Hisyah
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Hisyah ( ar, حِسْيَاء, Ḥisyāʾ, also spelled Hasya, Hasiyah, Hesa or Hessia) is a town in central
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, administratively part of the
Homs Governorate Homs Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة حمص / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥimṣ'') is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in central Syria. Its area differs in various sources, from to . It is thus geographical ...
, located about 35 kilometers south of
Homs Homs ( , , , ; ar, حِمْص / ALA-LC: ; Levantine Arabic: / ''Ḥomṣ'' ), known in pre-Islamic Syria as Emesa ( ; grc, Ἔμεσα, Émesa), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level ...
. Situated on the M5 Highway between
Homs Homs ( , , , ; ar, حِمْص / ALA-LC: ; Levantine Arabic: / ''Ḥomṣ'' ), known in pre-Islamic Syria as Emesa ( ; grc, Ἔμεσα, Émesa), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level ...
and
Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...
, nearby localities include al-Qusayr and
Rableh Rablah ( ar, ربلة; also spelled Rableh, Ribla or Ribleh) is a town in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate, located southwest of Homs. Just east of the border with Lebanon, nearby localities include al-Nizariyah to th ...
to the northwest,
Shamsin Shamsin ( ar, شمسين ''Shamsîn'' also spelled Shemsin, Shamsinn or Shimsan) is a village in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate, located south of Homs. Nearby localities include al-Qusayr to the west, Damina al-Sha ...
and Jandar to the north,
Dardaghan Dardaghan ( ar, دردغان, also spelled ''al-Dardaghan'') is a village in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate, located southeast of Homs. Nearby localities include Jandar to the west, Hisyah to the southwest and al-Riq ...
to the northeast,
Sadad The SADAD payment system was established by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) to be the national electronic billing, electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) service provider for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The core mandate for ...
to the southeast and
Bureij Bureij ( ar, البريج) is a Palestinian refugee camp located in the central Gaza Strip east of the Salah al-Din Road in the Deir al-Balah Governorate. The camp's total land area is 529 dunums and in 2005, it had a population of 34,951 with ...
to the south. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Hisyah had a population of 5,425 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Homs Governorate.
Its inhabitants are mostly Sunni Muslims and
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
s.


History


Ancient period

During the
Neo-Assyrian The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history and the final and greatest phase of Assyria as an independent state. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew t ...
period in Syria (9th century BCE – 7th century BCE), Hisyah served as a post station known as "Hesa" on the road to Damascus. During the reign of
Tiglath-Pileser III Tiglath-Pileser III (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "my trust belongs to the son of Ešarra"), was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 745 BC to his death in 727. One of the most prominent and historically significant Assyrian kings, Tig ...
, it initially contained a full cohort of military craftsmen. Due to the small population in the area around Hesa, the cohort was later moved out and replaced by 30 Assyrian households subject to army recruitment. The village was managed by two junior military officials.Weippert, 2002, pp. 138-139.


Ottoman era

During
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
rule in Syria, particularly in the 18th-century, Hisyah became a fortified garrison town headed by an '' agha''. The garrison served as the dominant military faction in the Homs district and its commanders frequently served as district governors. The town was located on what was known as the "Sultanic Road" which eventually led to
Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
, the seat of the sultanate. Hisyah's isolated location on the edge of the Syrian Desert made it very vulnerable to
Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...
attacks, but it served a dual purpose as a place where negotiations between the government and the Bedouin tribes were held and where military campaigns against the Bedouin were launched. Hisyah was also utilized for controlling the trade of wheat and barley, where the cereals were collected and stored in mills. The area was marked by abandoned villages and Hisyah itself was described as being "a miserable place" by Pocock who traveled the region in the 1730s. Pocock further mentioned that the town contained a governor's house, a mosque, a ''khan'' ("
caravansary A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was a roadside Pub#Inns, inn where travelers (caravan (travellers), caravaners) could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information and people across the ne ...
") with three houses enclosed within its walls and a few other homes built around it. According to Ottoman history expert Dick Douwes, the inhabitants were most likely the families of the town's governors and the janissaries who manned the fortress. Along with the allied garrison at
Ma'arat al-Numan Maarat al-Numan ( ar, مَعَرَّةُ النُّعْمَانِ, Maʿarrat an-Nuʿmān), also known as al-Ma'arra, is a city in northwestern Syria, south of Idlib and north of Hama, with a population of about 58,008 before the Civil War (2004 ...
, Hisyah played an important role in the pacification of the region between Damascus and
Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...
. Ma'arra aided Hisyah in its campaigns against the
Mawali Mawlā ( ar, مَوْلَى, plural ''mawālī'' ()), is a polysemous Arabic word, whose meaning varied in different periods and contexts.A.J. Wensinck, Encyclopedia of Islam 2nd ed, Brill. "Mawlā", vol. 6, p. 874. Before the Islamic prophet ...
tribes of northern Syria. In 1717 Hisyah's cavalry relieved the city of Hama from a Bedouin assault.Douwes, 2000, p. 46. The
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
Isma'il Agha al-Azm was chief of the garrison at that time and also served as the governor of Hama and Homs. In the mid-19th-century, Western traveler
Josias Leslie Porter Josias Leslie Porter DD LLD (1823–1889) was an Irish Presbyterian minister, missionary and traveller, who became an academic administrator. He was Moderator of the Irish General Assembly in 1875. Early life Born on 4 October 1823, he was you ...
noted that Hisyah was walled and included a ''khan''. An agha and 150 nominal cavalry troops were stationed there in order to protect regional towns from Bedouin raids, principally launched by clans belonging to the Anizzah tribe. A few years prior to Porter's visit, the former agha and 18 of his soldiers were killed in an ambush by the local Walid Ali Bedouin tribe.Porter, 1858, p. 550. The village was mostly inhabited by
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
s.Baedeker, 1876, p. 556.


Modern era

The Suweidan family dominated Hisyah during the
French Mandate The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (french: Mandat pour la Syrie et le Liban; ar, الانتداب الفرنسي على سوريا ولبنان, al-intidāb al-fransi 'ala suriya wa-lubnān) (1923−1946) was a League of Nations mandate fou ...
period. Today, one of the few Syrian road-police stations in the area between Homs and Damascus is located in Hisyah. An industrial city, with a total area of 2,500
hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...
s was built in the town by the Syrian government in 2001.Hasya: Industrial City
. Syrian Investment Agency. 2010.


References


Bibliography

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