Barri Sharqi (; also spelled Berri Sharqi) is a town in northern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, administratively part of the

Hama Governorate Hama Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥamā'') is one of the 14 Governorates of Syria, governorates of Syria. It is situated in western-central Syria, bordering Idlib Governorate, Idlib and Aleppo Governorates to the north, Raqqa Gove ...

. It is located east of

Hama Hama ( ', ) is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 996,000 (2023 census), Hama is one o ...

and east of the district center of

Salamiyah file:Hama qalat shmemis salamiyyah syria 1995.jpg, A full view of Shmemis (spring 1995) Salamiyah (; also transliterated ''Salamiyya'', ''Salamieh'' or ''Salamya'') is a city in central Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate. It is ...

. It lies on the western outskirts of

Jabal al-Balaas Jabal al-Bilas () is a desert height located 500 meters (1,640 ft) above sea level in Syria. A marker, laid by Roman governor Silanus 75 kilometres (47 mi) northwest of Palmyra, was found there, probably marking the Palmyrene's boundaries with E ...

and the edge of the

Syrian Desert The Syrian Desert ( ''Bādiyat Ash-Shām''), also known as the North Arabian Desert, the Jordanian steppe, or the Badiya, is a region of desert, semi-desert, and steppe, covering about of West Asia, including parts of northern Saudi Arabia, ea ...

. Nearby localities include Tell al-Tut, Aqarib to the north, Suha and

Uqayribat Uqayribat ( ALA-LC: ''ʿUqayribāt'') also spelled ''Oqeirbat'', ''Uzeiribat'', ''′Aqayrbat'', ''′Agareb'', ''Aaqerbate'', ''Occariba'' or ''Occaraba'' is a Syrian town in the Uqayribat Subdistrict of the Salamiyah District in Hama Governorate. ...

to the east and

al-Mukharram Al-Mukharram (), also known as Mukharram al-Fawqani (; also spelled Makhem Fuqani or ''Mkhurem Fouqani'') is a small city in central Syria, capital of the al-Mukharram District, administratively part of the Homs Governorate, located northeast ...

to the south. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Barri Sharqi had a population of 4,172 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Hama Governorate. Its inhabitants are predominantly Ismaili Muslims.

History

Mamluk period

'Barri' is the name of an individual for whom the ''

maqam Maqam, makam, maqaam or maqām (plural maqāmāt) may refer to: Musical structures * Arabic maqam, melodic modes in traditional Arabic music ** Iraqi maqam, a genre of Arabic maqam music found in Iraq * Persian maqam, a notion in Persian clas ...

'' (shrine) of 'Nabi Barri', located in the town, is dedicated. The town was purportedly the burial place of the 13th-century

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

tribal leader

Fadl ibn Isa Fadl ibn Isa, also known as Fadl II, was a prince of the Al Fadl, an Arab dynasty that dominated the Syrian Desert beginning in the 13th century. Between 1311 and 1317, he served as '' amir al-ʿarab'', which gave him authority over the Bedouin tri ...

, who was killed during a dispute within his tribe, the

Al Fadl Al Fadl (, ALA-LC: ''Āl Faḍl'') were an Arab tribe that dominated the Syrian Desert and steppe during the Middle Ages, and whose modern-day descendants largely live in southern Syria and eastern Lebanon. The Al Fadl's progenitor, Fadl ibn Ra ...

of the

Banu Tayy The Tayy (/ALA-LC: ''Ṭayyi’''; Musnad: 𐩷𐩺), also known as Ṭayyi, Tayyaye, or Taiyaye, are a large and ancient Arab tribe, among whose descendants today are the tribes of Bani Sakher and Shammar. The '' nisba'' (patronymic) of Tayy i ...

, which governed the tribes of the Syrian steppe throughout

Ayyubid The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egyp ...

Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

and early Ottoman rule. The name of 'Fadl ibn Isa ibn Muhanna' is inscribed on a gravestone in the Nabi Barri ''maqam''.

Ottoman period

In 1838 Barri was classified as a ''

khirba The glossary of Arabic toponyms gives translations of Arabic terms commonly found as components in Arabic toponyms. A significant number of them were put together during the PEF Survey of Palestine carried out in the second half of the 19th cent ...

'' (ruined or deserted village) by English scholar

Eli Smith Eli Smith (September 13, 1801 – January 11, 1857) was an American Protestant missionary and scholar. Biography Smith was born in Northford, Connecticut, to Eli and Polly (née Whitney) Smith. He graduated from Yale College in 1821 and from A ...

. Around 1848, the deserted town of

and the surrounding ''khirbas'' began to be resettled by Ismailis from Syria's coastal Jabal Ansariyah mountains. As part of this movement, in 1876, Ismailis from

al-Qadmus Al-Qadmus (, also spelled al-Qadmous or Cadmus) is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Tartus Governorate, located northeast of Tartus and southeast of Baniyas. Nearby localities include Kaff al-Jaa and Masyaf to the east, ...

and the

Khawabi Khawabi (), also spelled Qal'at al-Khawabi () is a village and medieval citadel in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Tartus Governorate, located 20 kilometers northeast of Tartus and 12 kilometers east of al-Sawda. According to the ...

valley in Jabal Ansariyah founded modern Barri, attracted to its fertile land, water sources and pleasant climate. Their first dwellings were huts constructed of mud and they restored and reutilized

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

-era canals from the 4th century.

Modern period

As of 2009, the inhabitants of Barri economically depended on rainfed agriculture, mainly the cultivation of olives, grapevines, wheat and barley, and sheep raising, and public sector jobs. The town is well known in the area for its traditional

ataaba The ataaba (, meaning "plaint" or " dirge", also transliterated 'ataba) is a traditional Arabic musical form sung at weddings, festivals, and other occasions. Popular in the Middle East, it was originally a Bedouin genre, improvised by a solo poe ...

music.

References

Bibliography

* {{Hama Governorate, salamiyah 1870s establishments in Ottoman Syria Ismaili communities in Syria Populated places in Salamiyah District Towns in Syria