As-Safira
As-Safira
السفيرة Sfireh, Sipri[1] | |
|---|---|
  As-Safira Location in Syria | |
| Coordinates:36°04′N37°22′E/ 36.067°N 37.367°E | |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Aleppo |
| District | Al-Safira |
| Subdistrict | Al-Safira |
| Elevation | 348 m (1,142 ft) |
| Population (2007 est.) | |
| • Total | 106,382 |
| Time zone | UTC+2(EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | +3 |
As-Safira(Arabic:السَّفِيْرَة/ALA-LC:as-Safīrah;Aleppo dialect:Sfīre) is aSyriancity administratively belonging to theAleppo Governorate.It is the administrative center of theas-Safira District.As Safīrah has an altitude of 348 meters (1,142 ft), and a population of 106,382 as of 2007[update],making it the 11th largest city per geographical entity in Syria.
Name
[edit]Medieval geographerYaqut al-Hamawispells the nameAsfīrah[2](أسفيرة), notas-Safira(السفيرة), which indicates that the definite article in the modern spelling is a result ofhypercorrection.
As-Safira was known in pre-Islamic times as Sipri.[1]Historians[3]have suggested that the nameSiprimay have come from the Akkadian wordsiparrumeaning "bronze", which might indicate that copper was mined and bronze was worked there.
History
[edit]Since ancient times the city has been the distribution point for salt gathered from the nearbySabkhat al-Jabbul.
Archeological findings
[edit]TheSfire I Treatywhich may contain 8th century BCE evidence of a deity called "Most High."
Geography
[edit]Climate
[edit]As-Safira has acold semi-arid climate(Köppen climate classification:BSk).
| Climate data for As Safira | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 10.8 (51.4) |
13.3 (55.9) |
17.7 (63.9) |
23.1 (73.6) |
29.6 (85.3) |
34.7 (94.5) |
37.0 (98.6) |
37.4 (99.3) |
33.7 (92.7) |
28.2 (82.8) |
20.0 (68.0) |
12.9 (55.2) |
24.9 (76.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 1.8 (35.2) |
2.6 (36.7) |
5.2 (41.4) |
8.9 (48.0) |
13.6 (56.5) |
17.9 (64.2) |
20.5 (68.9) |
20.7 (69.3) |
16.9 (62.4) |
12.1 (53.8) |
6.6 (43.9) |
3.5 (38.3) |
10.9 (51.5) |
| Averageprecipitationmm (inches) | 59 (2.3) |
48 (1.9) |
32 (1.3) |
36 (1.4) |
17 (0.7) |
2 (0.1) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
1 (0.0) |
16 (0.6) |
19 (0.7) |
59 (2.3) |
289 (11.3) |
| Average snowy days | 0.9 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 1.2 |
| Source:Climate-data.org. | |||||||||||||
Notes
[edit]- ^abBall, Warwick (2006) "The desert edges"Syria: A Historical And Architectural GuideInterlink Publishing Group,Northampton, Massachusetts, page 157,ISBN1-56656-665-7
- ^le Strange, 1890, p.400
- ^Notably Dossin and Lewy, see Sasson, Jack M. (1966)"A Sketch of North Syrian Economic Relations in the Middle Bronze Age"Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient9(3): pp. 161–181, page 169, note 2
Bibliography
[edit]- le Strange, Guy (1890).Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500.Committee of thePalestine Exploration Fund.
36°04′40″N37°22′24″E/ 36.07778°N 37.37333°E
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