Al-Asharah

Al-Asharah (Arabic: العَشَارَة‎, romanized: al-'Ašārah, also spelled al-Ashareh or Esharah) is a town in eastern Syria, administratively part of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate, located along the Euphrates River, south of Deir ez-Zor. Nearby localities include al-Quriyah to the northeast, Makhan and Mayadin to the north, Suwaydan Jazirah to the southeast and Dablan to the south. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Asharah had a population of 17,537 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative seat of a nahiyah ("subdistrict") which consists of seven localities with a total population of 96,001 in 2004. Al-Asharah is the third largest locality in the nahiyah.[1] Its inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims. From Arabians Tribes of Tayy Al-Rahabi and Al Uqaydat.[2]

Al-Asharah is the administrative center of Nahiya al-Asharah of the Mayadin District.
Al-Asharah

العَشَارَة
Town
Al-Asharah
Coordinates: 34°55′13″N 40°33′34″E
Country Syria
GovernorateDeir ez-Zor
DistrictMayadin
SubdistrictAl-Asharah
Population
 (2004 census)[1]
 • Total17,537
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)

History

Al-Asharah is built on the site of the ancient Aramean-Assyrian settlement of Terqa.[3][4] A stele dated to 886 BCE honoring the victory of Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta II over the Arameans was found in al-Asharah. The stele is currently located in the National Museum of Aleppo.[3] Terqa was the capital of the Neo-Assyrian kingdom of Khana and continued to develop until the end of the Bronze Age when its decline began. Excavations in al-Asharah revealed evidence that Terqa contained urban institutions and its inhabitants had exploited the area's soil for economic benefit.[4]

In the mid-19th-century, it was noted by the Bombay Geographic Society that al-Asharah was a "little town" that consisted of an unorganized grouping of Arab huts and a population whose traditions suggested the place was ancient.[5] From around that time until the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in 1917, al-Asharah served as the center of a kaza ("district"), bearing its name, that was part of the larger Sanjak of Zor province. The kaza had two nawahi: al-Asharah and al-Busayrah.[6]

In 1920, a meeting between officials and officers of the Sharifian Army and the nascent Kingdom of Syria was held in al-Asharah and hosted by Emir Faisal. There negotiations over the borders between Syria and Iraq were discussed and it was concluded the Abu Kamal would remain a part of the Deir ez-Zor province of Syria.[7]

In the early 1960s al-Asharah was described as a small village built on an artificial mound where Terqa stood.[8]

In Syrian civil war city was occupied by ISIL until Syrian army captured town in 27 November 2017.[9][10]

References
  1. General Census of Population and Housing 2004. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Deir az-Zawr Governorate. (in Arabic)
  2. Smith, 1841, p. 174.
  3. Nelles Guide, 1999, p. 127.
  4. Kuhne, p. 134.
  5. Bombay Geographic Society, 1844, p. 180.
  6. Zor Mutasarrıflığı. Tarih ve Medeniyet. 2009.
  7. Rush, p. 263.
  8. Boulanger, 1966, p. 490.
  9. Breaking: Syrian Army liberates another town along the Euphrates River
  10. With the support of the Iraqi, Iranian and Lebanese gunmen and the Russian cover… the regime forces almost end the organization’s presence in the pocket east of al-Mayadin and a town separates them from achieving the goal

Bibliography
  • Boulanger, Robert (1966). The Middle East, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran. Hachette.
  • Nelles Guide (1999). Syria and Lebanon. Hunter Publishing, Inc. ISBN 3886181057.
  • Rush, Alan de Lacy (2001). Records of Iraq, 1914-1966. 2. Archive Editions. ISBN 1852078200.
  • Smith, Eli; Robinson, Edward (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the Year 1838. 3. Crocker and Brewster.
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