Yabroud or Yabrud ( ar, يَبْرُود, Yabrūd) is a city in

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 ...

, located in the '' Rif Dimashq'' (i.e. Damascus' countryside)

governorate A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states or provinces, the term ''governorate'' is often used in translation from ...

about north of the capital

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 = , ...

. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Yabroud had a population of 25,891 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Rif Dimashq Governorate.

Etymology

The name ''Yabroud'' is said to have originated from an

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...

word meaning "cold"; the city rests upon the Qalamoun Mountains slopes ( Anti-Lebanon) at a height of 1,550 m.

History

The city is known for its ancient caves, most notably the Iskafta cave (where, in 1930, a thirty-year-old German traveller and self-taught archeologist

Alfred Rust Alfred Rust (July 4, 1900 – August 14, 1983) was a German prehistoric archaeologist. Though self-taught, he became a pioneer in the study of the Hamburgian culture of the late Paleolithic, especially through his excavations in northern Germany. ...

made many important pre-historical findings), which dates back to a period known as Jabroudian culture, named after Yabroud; and the Yabroud temple, which was once ''Jupiter Yabroudis''s temple but later became "''Konstantin and Helena

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

''". Yabroud is home of the oldest

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

in Syria. The

Natufian The Natufian culture () is a Late Epipaleolithic archaeological culture of the Levant, dating to around 15,000 to 11,500 years ago. The culture was unusual in that it supported a sedentary or semi-sedentary population even before the introducti ...

archeological site Yabroud III is named for the town of Yabroud. Yabroud was mentioned in the pottery tablets of

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

in the 1st century B.C., and

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

's writings in the 2nd century A.D. In 1838, its inhabitants were

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagre ...

, Melkite Catholic and Greek Orthodox Christians. During the Syrian Civil War the city was the center of the Battle of Yabroud in March 2014.

Notable people

* The parents of former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and supported economically liberal policies. He ...

were both born in Yabroud; they emigrated to Argentina before the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. *

Antun Maqdisi Antun Maqdisi, also written as Antoun/Anton Maqdesi/Muqaddasi/Moqaddasi (1914 – January 5, 2005; Yabrud) was a Syrian philosopher, politician and human rights activist.Prince Claus Fundprofile/ref> He began his study in Damascus and obtained his ...

(1914–2005), a Syrian philosopher, politician and human rights activist, died in Yabroud. * Gregory Atta lived for a time in Yabroud * Youssef Halaq (1939–2007), a Syrian writer and literary translator. * Zaki Konsoul (1916–1994), a poet and writer. * Khaled M. Al Baradea (1934–2008), a poet and writer. * Asem Al Basha (born 1948), an artist and writer. * George Haswani, Syrian-Russian businessman. * Saeed Alnahhal, Syrian-Swedish journalist.

References

Gallery

YABROUD Necropoli - GAR - 6-09.jpg, Iskafta cave Yabroud_-_Syria.jpg, Overview of Yabroud

Bibliography

* Cities in Syria Populated places in Yabroud District Natufian sites Emesene dynasty Archaeological sites in Rif Dimashq Governorate Christian communities in Syria {{RifDimashqSY-geo-stub