Homs

The first thing that comes to one’s mind when the Syrian city of Homs is the wonderful sense of humor that distinguishes its people, in addition to its strategic position, which intermediates the Syrian most important governorates.

Historically, Homs is an ancient city. It was called (Aamisa) in the Roman period.  Its construction dates back to the year 2300 BC. The ancient city is buried under the current one.

It was said that its name was taken from the word (Hmoth) which was the name of the tribe that inhabited the city in past periods. It was also said that the word (Homs) is Aramaic and it means the “soft ground”. It was named so because the city was located on a plain. Some researchers said that the meaning of Homs in Aramaic was a description of the sun then it became a special name of the sun god. The sun god temple was very popular where people used to worship the Black Stone. The Roman Emperor Sptamos Sesfros transferred the Black Stone of Homs to Rome when he became an emperor in193 -211 AD. This is what made Homs famous of using black stones for building houses, commercial centers and palaces until the present day.

Homs reached its apogee during the Roman rule when the Homsi strain moved to rule the Roman Empire. Princess Julia Dumna, Karkalla (211- 217), Elio Tabal (218- 228), Alexander (229- 232), Oaela Kbaal and Philip the Arab, were among those great Homsi emperors who ruled Rome. Many residents of Homs took important Roman state positions, and enjoyed the membership of the Senate.

In (246- 273) Homs underwent the rule of Palmyra Kingdom. By the year (272- 633), Abu Obeida Ibn al-Jarrah conquered Homs so it became one of the major Arab soldiers’ centers which were al-Kufa and al-Basra in Iraq, Damascus and Homs in Syria and Fustat in Egypt.

Then it was subjected to the Ottoman occupation for a long period of time during which it had offered a lot of martyrs who died in defense of their homeland such as scholar Sheikh Abdel Hamid al-Zahrawi, lawyer Rafiq Rizk Salloum and officer Azza al-Joundi who were martyred in 1916. After that Homs struggled bravely against the French colonialism and regained its independence along with other Syrian cities in April 1946.

 A lot of religious buildings, mosques, holy shrines and churches, were constructed in Homs during ancient times, particularly during the Islamic era. Among the most distinguished buildings were: The great Al-Nouri Mosque, which had been the temple of the sun god before Emperor Theodosius made it a church.  Half of the building was transformed into a mosque during the Arab rule and the other half remained as a church, Khalid Ibn al-Walid Mosque which contains the tomb of the heroic Arab leader Khalid Ibn al-Walid, St Allian Al- Homsi Church (432 AD), where the tomb of St. Allian exists, Homs Museum, the Castle and Homs Wall.

Homs is famous of its souks, heritage markets and modern compounds. It is really a distinguished commercial city. Many five-star hotels, luxury restaurants, casinos and cafes are built in this city. 

Amal Farhat