Jableh جَبْلَةٌ Gabala | |
|---|---|
 General view of city and port • Roman Amphitheater •Al-Baath Stadium • Entrance of Roman Theater • Landscape of Jableh • Port | |
| Nickname: Mount of the Soul (Arabic:جَبْلَة ٱلرّوح) | |
  Jableh Location in Syria Show map of Syria Jableh Jableh (Eastern Mediterranean) Show map of Eastern Mediterranean Jableh Jableh (Asia) Show map of Asia | |
| Coordinates:35°21′N35°55′E / 35.350°N 35.917°E /35.350; 35.917 | |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Latakia Governorate |
| District | Jableh District |
| Subdistrict | Jableh Subdistrict |
| Control | Syrian transitional government |
| Elevation | 16 m (52 ft) |
| Population (2004 census) | |
• Total | 80,000[1] |
| Demonym(s) | Arabic:جَبْلَاوِي,romanized: Jablawi |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Area code(s) | Country code: 963 City code: 41 |
| Geocode | C3585 |
| Climate | Csa |
Jableh (Arabic:جَبْلَةٌ;Ǧabla, also speltJebleh,Jabala,Jablah, Gabala orGibellum) is aMediterranean coastal city inSyria,[2] 25 km (16 mi) north ofBaniyas and 25 km (16 mi) south ofLatakia, with c. 80,000 inhabitants (2004 census). As AncientGabala, it was a Byzantinearchbishopric and remains a Latin Catholictitular see. It contains the tomb and mosque ofIbrahim Bin Adham, a legendarySufi mystic who renounced his throne ofBalkh and devoted himself to prayers for the rest of his life.[3]
Jableh has been inhabited since at least the second-millennium BCE.[4] The city was part of theUgaritic kingdom and was mentioned as "Gbʿly" in the archives of the city c. 1200 BC.[5] In antiquity Jableh (then called Gabala) was an important Hellenistic and then Roman city. One of the main remains of this period is atheatre, capable of housing c. 7,000 spectators. Near the seashore even older remains were found dating to the Iron Age or Phoenician Era.
The Jableh region was incorporated into theIslamic Empire with the conquest of Syria in 637–642. Between approximately 969 and 1081, however, much of the region returned under the control of theByzantine Empire, until it was captured byBanu Ammar.[6][7] TheAlawites began spreading in the area in the early eleventh century.[8]
In themedieval period, Jableh, then calledGibellum, was conquered byTancred and theGenoese on 23 July 1109,[9] to be part of thePrincipality of Antioch, one of theCrusader States. In 1126, the cities ofLatakia and Jabala were the dowry of PrincessAlice, daughter of KingBaldwin II of Jerusalem.[10] It was captured bySaladin in 1189 during theThird Crusade. One famous resident wasHugh of Jabala, thecity's bishop, who reported the fall ofEdessa toPope Eugene III and was the first person to speak ofPrester John. Less than 1 kilometre (0.62 miles) from the city center lies the ancient site of Gibala, today known asTell Tweini. This city was inhabited from the third millennium BCE until the Persian period.
During theMamluk period, there was still an "Ayyubid"mosque in the city that had probably been founded by members of Saladin's entourage or army.[11] In 1318, a revolt by theAlawites from the surrounding highlands resulted in an attack on Jableh before a Mamluk column sent fromTripoli was able to retake control. The famous Moroccan travelerIbn Battuta visited Jableh in 1326.[12]
In theOttoman period (1516–1918), Jabala originally formed a sub-province (sancak) of theprovince of Tripoli before it was made its own sancak in 1547–1548.[13] The district (nahiye) of Jabala comprised approximately 80 villages in addition to Jableh itself, the majority of which were inhabited byAlawites.[14] In 1564, the province of Jableh was governed by the son of Janbulad ibn Qasim al-Kurdi, the sancak-beyi ofKilis. The city of Jableh gained special importance with theOttoman conquest ofCyprus, which lies just 120 km directly offshore, in 1570. The governor and theqadi (judge) of Jableh received numerous orders from the Ottoman government to guard the area against Mediterranean pirates and rebel Alawites in the next decades.[15] The city and the province of Jableh became less important asLatakia rose in importance in the eighteenth century. At the end of the nineteenth century, the province of Jableh was divided into twenty new nahiyes.[16]
On May 23, 2016, theIslamic State claimed responsibility for four suicide bombings in Jableh, which had remained largely unaffected since theSyrian Civil War began in 2011. Purportedly targeting Alawite gatherings, the bombs killed over a hundred people. InTartus, similarly insulated, another three bombers killed 48 people.[17]
In February 2023, amagnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and western Syria. It caused widespread destruction and fatalities. In Jableh, at least 283 people died, 173 were injured and 19 buildings collapsed.[18]
On 8 December 2024, theSyrian opposition took control of Jableh.[19]
The majority of people in Jableh depend on agriculture for their income, 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, whilst most residents solely depend on retirement allowance, although Jableh's economy suffers due to barely any electricity times between neighborhoods, which affects water availability in the city.
Jableh Sporting Club is a football club based in Jableh, playing in theAl-Baath Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 10,000.
Jableh has ahot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classificationCsa).
| Climate data for Jableh | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 12.8 (55.0) | 14.0 (57.2) | 17.7 (63.9) | 21.4 (70.5) | 25.0 (77.0) | 28.3 (82.9) | 30.0 (86.0) | 28.8 (83.8) | 27.6 (81.7) | 26.5 (79.7) | 21.5 (70.7) | 15.5 (59.9) | 22.4 (72.4) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 10.1 (50.2) | 10.9 (51.6) | 13.8 (56.8) | 16.9 (62.4) | 20.3 (68.5) | 23.9 (75.0) | 26.1 (79.0) | 25.6 (78.1) | 23.7 (74.7) | 21.6 (70.9) | 16.9 (62.4) | 12.2 (54.0) | 18.5 (65.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 7.3 (45.1) | 7.8 (46.0) | 9.9 (49.8) | 12.4 (54.3) | 15.5 (59.9) | 19.4 (66.9) | 22.2 (72.0) | 22.3 (72.1) | 19.8 (67.6) | 16.7 (62.1) | 12.3 (54.1) | 8.9 (48.0) | 14.5 (58.2) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 159 (6.3) | 130 (5.1) | 109 (4.3) | 50 (2.0) | 28 (1.1) | 4 (0.2) | 1 (0.0) | 1 (0.0) | 15 (0.6) | 52 (2.0) | 89 (3.5) | 190 (7.5) | 828 (32.6) |
| Average rainy days(≥ 1 mm) | 14 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 81 |
| Source 1:World Weather Online | |||||||||||||
| Source 2:Climate Data | |||||||||||||
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