Aleppo :
Among the Northern plains you
will find the city of Aleppo (Halab), situated in a bowl in
the landscape. Gertrude Bell, an English woman, likened it
to a saucer with an upturned cup, being the Citadel. This
is where Abraham (P) milked his cow.
The city itself is a central 'old city', a long maze of
narrow streets around the magnificent Aleppo Citadel. As
you go further away from the Citadel, buildings and roads
become more modern until you reach the boundaries of New
Aleppo.
Aleppo, Syria's city of the North, is situated only 1 hour
away from the Turkish border. The city of Antioch in the
province of Iskanderoun used to be Aleppo's gateway to the
Mediterranean.
From Aleppo there are direct routes to the East of Syria Al
Raqqa, Deir Ezzor, Al Hasakeh and the Iraqi border at
Bukamal. There are also direct routes to Turkey, Latakia,
Damascus and Palmyra (both via Homs).
Aleppo is now Syria's second biggest city. It has had a
major role in the development of Syria's trade especially
in the early nineties. It remains a popular city for
tourists who like to visit the Citadel and the Middle
East's longest covered souk. It is also famous for its
architecture and intricate stonework.
The History
of Aleppo
Aleppo, going back to the early
2nd millennium BC, competes with Damascus on being the
oldest inhabited city in the world. It appeared in the
Hittite archives in central Anatolia and in the archives of
Mari on the Euphrates. Aleppo (Halab) was the capital of
the Amorite kingdom of Yamkhad, in the middle centuries of
that millennium. It was the focus of the Hittites in their
overthrow of the Amorite Dynasty, in 1595 BC. In about 1000
BC, Northern Syria was taken over by the Sea Peoples;
however Aleppo remained a small Neo-Hittite state. From 800
BC to 400 BC, the Assyrians followed by the Persians were
in control of Syria.
In 333 BC, Aleppo was taken over by Alexander the Great,
and was kept under the Greeks for 300 years in the form of
the Seleucid Empire. During this time Aleppo was an
important trading city, between the Euphrates and Antioch.
In 64 BC Pompey brought Syria under Roman domination. It
remained under Roman control in the form of the Byzantine
Empire until 637AD, when the Arabs took over.
In the 10th century Aleppo was taken over by the Hamdanids
who made it virtually independent until 962 AD when it was
retaken by the Byzantine Empire. In 1098, it was circled by
soldiers from the First Crusade who could not conquer it,
but paralyzed its commercial power. It was besieged again
in 1124 by another Crusade, and then taken over by Zengi
and his successor Nur al Din.
Saladin then took over and at his death the Ayyubid dynasty
was perpetuated in Aleppo. At the Mameluke period, trade
was diverted from Aleppo to the North in
Copyright © Syrian embassy-London 2005