Idlib (Arabic:إِدْلِب,romanized: ʾIdlib,pronounced[ʔid.lib]; also speltIdleb orEdlib) is acity in northwesternSyria, and is the capital of theIdlib Governorate. It has an elevation of nearly 500 meters (1,600 ft) above sea level, and is 59 kilometers (37 mi) southwest ofAleppo.
ANeolithic settlement dating back to 8500 BC was identified at Tell Ain el-Kerkh, near Idlib.[2]TheEbla tablets (2350 BC) mention the city of𒁺𒄷𒆷𒇥𒌝 (du-ḫu-la-bu6-um "Duhulabum") which is most probably located at Idlib as suggested by Michael Astour and Douglas Frayne; a similarity exists between the sounds of the ancient and modern names. In the tablets, Duhulabuum is 22 km south of "Unqi" which might correspond to the modern village of Kaukanya, located 22 km northeast of Idlib.Thutmose III also mentioned the city with the nameYtḥb.[3]
Idlib, along with the rest of Syria, was conquered by theArmenian kingTigranes the Great and incorporated in theArmenian Empire, only to be later conquered by the RomanPompey the Great around 64 BC. The city was never of much significance, belonging to the province ofRoman Syria under theRoman Empire and later to theEastern Roman province of Syria Secunda before being conquered by theArabs around the middle of the seventh century. Not much remains from the city's Roman andByzantine times, except in its museum. North of the city are theDead Cities, a collection of important archaeological sites from the Byzantine era.
From the Köprülü period, Idlib was a center of olive production.[5] which in turn gave way to a prosperousolive-based soap industry. Although the major markets for Idlib's soap were atAleppo,Antioch, andHama,[6] the product was exported as far as theOttoman capital ofIstanbul. Idlib was also a major producer of cotton fabrics.[7] Western travelerJosias Leslie Porter noted that Idlib was "encompassed in olive groves, rare in this bleak region",[6] and remarked that its olive groves were larger than those of Damascus,Beirut, orGaza. In the mid-19th century, the town had an estimated population of 8,000, including 500Christians.[6] In the late 19th century, Idlib was "flourishing" and still contained several Christian families, according to German orientalistAlbert Socin.[8]
Syrian rebels deface a Ba'athist mural at the Mihrab roundabout in Idlib, after the city'scapture by rebel forces in 2015
During theuprising since 2011, Idlib was the focus of protests and fighting in the early phase of the Syrian war. As the uprising descended into armed conflict, Idlib became the focus of a rebel campaign, which temporarily captured the city and the governorate before a government offensive in April 2012. After this, government forces retook the city and the rebel-controlled province after a month of fighting before the attempted enforcement of the ceasefire proposed byKofi Annan. After the2015 Idlib offensive in March, the rebel allianceArmy of Conquest, led by theal-Nusra Front andAhrar al-Sham, succeeded in theSecond Battle of Idlib and captured the city,[9] as well as besieging the Shi'a-majority towns ofAl-Fu'ah andKafriya to the north of Idlib city.[10] In April 2015, the interim seat of theSyrian opposition'sSyrian Interim Government was proposed to be Idlib,[11] in Idlib Governorate. On 23 July 2017,Tahrir al-Sham, the successor to the al-Nusra Front,expelled the remaining forces ofAhrar al-Sham from Idlib, capturing the entire city.[12]
On 17 September 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan announced anagreement to establish a demilitarized buffer zone in Syria's Idlib province, intended to separate Syrian government forces from rebel factions. Under the agreement, Turkish and Russian troops would patrol the zone to ensure compliance. Putin stated that all heavy weaponry would be removed from the area and that radical rebel groups, such as the Nusra Front, must withdraw. The buffer zone was set to be operational by October 15, 2018.
In the 2004 census by theCentral Bureau of Statistics of Syria, Idlib had a population of 98,791 and in 2010 the population was around 165,000. The inhabitants are mostlySunni Muslim,[16] although there was previously a significantChristian minority, but by 2022 there was only a single elderly Christian man left in the city.[17][18][19] Idlib is divided into six main districts: Ashrafiyah (the most populous), Hittin, Hejaz, Downtown, Hurriyah, and al-Qusour.
Olive orchards at the outskirts of the city. Idlib is a major production center for olives.
Idlib is a major production center forolives,cotton, wheat and fruits, particularly cherries.[20] Other principal crops includealmonds,sesame seeds, figs, grapes and tomatoes.[21] In 1995 there were roughly 300hectares planted with variouscitrus crop.[22]Olive oil pressing andtextiles are some of the city's local industries.[21] The nearby city of Aleppo has an important economic presence in Idlib.[20]
Idlib is a major agricultural center in Syria. It is also historically significant, containing many "dead cities" andtells.
Because of the rapidly declining value of theSyrian pound, theTurkish lira became widespread in Idlib and was adopted as legal tender in the city on 15 June 2020.[23]
The Idlib Regional Museum in the city contains over 17,000 of theEbla tablets and serves as Idlib's main tourist attraction, excluding the nearby ancient site of Ebla itself. Under the Technical and Financial Cooperation Agreement between the governments ofItaly and Syria, the museum was to undergo a restoration and renovation project starting in 2010.[24][needs update]
Bakhit, Muhammad Adnan (2010). "Abdul-Karim Rafeq, Friend and Colleague". In Sluglett, Peter; Weber, Stefan (eds.).Syria and Bilad al-Sham under Ottoman Rule: Essays in Honour of Abdul-Karim Rafeq. Leiden and Boston: Brill. pp. 59–64.ISBN978-90-04-18193-9.
_Syria.jpg)
