Qarqur Arabic: قرقور Karkour | |
|---|---|
Village | |
  Qarqur Location in Syria | |
| Coordinates:35°44′37″N36°19′7″E / 35.74361°N 36.31861°E /35.74361; 36.31861 | |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Hama |
| District | Al-Suqaylabiyah |
| Subdistrict | Al-Ziyarah |
| Occupation |  Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham |
| Population (2004) | |
• Total | 2,356 |
Qarqur (Arabic:قرقور, also spelledQarqar orKarkour) is a village in northernSyria, administratively part of theHama Governorate, located northwest ofHama. It is situated in theal-Ghab plain, on the eastern bank of theOrontes River. Nearby localities includeJisr al-Shughur 6 kilometers to the north,[1]Farikah to the northeast,Qastun to the southeast,al-Ziyarah 7 kilometers to the south,[1]Sirmaniyah to the southwest andal-Najiyah to the northwest. According to theSyria Central Bureau of Statistics, Qarqur had a population of 2,356 in the 2004 census, making it the largest locality in the al-Ziyarah sub-district (nahiyah).[2]
Qarqur is situated one kilometer west of the archaeological site ofTell Qarqur, which is also on the eastern bank of the Orontes River.[1]
Qarqur, or the nearbytell ("artificial mound"), is identified with theAramean town ofQarqara which was captured inbattle byAssyrian emperorShalmaneser III in 853 BCE. The town was later burned down by Assyrian emperorSargon II in 720 BCE.[1] Archaeological findings from excavations in 1993 indicate that Tell Qarqur had been settled from theEarly Bronze Age through theIron Age with gaps of no settlement in between.
Tell Qarqur continued to be inhabited through theByzantine period (late 4th-6th centuries CE), earlyIslamic rule (7th-11th centuries), theCrusader period (12th-century), untilAyyubid rule (12th-13th centuries.) Coins from the Crusader and Arab and Muslim periods were discovered on the site, as well as some pieces ofMamluk-era pottery. Muslim rule continued in the modern settlement of Qarqur on the eastern bank of the Orontes.[3]
In 1953 the Syrian government commenced what was known as the "Ghab Project" to drain the waters of theal-Ghab plain in order to sufficiently distribute water from the Orontes River to the various communities of the area. Of the infrastructural works included in the project,[4] was the construction of a dam at Qarqur between 1963-1965.[5] The Qarqur Dam blocks the Orontes on one side, while it supplies water to the other side when necessary. However, it lacks an artificial basin.[4]
When the nearbyZeyzoun Dam collapsed, mass flooding resulted in hundreds of homes being damaged and destroyed in Qarqur,al-Ziyarah,Zaizoun andQastun.[6]
On 22 October 2023, 6 civilians were killed inSAA artillery attacks in the village.[7]
Lajjun Guy le Strange.
