Armanaz

Armanaz

أَرْمَنَاز
Armanaz أَرْمَنَاز
Town
	Armanaz
	Coordinates: 36°05′N 36°30′E / 36.083°N 36.500°E
Country	Syria
Governorate	Idlib Governorate
District	Harem District
Nahiyah	Armanaz Nahiyah
Occupation	Hayat Tahrir al-Sham
Elevation	340 m (1,120 ft)
Population (2004 census)
• Total	10,296
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

Armanaz (Arabic: أَرْمَنَاز, romanized: Armanāz) is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Harem District, in the Idlib Governorate. It is located 20 kilometers northwest of Idlib near the Syrian-Turkish borders.^[2] Nearby localities include Salqin, Harem and Kafr Takharim to the north and Idlib, Ma'arrat Misrin and Saraqib to the southeast.

According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Armanaz had a population of 10,296 in the 2004 census.^[1] Its inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims.^[3] The town is the administrative center of the Armanaz Subdistrict (nahiyah), consisting of 12 villages with a combined population of 27,267.^[1]

Armanaz is well known for its glass-manufacturing industry.^[4] It is the only village in northern Syria that specializes in this artisan craft, which it has been specializing since ancient times.^[3] It's also well known for its olive groves, olive oil and pottery.

History

Ancient period

The name "Armanaz" is of pre-Semitic origin.^[4] It may be the sight of the ancient Assyrian city of Tarmanazi.^[3] According to historian Carl Joham Lamm, ancient sources indicate that Armanaz was founded by glass workers from a town near Tyre (modern-day Lebanon) with the same name.^[5]

Medieval period

In 1098 the Muslim Seljuk ruler of Antioch, Yaghi-Siyan, was killed in Armanaz,^[6] then an estate of Maarrat Misrin,^[7] while escaping the city upon the capture of nearby Antioch by the Crusaders.^[6] Armanaz became a Crusader town known as "Emine" or "Eminas" during the 11th century.^[3] During Ayyubid rule in the early 13th-century, Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi wrote that the village Armanaz was "an ancient and small town, distant from Halab (Aleppo) about 5 leagues. They make here pots and drinking-vessels, red in colour, and very sweet to smell."^[8]

Medieval Muslim historian Izz al-Din ibn Shaddad al-Halabi mentioned Armanaz as one of 22 abandoned or ruined fortresses in the Aleppo region, likely destroyed during the Mongol invasions of Syria in the mid to late 13th century and was not rebuilt by the Mamluks who gained power in the region during that time.^[9]

Modern era

During the anti-French revolt led by Ibrahim Hananu in 1919, Hananu's fighters administered Armanaz and by working with the former head of its municipality, levied taxes on landowners, livestock owners and farmers to support the rebel effort. From Armanaz, Hananu's authority extended to Harem, Jisr al-Shughur, Kafr Takharim and Idlib with the same process of taxation and administration being repeated in those municipalities.^[10]

In the early 1960s, it was a large village of approximately 3,000 people.^[3]

Following weeks of clashes in the summer of 2012, during the ongoing Syrian Civil War, opposition rebels captured Armanaz from the Syrian Army on 20 June.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c General Census of Population and Housing 2004 Archived 2013-02-06 at the Wayback Machine. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Latakia Governorate. (in Arabic)
^ ^a ^b Syria: Rebels appear to control large parts of northwest. Global Post. 2012-07-04.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Boulanger, 1966, p. 478.
^ ^a ^b Litman, 1949, p. 77.
^ Lamm, 1941, p. 62.
^ ^a ^b Ginkel, p. 241.
^ Gibb, p. 44.
^ le Strange, 1890, p. 399.
^ Raphael, 2010, pp. 89-90.
^ Gelvin, 1998, p. 134.

Bibliography

Boulanger, Robert (1966). The Middle East, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran. Hachette.
Gelvin, James L. (1999). Divided Loyalties: Nationalism and Mass Politics in Syria at the Close of Empire. University of California Press. ISBN 0520210700.
Litman, Enno (1949). Syria Publications of the Princeton University Archeological Expedions to Syria in 1904-5 and 1906 Division Iv Semitic Inscriptions. BRILL Archive.
Carl Johan Lamm (1941). Oriental Glass of Mediaeval Date Found in Sweden and the Early History of Lustre-painting. Wahlström & Widstrand i.komm.
le Strange, Guy (1890). Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
Kate Raphael (2010). Muslim Fortresses in the Levant: Between Crusaders and Mongols. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780203845165.

