Qibar (Al-Hawa) | |
|---|---|
Village | |
  Qibar (Al-Hawa) | |
| Coordinates:36°31′30″N36°54′37″E / 36.52500°N 36.91028°E /36.52500; 36.91028 | |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Aleppo Governorate |
| District | Afrin District |
| Subdistrict | Afrin |
| Control |  TurkeySyrian Interim Government |
| Population (2004 census)[1] | |
• Total | 743 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Area code | Q16120856 - الهوى |
Qibar (alternatively spelledQaybar,Qeibar orQibare), officially calledal-Hawa (Arabic:الهوى), is a village in northwesternSyria in theAfrin District of theAleppo Governorate. The village is also known asArshqibar (Arsha wa Qibar) as it absorbed the adjacent village of 'Arsha.[2] It is located in the plain of Jouma (Guma) at an elevation of 360 meters above sea level.[2] Nearby localities includeAfrin city to the west andMaryamin to the west, whileAleppo is 40 kilometers to the northwest.
According to theSyria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Qibar had a population of 743 in the 2004 census.[3][1] The population in 2016, during theSyrian Civil War, was estimated at over 6,000.[3] In 2009, researcher Fermaz Gheribo recorded seventyYazidi families in the village and author Sebastian Maisel asserts half of the families in the village areYazidis.[3] It serves as the traditional seat of the chief Yazidi family of the Afrin area, the Darwish clan.[2] The name of the village was officially changed to "al-Hawa" during theArabization campaign of PresidentHafez al-Assad during the 1970s.[2]
The vicinity of Qibar contains abundant archaeological remains from ancient settlements and several caves containing ancient inscriptions. There are three nearby Yazidi shrines, namely the Cave of Cilmera, Melekadi Shrine and Hercerka Sheikh Huseyn Shrine.[2] The village was the scene of a battle between the Byzantines and the Arabs which preceded theBattle of Azaz in 1030. The medieval Syrian geographerYaqut al-Hamawi mentioned the village in his 13th-century work.[4] For ten years during French Mandatory rule in Syria, a Yazidi school operated in Qibar with a Christian and a Yazidi teacher and a Yazidi religious instructor fromSinjar.[5]
