Shmemis ( ar, قلعة شميميس) also ash-Shmemis, ash-Shmamis) is a castle located 3 km north west of Salamiyah and 30 km south east from Hama.

History

200px, A view of Shmemis castle at sunset The castle ( Qalat Shmamis) was first built, on top of an extinct

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Ear ...

, in the 1st century BC by

Sampsiceramus I Sampsiceramus I ( arc, 𐡔𐡌𐡔𐡂𐡓𐡌, Šamšigeram; died 48 BC) was the founding Priest-King of the Emesene dynasty who lived in the 1st century BC and was a tribal chieftain or Phylarch. Biography The ancestors of Sampsiceramus I were ...

, the first Priest King of the

Royal family of Emesa The Emesene (or Emesan) dynasty, also called the Sampsigeramids or the Sampsigerami or the House of Sampsigeramus ( ar, آل شمسيغرام, translit=ʾĀl Šamsīġirām), were a Roman Empire, Roman client dynasty of Arabs, Arab priest-kings k ...

. Most of the original structure was subsequently destroyed by an earthquake. It was later destroyed by the Persian king

Khosrau II Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩, Husrō), also known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian king (shah) of Iran, ruling fr ...

in AD 613. It was rebuilt in AD 1229 by Assad ud-Din Shirkoh, an Ayyubid governor of Homs. The castle was rebuilt by the Ayyubid Cherkouh. The date of this reconstruction was set by Abu Fida in 626 e (1228), while Muhammad Kurd Ali in his book "al-Sham Plans" fixed the 627th (1229). However, the

Mongols 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 membe ...

destroyed it in 1260 and then by the

Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

in 1401. It was rebuilt after the expulsion of the Mongols and Tatars from Syria. The castle today is in ruins with only walls partially preserved. This castle was built on a basaltic layer covering a conical top of the mountain. This summit is surrounded by a moat 15 m depth, and provides a very deep well to meet the water needs for the castle, and another well for supplies. The walls of the latter well were covered with a layer of lime and sludge. The castle housed the royal palace, as well as foundations for housing soldiers. The importance of this castle is due to its location which allows to observe a circular area of more than 50 km in diameter.

External links

الموقع الرسمي لمحافظة حماة
Castles in Syria Emesene dynasty Roman Syria Buildings and structures in Hama Governorate {{Syria-struct-stub