Taybat al-Imam (, also transliterated Tayyibat al-Imam or Taibet el-Imam), historically known as Tayyibat al-A'la, 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 ...

, located northwest 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 ...

.Darke, 2010, p. 145. Nearby localities include

Halfaya Halfaya (, also spelled Helfaya) is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located about 25 kilometers northwest of Hama. Nearby localities include Mahardah and Shaizar to the west, al-Lataminah and Kafr Zita to ...

and Mhardeh to the west, Lataminah to the northwest, Morek to the north,

Suran The Survivable Radio Network (SURAN) project was sponsored by DARPA in the 1980s to develop a set of mobile ad hoc network (MANET) radio-routers, then known as "packet radios". It was a follow-on to DARPA's earlier PRNET project. The program began ...

to the east, Maar Shuhur to the southeast,

Qamhana Qamhana (, also spelled ''Qomhane'' or ''Qomhana'') is a Syrian town located in the Hama Subdistrict of the Hama District in Hama Governorate. It is situated immediately west of the Zayn al-Abidin Mountain. According to the Syria Central Bureau o ...

to the south and

Khitab Khattab (, also spelled Khutab or Khattab) is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, northwest of Hama located near the Orontes River River. Nearby localities include Qamhana to the east, Shihat Hama to th ...

to the southwest. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Taybat al-Imam had a population of 24,105 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Hama Governorate.

History

The town was formerly known as 'Tayyibat al-A'la'. Between 1786 and 1799, during Ottoman rule (1516–1918), Tayyibat al-A'la was part of a lifetime leasehold of Muhammad Effendi al-Muradi, the secretary of the diwan of

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. In an 1828 Ottoman tax record, Tayyibat al-A'la was classified as a grain-growing village consisting 65

feddan A feddan () is a unit of area used in Egypt, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and Oman. In Classical Arabic, the word means 'a yoke of oxen', implying the area of ground that could be tilled by oxen in a certain time. In Egypt, the feddan is the only n ...

s, making it one of the larger villages of the

Hama Sanjak The Hama Sanjak () was a prefecture (sanjak) of the Ottoman Empire, located in modern-day Syria. The city of Hama was the Sanjak's capital. It had a population of 200,410 in 1914. The Sanjak of Hama shared same region with Sanjak of Homs and Sanjak ...

. In 1838, it was recorded a

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...

village. The name of the town gained its appendage 'al-Imam' at a later point after a tomb-shrine located there which locals ascribed to a descendant of the

Imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

Ali ibn Abi Talib Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until Assassination of Ali, his assassination in 661, as well as the first imamate in Shia doctrine, Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muha ...

Syrian civil war

As part of the ongoing Syrian civil war, Taybat al-Imam was the scene of violent clashes between the rebel

Free Syrian Army The Free Syrian Army (FSA; ) is a Big tent, big-tent coalition of decentralized Syrian opposition (2011–2024), Syrian opposition rebel groups in the Syrian civil war founded on 29 July 2011 by Colonel Riad al-Asaad and six officers who defe ...

and the government's

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

in December 2012. The clashes were part of a rebel offensive into

. In August 2016, rebels managed to recapture the city. On 20 April 2017, Syrian Army recaptured the city from HTS rebels. On 30 November 2024, HTS rebels captured the city from the Syrian Army during the Hama offensive. A day later, the Syrian Army recaptured the city from HTS rebels. On 3 December, HTS regained control over the city.

Church of the Holy Martyrs

Taybat al-Imam contains the

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 Church of the Holy Martyrs that dates back to 442 CE.Hachlili, 2009, p. 100. The church, which now serves as a museum in the center of town, consists of three

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

s and contains a large mosaic covering the building's entire floor. The mosaic was accidentally discovered in 1985 during road construction in the town. Between that year and 1987 it was excavated by the

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

-based Franciscan Archaeological Institute. The mosaic is noted for both its size and for its depiction of 20 different building types, including religious and civil structures. Other images depicted include the scene of

Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...

, the

Tigris The Tigris ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian Desert, Syrian and Arabia ...

and

Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...

rivers, the churches of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

, the basilica of St. Simeon Stylites and the double towers of Qalb Lozeh, both sites in northern Syria near

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taybat Imam Populated places in Hama District Towns in Hama Governorate Byzantine mosaics

History

Syrian civil war

Church of the Holy Martyrs

See also

References

Bibliography