رأس البسيط | |
  Ras al-Bassit Shown within Syria | |
| Location | 53 km north ofLatakia,Syria |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 35°50′46″N35°50′17″E / 35.846°N 35.838°E /35.846; 35.838 |
| Type | settlement |
| History | |
| Periods | Late Bronze Age, Iron Age, Hellenistic period, Roman period, Late antiquity, Crusader period |
| Cultures | Canaanite, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Crusader |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1971–1984, 2000 |
| Archaeologists | Paul Courbin,Jacques Y. Perreault,Nicolas Beaudry |
| Ownership | Mixed public and private |
| Public access | Partial |
Ras al-Bassit (Arabic:رأس البسيط), theclassicalPosidium orPosideium (Ancient Greek:Ποσιδήιον and Ποσείδιον[1],Posidḗion), is a small town inSyria named for a nearby cape. It has been occupied since at least the lateBronze Age and was a fortified port under Greek and Roman rule. Herodotus—although not later classical geographers—made it the northwestern point ofSyria. Its beaches have a distinctiveblack sand and are a popular resort destination within Syria.[2]
"Raʾs" (رأس) is theArabic word for "head", used forheadlands andcapes. "Bassit" is a transcription of its former name Posidium, as standard Arabic is only able tovoicebilabial stops. TheRoman name Posidium[3] or Posideium[4] was alatinization of the Greek name Posideion, meaning "[place] ofPoseidon", theGreekseagod. It was known as "Bosyt" underOttoman rule.[5]
The Syrian municipality is also known as simply Al-Bassit.[6]
Ras al-Bassit is a smallcape on the Syrian coast of theMediterranean Sea. It is located about 10 km (6.2 mi) south ofMount Aqra, the highest mountain on the Mediterranean'seastern coast, and about 53 km (33 mi) north ofLatakia, modern Syria's principal port. As Mount Aqra—the Phoenician Sapan, Biblical Zaphon, and classical Casius—marked the coastal border between the regions ofCilicia andSyria under the Persians,[4] Ras al-Bassit functioned as a kind of border town at times. Ras al-Bassit is located, however, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of the later Syrio-Cilician border at the line between theSyrian Gates in theNur Mountains andMyriandrus on the coast.[7]
Local sealife includecrustaceans,molluscs,sea turtles, anddolphins.[8]
The oldest known settlement at Ras al-Bassit was aBronze-Age outpost with a fortified citadel established byUgarit between 1550 and 1200 BC.[3][9] It traded extensively withCyprus andPhoenicia and survived Ugarit's destruction by theSea Peoples.[10] It was eventually abandoned or destroyed in theearly Iron Age.[3]
Greeklegends credited the establishment of Posideion to the wanderingArgive king andseerAmphilochus[4][11] orhis identically-named nephew. Both supposedly lived during the generations that fought in theTrojan War; the actual Greek colony at the site seems to have been established during the 7th century BC.[3] It marked the northern border of the5th Satrapy of thePersian Empire at the time ofHerodotus,[7] but archaeologists have found that the town was destroyed at some point in the 5th or 4th centuries BC.[3] Because of the discrepancy between Herodotus's account and other classical descriptions of theSyrio-Cilician border, some historians have disputed the identity of Herodotus's Posideion with the later Roman Posidium and present Ras al-Bassit.[12]
Alexander the Great's decisivebattle at Issus occurred nearby in 333 BC, after whichhis empire administered andhellenized the area.[3] AfterAlexander's death in 323 BC, the territory fell to theDiadochi warlordSeleucus. Posideion was apparently rebuilt with a fortifiedacropolis under his reign at some point after 312 BC,[3][10] when the existing settlement was razed byPtolemy.[13]
UnderRoman rule, it appeared inStrabo'sGeography. TheRoman emperorsHadrian andJulian may have used Posidium's port, as they are recording having climbing the nearbyMount Aqra to performsacrifices. The town thrived during the late imperial and earlyByzantine periods, after the city was refortified in the 3rd century.[3] Several other building projects, including an expansion of the port and erection of several largevillas, were subsequently undertaken.[3] In the 6th century, a church complex was built at the foot of the acropolis.[14]
The site was largely abandoned following theMuslim conquest of the area in the 630s.[14] TheFirst Crusade led to the establishment of thePrincipality of Antioch in the area in the 1090s. At some point in the 12th or 13th century, a new, smallerchapel was erected within the Byzantine church's ruins.[14] TheEgyptian sultanBaibars reconquered the area in the 1260s. The port was still used byVenetian ships as late as the 16th century but was abandoned by all but the local fishermen by the 19th.[3]
A French excavation led byPaul Courbin between 1971 and 1984 revealed the former Ugarit and Greek ruins.[3]Quebecois excavations conducted byMontreal University and theRimouski's provincial university since 2000 focused on the late classical and medieval ruins at the site.[14] Ruins uncovered by the expeditions have been left uncovered and unprotected between seasons, mixing with the modern marina and countryside.[3]
In the early 1970s, theMinistry of Tourismseized ownership of the entireSyrian coast to a distance of 3 km (1.9 mi), offering only nominal compensation. Little was done by the ministry to develop most of the coast for tourists but, although most people still claimed ownership of their land, the murky legal status hindered any other development whatsoever into the 21st century. A side effect was the relative conservation of Syria's Mediterranean forests.[15] Ras al-Bassit, however, was a model area that saw construction of several hundred chalets and, in 1991, a small hotel run by theSyrian Workers Union. That hotel began operating year-round in 2001, and a second hotel run by theFarmers Union began operation in 2005.[16]
As part of the trend towards limiting and improving tourist and conservation areas while permitting more development elsewhere, 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) around Ras al-Bassit were declared a protected forestry area by theMinistry of Agriculture on 29 May 1999.[17] Annual tourist visits to the area reached 150,000 by 2004; most were Syrians fromAleppo orDamascus, some wereJordanians, and very few were from non-Arab states.[16]
Apart from the ruins of the medieval church, there is a shrine toSt George (Al-Khuder) just north of the town.[18] Most of the population areAlawites.[19]
Local villages and farms haveelementary schools and the town itself has amiddle school.[18]High school students travel toZeghreen, 20 km (12 mi) away.[19] Teachers come from other areas and university graduates are few in number.[19]
Prior to thecurrent civil war, locals' income depended onfishing,agriculture, andtourism. Most of Al-Bassit's agriculture depends oncitrus andolive trees. Locals protect their orchards fromwild boars. Tourist income derived in large part from boat andchalet rentals.[15]