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Ras al-Bassit

Ras al-Bassit(Arabic:رأس البسيط), theclassicalPosidiumorPosideium(Ancient Greek:Ποσιδήιον and Ποσείδιον[1],Posidḗion), is a small town inSyrianamed for a nearby cape. It has been occupied since at least the lateBronze Ageand 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 sandand are a popular resort destination within Syria.[2]

Ras al-Bassit
رأس البسيط
Located on the Mediterranean coast of Syria
Located on the Mediterranean coast of Syria
Shown within Syria
Location53 km north ofLatakia,Syria
Coordinates35°50′46″N35°50′17″E/ 35.846°N 35.838°E/35.846; 35.838
Typesettlement
History
PeriodsLate Bronze Age, Iron Age, Hellenistic period, Roman period, Late antiquity, Crusader period
CulturesCanaanite, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Crusader
Site notes
Excavation dates1971–1984, 2000
ArchaeologistsPaul Courbin,Jacques Y. Perreault,Nicolas Beaudry
OwnershipMixed public and private
Public accessPartial

Name

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"Raʾs" (رأس) is theArabicword for "head",used forheadlandsandcapes."Bassit" is a transcription of its former name Posidium, as standard Arabic is only able tovoicebilabial stops.TheRomanname Posidium[3]or Posideium[4]was alatinizationof the Greek name Posideion, meaning "[place] ofPoseidon",theGreekseagod.It was known as "Bosyt" underOttomanrule.[5]

The Syrian municipality is also known as simply Al-Bassit.[6]

Geography

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Ras al-Bassit is a smallcapeon 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 ofCiliciaandSyriaunder 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 Gatesin theNur MountainsandMyriandruson the coast.[7]

Local sealife includecrustaceans,molluscs,sea turtles,anddolphins.[8]

History

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Ras al-Bassit on the map of localities in the kingdom of Ugarit

The oldest known settlement at Ras al-Bassit was aBronze-Ageoutpost with a fortified citadel established byUgaritbetween 1550 and 1200BC.[3][9]It traded extensively withCyprusandPhoeniciaand survived Ugarit's destruction by theSea Peoples.[10]It was eventually abandoned or destroyed in theearly Iron Age.[3]

Greeklegendscredited the establishment of Posideion to the wanderingArgiveking 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 7thcenturyBC.[3]It marked the northern border of the5th Satrapyof thePersian Empireat the time ofHerodotus,[7]but archaeologists have found that the town was destroyed at some point in the 5th or 4thcenturiesBC.[3]Because of the discrepancy between Herodotus's account and other classical descriptions of theSyrio-Cilicianborder, 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 Issusoccurred nearby in 333BC, after whichhis empireadministered andhellenizedthe area.[3]AfterAlexander's deathin 323BC, the territory fell to theDiadochiwarlordSeleucus.Posideion was apparently rebuilt with a fortifiedacropolisunder his reign at some point after 312BC,[3][10]when the existing settlement was razed byPtolemy.[13]

UnderRoman rule,it appeared inStrabo'sGeography.TheRoman emperorsHadrianandJulianmay have used Posidium's port, as they are recording having climbing the nearbyMount Aqrato performsacrifices.The town thrived during the late imperial and earlyByzantineperiods, 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 areain the 630s.[14]TheFirst Crusadeled to the establishment of thePrincipality of Antiochin the area in the 1090s. At some point in the 12th or 13th century, a new, smallerchapelwas erected within the Byzantine church's ruins.[14]TheEgyptian sultanBaibarsreconquered the area in the 1260s. The port was still used byVenetianships as late as the 16th century but was abandoned by all but the local fishermen by the 19th.[3]

A French excavation led byPaul Courbinbetween 1971 and 1984 revealed the former Ugarit and Greek ruins.[3]Quebecoisexcavations conducted byMontreal Universityand theRimouski's provincial universitysince 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 ownershipof the entireSyrian coastto 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 21stcentury. 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 Unionbegan 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 Agricultureon 29 May 1999.[17]Annual tourist visits to the area reached 150,000 by 2004; most were Syrians fromAleppoorDamascus,some wereJordanians,and very few were from non-Arab states.[16]

Religion

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Apart from the ruins of the medieval church, there is a shrine toStGeorge(Al-Khuder) just north of the town.[18]Most of the population are conservativeAlawite Muslims.[19]

Education

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Local villages and farms haveelementary schoolsand the town itself has amiddle school.[18]High schoolstudents travel toZeghreen,20 km (12 mi) away.[19]Teachers come from other areas and university graduates are few in number.[19]

Economy

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Prior to thecurrent civil war,locals' income depended onfishing,agriculture,andtourism.Most of Al-Bassit's agriculture depends oncitrusandolive trees.Locals protect their orchards fromwild boars.Tourist income derived in large part from boat andchaletrentals.[15]

See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^Diodorus Siculus, Library 8-40, §19.79.1
  2. ^Mannheim (2001),p. 300.
  3. ^abcdefghijklUNEP (2004),p. 8.
  4. ^abcStewart (2005).
  5. ^Rawlinson (1859),p.400.
  6. ^UNEP (2004),p. 4.
  7. ^abRennell (1830),pp.321–2.
  8. ^UNEP (2004),p. 12.
  9. ^Braemer, Frank, and Pascal Darcque, Lema I., "Bassit 2 (Syrie) - Fouilles Paul Courbin (1971-1984)", Brepols, 2023ISBN978-2-503-59322-7
  10. ^abCourbin (1986).
  11. ^Herodotus,3.91.7.
  12. ^Fox (2008),pp. 79 ff.
  13. ^Bouillet (1828).
  14. ^abcdBeaudry (2007).
  15. ^abUNEP (2004),p. 5.
  16. ^abUNEP (2004),p. 7.
  17. ^UNEP (2004),p. 2.
  18. ^abUNEP (2004),p. 9.
  19. ^abcUNEP (2004),p. 10.

Bibliography

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