Al-Qadmus القدموس Cadmus
Town
Al-Qadmus
Coordinates:35°6′5″N36°9′40″E / 35.10139°N 36.16111°E /35.10139; 36.16111
Country	Syria
Governorate	Tartus
District	Baniyas
Subdistrict	Al-Qadmus
Elevation	850 m (2,780 ft)
Population  (2004 census)[1]
• Total	5,551
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

Al-Qadmus (Arabic:القدموس, also spelledal-Qadmous orCadmus) is a town in northwesternSyria, administratively part of theTartus Governorate, located northeast ofTartus and 14 kilometres (8.7 miles) southeast ofBaniyas. Nearby localities includeKaff al-Jaa andMasyaf to the east,Wadi al-'Uyun andal-Shaykh Badr to the south,Hammam Wasel,al-Qamsiyah andMaten al-Sahel to the southwest,Taanita to the west,al-Annazeh to the northwest andDeir Mama to the northeast. It is situated just east of theMediterranean coast and its ruined castle stands on a plateau roughly 850 metres (2,790 feet)above sea level and just above the town.^[2]

According to theSyria Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Qadmus had a population of 5,551 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center of the al-Qadmusnahiyah ("sub-district") which contained 25 localities with a collective population of 22,370 in 2004.^[1] The inhabitants al-Qadmus are predominantlyIsma'ilis andAlawites, with each community constituting about 50% of the population. The town of al-Qadmus itself is mostly inhabited byIsmailis while the villages in the surrounding countryside are mostly inhabited byAlawites.^[3]

Al-Qadmus is home to an important medieval castle that served as the headquarters of the Isma'ili community in Syria, known as theAssassins during theCrusader era. Today, the castle is largely in ruins and, along with some scattered Ottoman-era houses throughout the town, serves as a tourist site. Al-Qadmus also contains a large mosque with an octagonalminaret. The town is also a center for tobacco production in Syria.^[4]

The city is named afterCadmus, who was a Phoenician prince known for introducing the originalAlphabet orPhoenician alphabet—Φοινίκων γράμματα Phoinikōn grammata, "Phoenician letters"— to the Greeks.

In Al Qadmus, the climate is warm and temperate. In winter there is much more rainfall in Al Qadmus than in summer. The Köppen-Geiger climate classification is Csa. The average annual temperature in Al Qadmus is 16.2 °C (61.2 °F). About 1,286 mm (50.63 in) of precipitation falls annually.

The fortress of al-Qadmus was captured byBohemond I of Antioch in 1129.^[5] In 1130-1131 it was recaptured by local Muslim forces. The fortress was later sold to theIsma'ili (known then as theAssassins) sect in 1132 by the Muslim emir ofal-Kahf, Sayf al-Mulk ibn Amrun.^[6] By 1167 the scholarBenjamin of Tudela wrote that al-Qadmus served as the principal seat of the Assassins.^[7] Although details are few, al-Qadmus changed hands between the Assassins and the Crusaders a few more times, before being firmly under the control of the former.^[4]

Al-Qadmus was captured and annexed to theMamluk Sultanate byBaibars in 1273.^[8][9] It was still controlled by the Ismailis, albeit as loyal subjects to the sultanate, during the intermittent reign of Sultanan-Nasir Muhammad (1294-1340).^[10] When North African scholarIbn Battuta visited al-Qadmus in 1355, duringMamluk rule, noting that it was part of theniyabah ("governorship") ofMasyaf, a dependency ofTripoli. Later this governorship was detached from Tripoli and transferred toDamascus province when it was visited byal-Qalqashandi in 1412.^[11] Taxes on cotton cloth and silk were abolished in the district of al-Qadmus by various Mamluk sultans in the late 15th century.^[12]

In 1683, during theOttoman period, Muslim scholarAbd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi visited al-Qadmus and noted theemir of the fortress belonged to theTanukhi clan, anArab tribe that originally settled in theBatanea area of southern Syria during Byzantine rule and migrated northwards.^[13]

