicle" (). The second personality is Euphrates the Stoic, who was from Epiphaneia according to Stephanus of Byzantium.
Under Abbasid rule (750–late 9th century), the caliph al-Mahdi () restored the mosque. During the reign of Caliph al-Mu'tadid (), Hama was large, walled trading town. On 29 November 903, the army of al-Mu'tadid's successor, Caliph al-Muktafi, defeated the Qarmatians, an Ismailism movement embraced by many Bedouin in the Syrian Desert, at the Battle of Hama, ending their dominance of the Syrian Desert.
In 944, the Hamdanid dynasty under Sayf al-Dawla captured the northern Syrian city of Aleppo and by the following year expanded their control to Jund Hims. Hama was thus incorporated into the Hamdanid emirate of Aleppo. (Writing in 985, the geographer al-Muqaddasi noted the city had become a part of Jund Qinnasrin (the military district of northern Syria); the had become nominal administrative divisions by this point). Hama remained in the orbit of Aleppo until the 12th century. These were considered the 'dark years' of Hama as the local rulers of northern and southern Syria struggled for dominance in the region. The Byzantines under emperor Nicephorus Phocas raided the town in 968 and burned the Great Mosque. By the 11th century, the gained suzerainty over northern Syria and during this period, the Aleppo-based sacked Hama. The Persian people geographer Nasir Khusraw noted in 1047 that Hama was "well populated" and stood on the banks of the Orontes River.
In 1175, Hama was taken from the Zengids by Saladin. He granted the city to his nephew, al-Muzaffar Umar, four years later, putting it under the rule of his Ayyubid family. This ushered in an era of stability and prosperity in Hama as the Ayyubids ruled it almost continuously until 1342. Geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi, who was born in Hama, described it in 1225 as a large town surrounded by a strongly built wall.le Strange, 1890, p.359. Hama was sacked by the Mongols in 1260, as were most other Syrian cities, but the Mongols were defeated that same year and then again in 1303 by the Mamluks who succeeded the Ayyubids as rulers of the region.Ring, 1996, p.317. Hama briefly passed to Mamluk control in 1299 after the death of governor al-Mansur Mahmoud II. However, unlike other former Ayyubid cities, the Mamluks reinstated Ayyubid rule in Hama by making Abu al-Fida, the historian and geographer, governor of the city and he reigned from 1310 to 1332. He described his city as "very ancient... mentioned in the book of the . It is one of the pleasantest places in Syria." After his death, he was succeeded by his son al-Afdal Muhammad who eventually lost Mamluk favor and was deposed. Thus, Hama came under direct Mamluk control.
Hama grew prosperous during the Ayyubid period, as well as the Mamluk period. It gradually expanded to both banks of the Orontes River, with the suburb on the right bank being connected to the town proper by a newly built bridge. The town on the left bank was divided into upper and lower parts, each of which was surrounded by a wall. The city was filled with palaces, markets, mosques, , and a hospital, and over thirty different sized (water-wheels). In addition, there stood a massive citadel in Hama. Moreover, a special aqueduct brought drinking water to Hama from the neighboring town of Salamiyah.
Ibn Battuta visited Hama in 1335 and remarked that the Orontes River made the city "pleasant to live in, with its many gardens full of trees and fruits." He also speaks of a large suburb called al-Mansuriyyah (named after an Ayyubid emir) that contained "a fine market, a mosque, and bathes."le Strange, 1890, p.360. In 1400, Timurlane took Hama, along with nearby Homs and Baalbek.le Strange, 1890, p.xxiii.
Then in the 18th century, it became a part of the holdings of the governor of Damascus. The governors of Damascus at this time were the Azems, who also ruled other parts of Syria, for the Ottomans. They erected sumptuous residences in Hama, including the Azem Palace and Khan As'ad Pasha which were built by As'ad Pasha al-Azem, who governed Hama for a number of years until 1742. By then, there were 14 caravansaries in the city, mostly used for the storage and distribution of seeds, cotton, wool, and other commodities.Reilly, 2002, p.72. After the passing of the Vilayet Law in 1864, Hama became the capital of the Sanjak of Hama (gaining the city more administrative powers), part of the larger vilayet of Sham.
During the French Mandate, the district of Hama contained within its bounds the municipality of Hama and 114 villages. By an estimate in 1930, only four of these villages were owned outright by local cultivators, while sharing ownership of two villages with a notable family. Thus, the hinterland was owned by landowning elites.Dumper, Stanley, and Abu-Lughod, 2007, p. 164. Starting in the late 1940s, significant class conflict erupted as agricultural workers sought reform in Hama.
Syria gained full independence from France in 1946. Akram al-Hawrani, a member of an impoverished notable family in Hama, began to agitate for land reform and better social conditions. He made Hama the base of his Arab Socialist Party, which later merged with another socialist party, the Ba'ath. This party's ascent to power in 1963 signalled the end of power for the landowning elite.
The political insurgency by Sunni Islamic groups, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood, occurred in the city, which was reputed as a stronghold of conservative Sunni Islam. As early as the spring of 1964, Hama became the epicentre of an uprising by conservative forces, encouraged by speeches from mosque preachers, denouncing the policies of the Ba'ath. The Syrian government sent tanks and troops into the quarters of Hama's old city to put down the insurrection.
In the early 1980s, Hama had emerged as a major source of opposition to the Ba'ath government during the Sunni armed Islamist uprising, which had begun in 1976. The city was a focal point for bloody events in the 1981 massacre and the most notable 1982 Hama massacre. The most serious insurrection of the Syrian Islamist uprising happened in Hama during February 1982, when Government forces, led by the president's brother, Rifaat al-Assad, quelled the revolt in Hama with very harsh means.[4] Tanks and artillery shelled the neighbourhoods held by the insurgents indiscriminately, and government forces are alleged to have executed thousands of prisoners and civilian residents after subduing the revolt, which became known as the Hama massacre. The story was suppressed and regarded as highly sensitive in Ba'athist Syria. The Hama massacre led to the military term "Hama Rules" meaning the complete large-scale destruction of a military objective or target.
On 30 November 2024, in the wake of the Battle of Aleppo, Syrian government forces retreated as opposition forces began to push toward the city. A few days later, on 5 December, the Syrian Salvation Government led by Tahrir al-Sham captured the city from the Bashar al-Assad government after taking the control of the city of Aleppo a week before.
Most of the residents are (including mostly Arabs, Kurds, and Syrian Turkmen), although some districts of the city are exclusively Christian.Dumper, Stanley, and Abu-Lughod, 2007, p.162. Hama is reputed to be the most conservative Sunni Muslim city in Syria since French Mandate times. During that period there was an old saying reflecting this characteristic: "In Damascus, it takes only three men to make a political demonstration, while in Hama it takes only three men to get the town to pray." The Christian population mostly adheres to the Greek Orthodox Church or the Syriac Orthodox Church.
The city also contains a Palestinian refugee camp, known as Hama camp.
Titular bishopric of the Roman Church
Other sights include:
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