 Byzantine tower at Balis | |
  Shown within Syria | |
| Alternative name | Barbalissus |
|---|---|
| Location | NearMaskanah,Aleppo Governorate,Syria |
| Region | Lake Assad shoreline |
| Coordinates | 35°50′12″N38°18′09″E / 35.8366°N 38.3026°E /35.8366; 38.3026 |
| Type | settlement |
| History | |
| Abandoned | 14th century |
| Cultures | Roman,Byzantine,Islamic |
| Events | Battle of Barbalissos (253) |
| Site notes | |
| Ownership | Public |
| Public access | Yes |
Balis (Arabic:بالس), also known asBarbalissos (Medieval Greek:Βαρβαλισσός)[1] andBarbalissus (Latin),[2] was anancient andmedieval fortress on theEuphrates River near the ruins of the still more ancientEmar. It is particularly known for the 253Battle of Barbalissos, where theRoman army was defeated bySassanid Persia. The fortress town's own ruins are located at the modernQala'at Balis (قلعة بالس) in theAleppo Governorate of northernSyria.
The nearby bend of theEuphrates and its trade routes had been controlled in the 2nd millennium BC by nearbyEmar, which was finally destroyed in1187 BC. The area also seems to have had a prehistoricford at times.[3]
By the time of thePersian Empire, the area had been resettled and become known by theAramaic nameBayt Bala.[3] It is likely the area was used during the invasions byCyrus andAlexander.[3]
Under theRoman Empire, Barbalissus was a city in theprovince ofEuphratensis. An outpost near the Roman border withParthia andPersia, it served as the garrison town for theDalmatianCavalry (Latin:Equites Dalmatae Illyriciani), a unit named for its origin in theBalkans.[4] In 253, theBattle of Barbalissos saw Persians underShapur I defeat a Roman army, after which he was able to sack and burn all the major cities ofSyria Coele, includingAntioch,Zeugma, andSamosata.
TheArabic version of the list of the bishops at theFirst Council of Nicaea in 325 includes an Antonius of Barbalissus.[5] Sources in Greek mention a Bishop Aquilinus of Barbalissus, who, at the time of theCouncil of Ephesus (431), was a partisan ofNestorius and was for that reason exiled from the bishopric; andTheodoret of Cyrus speaks of a Bishop Marinianus of Barbalissus, who may have been the replacement for Barbalissus, as having been imposed by force.[5][6] AlthoughLequien wrote that noNotitia Episcopatuum mentioned Barbalissus, which he suggested was a small fortified town rather than a city,[5] an early 20th-century writer says the diocese is included in one such list, dating from the 6th century, as asuffragan ofHierapolis Bambyce, within thepatriarchate of Antioch.[7] It appears in no laterNotitia Episcopatuum, apparently because at some unclear date it passed into the possession of theJacobite Church. The Chronicle ofMichael the Syrian gives the names of five Jacobite bishops ofBales orBeit Bales (Syriac): John, Habib, Basil, Timothy, and Elias.[8]
In the mid-6th century, theByzantineemperorJustinian rebuilt the walls of Barbalissos.[9]
During theMuslim conquest of the Levant, a contingent of warriors fromAleppo underHabib ibn-Maslama arrived at Barbalissos around 637.[3] The Byzantine brothers who served as the city's lords and the city's people surrendered to Arabs under terms: residents could remain if they paid a poll tax in addition to a land tax or they could freely emigrate.[3] Most chose to leave, either toMesopotamia or toHierapolis to the north.[3]Qays tribesmen were settled into the abandoned estates and the settlement became known as Balis.[3]
Under theUmayyad Caliphate, the area was bestowed upon the illegitimate princeMaslama ibn Abd al-Malik.[3] In his absences for prolonged military campaigns, his brotherSa'id al-Khayr was presumably responsible for the refortification of the town and the investment of considerable amounts into the area's agricultural development, including the establishment of the Nahr Maslama and the Nahr Sa'id irrigation canals.[3] Their descendants, however, were largely dispossessed during theAbbasid Revolution in 750.[3]Al-Saffah transferred Balis to the princeSulayman ibn Ali, whose sonMuhammad inherited it before it was confiscated byHarun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). Harun made Balis part of hisJund al-Awasim and gave it to his sonal-Ma'mun (r. 813–833), who descendants held it at least until the late 9th century.
No longer a residential diocese, the bishopric of Barbalissus is today listed by theCatholic Church as atitular see.[10]
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