In the 1830sIbrahim Pasha of Egypt destroyed the fortress of al-Qadmus during theKhedivate Egyptian invasion of theLevant.^[4] Al-Qadmus was the seat of Ismaili power at the time.^[14] It was also the center of a district which contained 177 villages. The leading families of the town, and the ones where theemirs hailed from, were the Hejawiyah and the Suwaydaniya.^[15] In the 1840s the Ismaili chief of al-Qadmus successfully lobbied the Ottoman authorities to allow Ismaili resettlement of the abandoned town ofSalamiyah, east ofHama.^[16] Pressure from the surroundingAlawite heartland caused many to emigrate for Salamiyah, although the town maintained its political and economic significance in the region and served a commanding role in the centralCoastal Mountain Range, similar to that played bySafita. Al-Qadmus's inhabitants specialized in commerce and artisan crafts. The town was a destination for farmers fromal-Annazah,Talin andal-Shaykh Badr and exported the agricultural products of the area to major cities likeHama,Tripoli andBeirut.^[17]

While most of the Ismailis in Syria transferred their allegiance to the Qasim Shahi line ofAga Khan III in 1887, the Ismailis of Qadmus and Masyaf remained affiliated with the Muhammad Shahi line. They are known as the "Ja'afariya" sect and by the 1990s they numbered around 15,000.^[18] The quarter in Salamiyah where many of al-Qadmus' inhabitants had settled was named "al-Qadamisa," after the town of their origin.^[19]

In December 1918, during theSyrian Coastal Revolt led bySaleh al-Ali against the occupyingFrench authorities, French forces stationed at al-Qadmus attempted to launch an attack against al-Ali's stronghold in nearbyal-Shaykh Badr. Al-Ali and his forces engaged and defeated the French near the village ofWadi al-Oyun. Because the Ismaili leadership in al-Qadmus had allied themselves with the French, al-Ali assaulted the town soon afterward. French forces came to aid their allies, but were defeated a second time on 21 February 1919.^[20] By July 1919 the French and al-Ali concluded a peace agreement, but it was violated by the former when, from their base in al-Qadmus, they burned down the village ofKaff al-Jaz. Subsequently, al-Ali launched a counterattack against al-Qadmus.^[21]

Prior to the ascent of theBaathist government in 1963, the built-up areas of al-Qadmus was largely concentrated just south and east of the citadel, where most houses were built closely together. This area contained the oldsouk ("market") and the Ismailimosque. In the 1970s and 1980s, during the presidency ofHafez al-Assad, the town expanded northward towards the east-west road connectingMasyaf andBaniyas. The intersection of this highway has become the commercial center of the town. Tourism-centered development spearheaded by private contractors began in the late 1980s, mostly concentrated north of the fortress, east of the town's main thoroughfare and south of the east-west highway. The area attracts vacationers mostly from other parts of Syria, including a high proportion of Ismailis from other cities.^[17]

Al-Qadmus's political and socio-economic position in the central coastal mountains region significantly decreased after 1970. This was in part due to the promotion of nearby al-Shaykh Badr to adistrict center that year, which shifted the focus away from al-Qadmus, with villagers in the area going to al-Shaykh Badr for services. Moreover, the gradual development and improvement of transportation infrastructure between Baniyas and its hinterland made it easier for the people ofHammam Wasel,al-Annazah andTalin to travel to Baniyas instead of al-Qadmus.^[17]

In early July 2005 confessional violence broke out between some of the Ismaili and Alawite residents of al-Qadmus. The clashes were apparently started after a few young Alawite men began speaking to Ismaili women to the consternation of the latter's male relatives. When the relatives complained to the town's Alawite police commander, he refrained from becoming involved in the dispute. Many in the Alawite community subsequently boycotted Ismaili-owned businesses in al-Qadmus, particularly the furniture stores and sweet shops, and instead opted to purchase from the surrounding markets. The local Ismaili merchants were angered at the severe decrease in their business's profits as a result of the boycott and began hurling stones at Alawite-owned storefronts. Later that evening some Alawite residents retaliated by ransacking and burning down 27 Ismaili-owned businesses, causing damage worth an estimatedLS 10 million.^[3] A 75-year-old man from the town was killed in the violence and 13 others were wounded.^[22] The clashes ended when twoSyrian Army battalions from nearby military bases closed the roads leading to al-Qadmus and detained and questioned about 500 suspects.^[3] A civilian delegation from al-Qadmus met with Syrian presidentBashar al-Assad in an attempt to relieve tensions in the town.^[22] The Alawitenahiyah ("sub-district") chief of al-Qadmus was replaced by aChristian who was seen asneutral.^[3]

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