[CBS-1] General Census of Population and Housing 2004 Archived 2013-02-06 at the Wayback Machine. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Latakia Governorate. (in Arabic)

[GP-2] Syria: Rebels appear to control large parts of northwest. Global Post. 2012-07-04.

[Boulanger478-3] Boulanger, 1966, p. 478.

[PU77-4] Litman, 1949, p. 77.

[5] Lamm, 1941, p. 62.

[Ginkel241-6] Ginkel, p. 241.

[7] Gibb, p. 44.

[8] Strange, 1890, p. 399.

[9] Raphael, 2010, pp. 89-90.

[10] Gelvin, 1998, p. 134.

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v t e Cities and towns of Syria
Governorate centres	Aleppo Damascus Daraa Deir ez-Zor Hama al-Hasakah Homs Idlib Latakia Quneitra Raqqa Rif Dimashq as-Suwayda Tartus
District centres	Abu Kamal Afrin Ariha Atarib Ayn al-Arab Azaz al-Bab Baniyas Darayya Dayr Hafir Douma Duraykish Fiq al-Haffah Harem Izra' Jableh Jarabulus Jisr ash-Shughur Maarat al-Numaan al-Malikiyah Manbij Masyaf Mayadin Mhardeh al-Mukharram al-Foqani an-Nabk Palmyra Qamishli Qardaha Qatana Qudsaya al-Qusayr al-Qutayfah Ra's al-'Ayn al-Rastan as-Safira Safita Salamiyah Salkhad al-Sanamayn Shahba ash-Shaykh Badr al-Suqaylabiyah Talkalakh al-Tall Tell Abyad al-Thawrah Yabroud Zabadani
Sub-district centres	Abu Qilqil Abu al-Thuhur Akhtarin Amuda Arbeen Arima al-Ariqah al-Arishah Armanaz Arwad al-Asharah Assal al-Ward Awj Ayn al-Fijah Ayn Halaqim Ayn Issa Ayn al-Nasr Babbila Banan Barri Sharqi Beit Jinn Binnish Bir al-Helou Bosra Bulbul Busayrah Da'el al-Dana Darat Izza Darkush al-Darbasiyah Deir Atiyah al-Dimas al-Dumayr Furqlus Ghabaghib Ghandoura al-Ghariyah al-Ghizlaniyah al-Hader Hadidah al-Hajar al-Aswad al-Hajib Hajin al-Hamidiyah al-Hamraa Harasta Harbnafsah Harran al-Awamid al-Hirak Hish Hisyah al-Hawl Huraytan al-Huwash Ibbin Samaan Ihsim Jayrud al-Jalaa al-Janudiyah Jaramana al-Jarniyah Jasim al-Jawadiyah Jubb al-Jarrah Jubb Ramlah Jindires al-Jiza al-Qabu Kafr Batna Kafr Nabl Kafr Takharim Kafr Zita al-Karamah al-Kasrah Kessab al-Khafsah Khan Shaykhun Khasham Kirnaz Kuwayris Sharqi Khanaser Khirbet Ghazaleh Khirbet al-Tin Mahmoud al-Kiswah Ma'arrat Misrin Maabatli Maadan Maaloula Madaya Mahin Malah al-Malihah al-Mansurah Mare' Markada Mashta al-Helu Maskanah al-Masmiyah al-Mazraa Muhambal Muhasan al-Musayfirah al-Mushannaf Muzayrib al-Nashabiyah al-Nasirah Nawa Nubl al-Qadmus al-Qahtaniyah Qalaat al-Madiq Qarah al-Qaryatayn al-Qurayya Qurqania Rajo Rankus Rasm Harmil al-Imam al-Rai al-Riqama al-Ruhaybah al-Saan Saasaa Sabburah al-Sabe' Biyar al-Sabkhah Sadad Sahnaya Saidnaya Salqin Saraqib Sarmin Sarrin Sawran Sebei al-Shaddadah al-Shajara Shaqqa Sharran Shathah Shaykh al-Hadid al-Shaykh Maskin Shayukh Tahtani Shin Sinjar Sirghaya Slinfah Suluk al-Surah al-Saghirah al-Suwar Suran al-Susah al-Sukhnah al-Tabni Talbiseh Taldou al-Tamanah Tasil Tell al-Daman Tell Hamis Tell Rifaat Tell Salhab Tell Tamer Tedef Thiban Uqayribat Urum al-Kubra Wadi al-Oyun al-Yaarubiyah al-Zirbah az-Ziyarah