Jableh

Jableh جَبْلَةٌ
A collage of Jableh
Nickname(s):  جَبْلَة ٱلرّوح
Jableh Location in Syria Jableh Jableh (Near East) Jableh Jableh (Asia) Show map of SyriaShow map of Near EastShow map of AsiaShow all
Coordinates: 35°21′N 35°55′E / 35.350°N 35.917°E / 35.350; 35.917Coordinates: 35°21′N 35°55′E / 35.350°N 35.917°E / 35.350; 35.917
Country	Syria
Governorate	Latakia
District	Jableh
Subdistrict	Jableh
Elevation	16 m (52 ft)
Population
• Total	80,000
Demonym(s)	Arabic: جَبْلَاوِي‎, romanized: Jablawi
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Geocode	C3585

Jableh (Arabic: جَبْلَةٌ‎; Ǧabla, also spelt Jebleh, Jabala, Jablah, Gabala or Gibellum) is a Mediterranean coastal city in Syria,^[1] 25 km (16 mi) north of Baniyas and 25 km (16 mi) south of Latakia, with c. 80,000 inhabitants (2008). As Ancient Gabala it was a Byzantine (arch)bishopric and remains a Latin Catholic titular see. It contains the tomb and mosque of Ibrahim Bin Adham, a legendary Sufi mystic who renounced his throne of Balkh and devoted himself to prayers for the rest of his life.^[2]

History[]

The Roman theatre

Jableh has been inhabited since at least the second millennium BCE.^[3] The city was part of the Ugaritic kingdom and was mentioned as "Gbʿly" in the archives of the city c. 1200 BC.^[4] In antiquity Jableh (then called Gabala) was an important Hellenistic and then Roman city. One of the main remains of this period is a theatre, capable of housing c. 7,000 spectators. Near the seashores even older remains were found dating to the Iron Age or Phoenician Era.

In the medieval period, Jableh, then called Gibellum, was conquered by Tancred and the Genoese on 23 July 1109,^[5] to be part of the Principality of Antioch, one of the Crusader States, until it was captured by Saladin in 1189 during the Third Crusade. One famous resident was Hugh of Jabala, the city's bishop, who reported the fall of Edessa to Pope Eugene III, and was the first person to speak of Prester John. Less than 1 kilometre (0.62 miles) from the city centre lies the ancient site of Gibala, today known as Tell Tweini. This city was inhabited from the third millennium BCE until the Persian period.

On May 23, 2016, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for four suicide bombings in Jableh, which had remained largely unaffected since the Syrian Civil War began in 2011. Purportedly targeting Alawite gatherings, the bombs killed over a hundred people. In Tartus, similarly insulated, another three bombers killed 48 people.^[6]

Economy[]

The majority of people in Jableh depend on agriculture for their life, people grow orange and lemon trees, olives, a large number of green houses for vegetables can be found in the country side. In the center of the city people work in trade and there are small factories in the city for cottons and for making orange juice.

Notable locals[]

• Syrian pioneer of modern Arabic poetry Adunis.
• Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, a famous Islamic figure who organized attacks on the French in Syria and on the British and Jews in Palestine and the namesake of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.
• Mohammad Zeitoun, a swimming champion whose story is featured in Zeitoun.

Sports[]

Jableh Sporting Club is a football (soccer) club based in Jableh, playing in the Al-Baath Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 10,000.

Climate[]

Jableh has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa).

See also[]

• Levant
• Shaam

References[]

Bibliography[]

• Helmolt, Hans Ferdinand (1907), The World's History: Central and northern Europe, The University of Michigan

External links[]