Aqrab عقرب Akrab | |
|---|---|
Town | |
| Arab transcription(s) | |
| • English | "The Scorpion" |
  Aqrab Location in Syria | |
| Coordinates:34°56′11″N36°27′25″E / 34.93639°N 36.45694°E /34.93639; 36.45694 | |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Hama |
| District | Hama |
| Subdistrict | Hirbnafsah |
| Population (2004) | |
• Total | 8,422 |
Aqrab (Arabic:عقرب, also spelledAkrab) is a village in centralSyria, administratively part of theHama Governorate, under theHama District, in theHirbnafsah sub district, located southwest ofHama at the governorate border withHoms. Nearby localities includeNisaf andBaarin to the west,Awj to the southwest,Qarmas to the south,Taldou andHoula to the southeast,Talaf and the subdistrict (nahiyah) centerHirbnafsah to the east,Bisin andJidrin to the northeast andal-Bayyadiyah to the northwest.
According to the Ottoman Defter records, the population of the village increased from 10 households in 1526 to 39 households by 1594.[1] In anOttoman government record from 1818, Aqrab was listed as one of twoTurkmen villages belonging to the Qirra ('Villages') Khaliliyya; the other village was neighboring Ik'una and the two villages together consisted of 49feddans and paid 10,350qirsh in taxes, as well as 7,380 qirsh in illegal exactions to themutasallim ofHama,Faraj Agha. At the time, themultazims (tax farmers) of Aqrab were locals from the village.[2] In 1838, it was recorded as aSunni Muslim village.[3]
In the late 19th or early 20th centuries, Aqrab's inhabitants sold all or most of their lands to theurban notables of Hama, turning its small landowners into tenant farmers. By the early 1930s, the prominent Kaylani family of Hama were the village's owners and the inhabitants were largely Sunni Muslim Turkmens.[4] The urban landowners of Hama, referred to as "feudalists" in aUnited Nations report, continued to own Aqrab as late as 1958.[5]
Since the beginning of the ongoingSyrian civil war in 2011, several Alawite families threatened by Sunni rebel fighters have fled Aqrab for nearby predominantly Alawite villages such asBaarin.[6] On 11 December 2012,bomb attacks in the village left between 125[7]-200[8] civilians dead or wounded according to opposition activists. Most of the casualties were reportedly Alawites,[7] and local witnesses blamed FSA rebels fromHoula andal-Rastan for the killings.[9]
According to theSyria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Aqrab had a population of 8,422 in the 2004 census, making it the largest locality in the Hirbnafsahnahiyah.[10] The population of Aqrab is roughly two-thirdsSunni Muslim, with the remainder beingAlawites.[11] Many of Aqrab's Sunni inhabitants are ofTurkmen descent.[12] The Alawite inhabitants live mostly in the enclave of Jbeili where they make up about 200 families.[6] By August of 2018, the total population of Aqrab had declined to between 4,000 and 5,000 people.[13]
