Taqsis تقسيس | |
|---|---|
Village | |
  Taqsis Location in Syria | |
| Coordinates:35°0′57″N36°51′43″E / 35.01583°N 36.86194°E /35.01583; 36.86194 | |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Hama |
| District | Hama |
| Subdistrict | Hama |
| Control |  Syrian Salvation Government[3][4][5] |
| Population (2004) | |
• Total | 3,343 |
Taqsis (Arabic:تقسيس), also known asZawr al-Ziyarah (Arabic:زور الزيارة),[6] is a village in centralSyria, administratively part of theHama Governorate, located 25 kilometers (16 mi) southeast ofHama. Nearby localities includeal-Jinan to the north,al-Buraq to the northwest,Tell Qartal to the west,Ghor al-Assi to the southwest,Izz al-Din to the southeast andTaldarah to the east. According to theCentral Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Taqsis had a population of 3,343 in the 2004 census.[7]
During earlyOttoman rule, in 1573, a water installation was built in the area of Taqsis. It consisted of an aqueduct and a tower, alongside which were twonoria (na'ura) wheels. It was built in the typical style of old dams along theOrontes River. The norias no longer exist and the dam is mostly in ruins, although the remainder of the structure is in relatively good condition.[8]
Taqsis had been abandoned sometime in the last years of the 18th-century,[9] and in 1838 the village was classified as akhirba (ruined village).[10] Towards the end ofKhedivate Egyptian rule (1832-1841), Taqsis was among 20 villages along the edge of theSyrian Desert to be repopulated. While most of these small, agricultural places were abandoned during the 1840s due to the pressures of warring nomadic tribes, Taqsis remained occupied.[9]
DuringWorld War I the inhabitants of Taqsis, needing to obtain seeds and advances for their croplands, sold their lands to the Barazi family ofHama, who owned numerous other villages in the Hama district. As late as the 1930s, the villagers cultivated the lands on behalf of the Barazi family and their ownership was limited to the plots occupied by their homes.[11]
