Qastun ( ar, قسطون), also spelled Kastun or Kustun, is a village in northern
Syria, administratively part of the
Hama Governorate, located northwest of
Hama and 35 kilometers southwest of
Idlib. It is situated in the
Ghab plain
The Ghab Plain ( ar, سَهْلُ ٱلْغَابِ, Sahl al-Ġāb, literally: Forest Plain) is a fertile depression lying mainly in the Al-Suqaylabiyah District in northwest Syria. The Orontes River, flowing north, enters the Plain near Muhradah, ...
, on the eastern bank of the
Orontes River. Nearby localities include
al-Ziyarah to the west,
Qarqur
Qarqur ( ar, قرقور, also spelled Qarqar or Karkour) is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located northwest of Hama. It is situated in the al-Ghab plain, on the eastern bank of the Orontes River. Ne ...
to the northwest,
Farikah to the north,
Maaratah to the northeast,
al-Muzarah to the southeast and
al-Ankawi
Al-Ankawi ( ar, العنكاوي) is a Syrian town located in the Ziyarah Subdistrict of the al-Suqaylabiyah District in Hama Governorate. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), al-Ankawi had a population of 2,298 in the 2004 ...
to the south. According to the
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Qastun had a population of 6,187 in the 2004 census, making it the largest locality in the
al-Ziyarah sub-district (''
nahiyah
A nāḥiyah ( ar, , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level division w ...
'').
[General Census of Population and Housing 2004](_blank)
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Hama Governorate.
History
Qastun is identified as the ancient
Aramean
The Arameans ( oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; syc, ܐܪ̈ܡܝܐ, Ārāmāyē) were an ancient Semitic-speaking people in the Near East, first recorded in historical sources from the late 12th century BCE. The Aramean ...
town of Qattun or "Qatan" of the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
. It is listed in an
Assyrian text from
Kultepe. The site of the ancient town is about 16 hectares and is spread between the two parts of Qastun i.e. Qastun al-Gharbi and Qastun al-Sharqi. The latter sits on an elevation 25 meters above the surrounding territory alongside the Qastun River.
The Syrian geographer
Yaqut al-Hamawi
Yāqūt Shihāb al-Dīn ibn-ʿAbdullāh al-Rūmī al-Ḥamawī (1179–1229) ( ar, ياقوت الحموي الرومي) was a Muslim scholar of Byzantine Greek ancestry active during the late Abbasid period (12th-13th centuries). He is known for ...
visited Qastun during
Ayyubid rule in 1225, noting that it was "a fortress that was in the district of
Ar Ruj in the Halab (Aleppo) Province." During the conflict between the
Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
s (successors to the Ayyubids) and a
Mongol
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...
-
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
alliance, an elite Mongol force of some 1,500 soldiers raided Qastun in 1271, massacring and plundering its
Turkmen inhabitants. In the Spring of 1298, a Mamluk army led by
al-Muzaffar III Mahmud, the Ayyubid vassal of
Hama, launched a campaign to conquer Armenian-held
Cilicia
Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...
, but only reached Qastun, before being recalled to
Aleppo.
Modern era
When the nearby
Zeyzoun Dam collapsed in June 2002, floods destroyed and damaged hundreds of houses in Qastun and the nearby villages of Qarqur, al-Ziyarah and Zeizoun.
According to the
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a man was shot dead at a security checkpoint in Qastun on 4 September 2012, during the ongoing
Syrian civil war. According to an opposition activist from Hama, 25 children were killed by shooting or stabbing in Qastun and nearby al-Aqbayr on 6 June 2012 by pro-government forces.
[Ahmad, Meher]
Syrian Humanitarian Situation Sours
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. September 2012. Page. 65.
References
Bibliography
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{{Hama Governorate, suqaylabiyah
Populated places in al-Suqaylabiyah District
Populated places in al-Ghab Plain