Ra's al-'Ayn

For places with a similar name, see Ras al-Ayn.
Ra's al-'Ayn
رأس العين
Ra's al-'Ayn Main Roundabout
Ra's al-'Ayn
Location in Syria
Coordinates:
Country  Syria
Governorate Al-Hasakah Governorate
District Ra's al-'Ayn District
Elevation 360 m (1,181 ft)
Population
 • Total 55,247

Ra's al-'Ayn (Arabic: رأس العين‎ Ra's al 'Ayn, Kurdish: Serêkanî, Syriac: ܪܝܫ ܥܝܢܐ‎ Rēṣḥ 'Aynā, Turkish: Resuleyn) is a Syrian city administratively belonging to Al-Hasakah Governorate. Ra's al-'Ayn has an altitude of 360 m. It has a population of 55,247, many of them being Assyrian/Syriacs, Arabs, Kurds, Armenians, Chechens, or Syrian Turkmen. There is a border crossing to Ceylanpınar in Turkey.

Contents

History

The city has been inhabited from 1500 BC or earlier.

In ancient times it was known as Washukani,Sikan, Resaina, and Theodosiopolis. During the Armenian Genocide many Armenians were deported to the desert death camps of Ra's al-'Ayn,[1] a site that would become "synonymous with Armenian suffering".[2] The city is the birthplace of the popular Syrian dabke musician, Omar Souleyman.[3]

Sikan

The ancient Neo-Assyrian city of Sikan is on the southern edge of the mound at Ras el 'Ayn. Its location is near the modern-day Tell el Fakhariya, where a famous Neo-Assyrian statue of Adad-it'i/Hadd-yith'i, the king of Guzana and Sikan was discovered in the 1970s, with a bilingual inscription in the Assyrian dialect of Akkadian and Aramaic, the earliest Aramaic inscription.[4][5][6][7] The statue was inscribed as a votive object to Hadad, whose name the donor bore. It is generally dated to around 850 BC, though an 11th century BC date has also been proposed.[8]

Ra's al-'Ayn springs

Ra's al-'Ayn has more than 100 natural springs. The most famous spring is Nab'a al-Kebreet, a hot spring with a very high mineral content, containing everything from simple calcium to lithium, and even radium.

Notes

  1. ^ World War One: The Global Revolution, By Lawrence Sondhaus, Cambridge University Press, 2011, p. 390
  2. ^ Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction, by Adam Jones, 2006, Page 110
  3. ^ omarsouleyman.com (official web site)
  4. ^ A. R. Millard and P. Bordreuil, "A Statue from Syria with Assyrian and Aramaic Inscriptions" The Biblical Archaeologist, vol. 45, 135-141, 1982
  5. ^ Abu Asaf, Pierre Bordreuil and Alan R. Millard, La statue de Tell Fekherye et son inscription bilingue assyro-arameenne, A.D.P.F, 1982, ISBN 286538036X
  6. ^ Douglas M. Gropp and Theodore J. Lewis, Notes on Some Problems in the Aramaic Text of the Hadd-Yith'i, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 259, pp. 45-61, 1985
  7. ^ Jonas C. Greenfield and Aaron Shaffer, Notes on the Akkadian-Aramaic Bilingual Statue from Tell Fekherya, Iraq, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 109-116, 1983
  8. ^ J. Naveh, The Date of the Tell Fekherye Inscription, Shnaton 5-6, pp. 130-140, 1978-79