al-Dana ٱلدَّانَا | |
|---|---|
Town | |
  al-Dana | |
| Coordinates:36°12′52″N36°46′11″E / 36.21444°N 36.76972°E /36.21444; 36.76972 | |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Idlib |
| District | Harem |
| Subdistrict | Al-Dana |
| Control | Syrian transitional government |
| Elevation | 428 m (1,404 ft) |
| Population (2004 census)[1] | |
• Town | 14,208 |
| • Metro | 60,058[1] |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Al-Dana (Arabic:ٱلدَّانَا,romanized: ad-Dānā) is a town in northernSyria, administratively part of theIdlib Governorate, located north ofIdlib, 38 kilometers west ofAleppo,[2] and just east of the border withTurkey. Nearby localities includeSarmada to the southwest,Tell Elkarame to the south,Atarib to the southeast,Turmanin to the northeast,Salwah to the north andQah to the northwest. According to theSyria Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Dana had a population of 14,208 in the 2004 census.[1] The town is also the administrative center of the al-Dananahiyah consisting of thirteen villages with a combined population of 60,058.[1] Al-Dana was notable for itsindigo dye industry which has since disappeared.[3]
Al-Dana has been identified with theAramaean city of "Adennu" or "Adinnu."[2][4] Adennu was the first Aramaean city conquered by theAssyrians duringShalmaneser III's military campaign against Syria in 853 BCE.[2] The city was captured without resistance.[4]
As part of the so-calledDead Cities, al-Dana, and its vicinity contain numerous ancient ruins which date back to the 3rd and 4th-century CE. A well-preserved Roman pyramid tomb, made of yellow stone and bearing elaborate carvings, is located to the north of the modern town center.[5] ARoman gateway and the porticoes of several otherRoman-era edifices also survive.[6]
In the late 11th-century CE, al-Dana and nearbySarmada were sacked by theCrusaders.[7] The 13th-century Syrian geographerYaqut al-Hamawi visited al-Dana in the 1220s, noting that it was located on the slopes ofMount Lebanon near Aleppo in theal-'Awasim area. He described the village as a "very ancient place" near which was a "large platform, as wide as a horse-racing course, cut in the hillside, square and leveled. At its center is a dome, within which is a tomb, as one of the ancient Adites, but of whom it is not known."[8]
In the mid-19th-century al-Dana was visited by English travelerJames Silk Buckingham who noted that the village was built along the slopes of a rock in the center of a plain. Most of its houses were built from the ruins of older structures, suggesting to Buckingham that al-Dana had previously been a considerable settlement.[6] Around 500Muslims lived in the village and worshiped in a smallmosque, with aminaret and six domes arranged in two separate rows corresponding with each interior aisle.[9]
The town is currently under the control of theTurkey-backedSyrian National Army.
On 16 February 2022, 3 civilians were killed in the town afterSyrian Arab Army bombarded the town with artillery.[10]
Buckingham dana syria.
