Mayadin
Mayadin
ٱلْمِيَادِين | |
|---|---|
  Mayadin Location in Syria | |
| Coordinates:35°1′6″N40°27′12″E/ 35.01833°N 40.45333°E | |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Deir ez-Zor |
| District | Mayadin |
| Subdistrict | Mayadin |
| Elevation | 195 m (640 ft) |
| Population (2004) | |
| • Total | 44,028 |
| Time zone | UTC+2(EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3(EET) |
| Climate | BWh |
Mayadin(Arabic:ٱلْمِيَادِين/ALA-LC:al-Miyādīn) is a town in easternSyria.It is the capital of theMayadin District,part of theDeir ez-Zor Governorate.Mayadin is about 44 kilometers southeast ofDeir ez-Zor.TheEuphrates Riverflows through the town. In the 2004 census, the population was 44,028, making it the second most populous town in the governorate.[1]
History
[edit]
Ancient era
[edit]Mayadin has been identified to be the ancientAudatthaknown toPtolemy,though some suggest Audattha was whereHadithanow stands in Iraq.[2][3]
Middle Ages
[edit]Mayadin is the successor of the medieval town and fortress ofRahbat Malik ibn Tawk,founded by theAbbasidlord and the original town's namesake,Malik ibn Tawk.[4]Strategically located at a crossroads on the western bank of theEuphratesand considered the key to Syria from Iraq, control of the town was highly contested by the Muslim powers andBedouintribes of the region. It grew to become one of the major Muslim towns of the Euphrates valley and was an administrative center.[5]
An earthquake destroyed Rahbat Malik ibn Tawk in1157,after which it was granted by theZengidrulerNur ad-DintoAsad ad-Din Shirkuh,the paternal uncle of future Ayyubid sultan,Saladin.[6]Shirkuh relocated the fortress about four kilometers southwest of the original site.[5]The new settlement, known as "al-Rahba al-Jadida",[6]remained the significant center of the Euphrates region through much of theAyyubid–Mamlukera (12th–15th centuries),[5]and today is a ruined fortress known as "Qal'at al-Rahba".The original settlement eventually became known as" Mashhad Rahba ". The latter was located at the present site of Mayadin.
Modern era
[edit]
In the early 20th century, Mayadin was the administrative seat of theAsharahkaza(subdistrict) of theSanjak of Zordistrict and contained the residence of itsqaimmaqam(governor).[7][8]In a British military intelligence report from the 1900s, the town had a population of 2,000 mostlySunni Muslimsand a small minority of Christians.[8]There was abazaar,several shops and amosquewith a leaningminaret.[8]According to Czech explorerAlois Musil,who visited in 1912, Mayadin had a garrison of twelvegendarmes,ten policemen and ten mule riders.[7]There was a boys' primary school in the town.[7]The population was about 2,500, consisting of roughly four hundred Muslim families, fifteenSyriac Orthodoxfamilies (mostly refugees fromMardin), and threeJewishfamilies, living in a total of 380 houses.[7]On June 19, 1947,Pan Am Flight 121,crewed by third officerGene Roddenberry(who went on to create theoriginalStar Trektelevision series), crashed 4 miles (6.4 km) from the town.
Syrian Civil War
[edit]During the Syrian Civil War,Free Syrian Armycaptured the town in late August 2012 after fighting in the town. The only part still in regime hands was the Mayadin military base, an artillery position on a hill overlooking the town,[9]which was captured on 22 November. This gave the rebels control of a large amount of territory east of the base to theIraqiborder.[10]On 3 July 2014,ISILcaptured Mayadin after ousting theFSAand raised theirblack standard.[11]A local underground resistance movement of Sunni Muslim fighters attacked ISIL checkpoints in the city in 2015.[12]This forced ISIL to dig a 15 km (9 mi) defensive position around the city.[13]
On 3 April 2017, during theSDF'soffensive to capture Raqqa,it was reported that ISIL was possibly in the process of moving its capital fromRaqqacity to Mayadin. This followed months of gradual relocation of resources and senior ISIL leaders from Raqqa to Mayadin.[14]On 21 April 2017, the United States announced that they had conducted a ground raid in Mayadin and killed Abdulrakhman Uzbeki, an ISIS leader.[15]
On 18 June 2017, Iranhit ISIL targets in Mayadinusing domestic-based surface-to-surface mid-range missiles.[16]
By the 10 October 2017, the town was besieged by the SAA and fighting had begun in the suburbs in preparation to storm the town.[17]
On 11 October 2017, theSyrian Armymadehuge advancesinside the town of Mayadin and has taken control of about 60 percent of the town.[18]
On 14 October 2017, the Syrian Army retook the town thus ending the 4 year long ISIL rule over it.[19][20][21]
In June 2018, ISILunsuccessfully attempted to retake the town.
Sport
[edit]There is a football club in the city calledAl-Mayadin SC,which plays the second highest competition in Syria.[22]
Climate
[edit]Mayadin has ahot desert climate(Köppen climate classificationBWh).
| Climate data for Mayadin | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 13.2 (55.8) |
16.1 (61.0) |
20.3 (68.5) |
26.1 (79.0) |
32.1 (89.8) |
37.7 (99.9) |
40.4 (104.7) |
40.3 (104.5) |
35.9 (96.6) |
29.7 (85.5) |
21.8 (71.2) |
15.1 (59.2) |
27.4 (81.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 7.9 (46.2) |
10.0 (50.0) |
13.6 (56.5) |
18.8 (65.8) |
24.4 (75.9) |
29.5 (85.1) |
32.3 (90.1) |
32.1 (89.8) |
27.7 (81.9) |
21.7 (71.1) |
14.8 (58.6) |
9.5 (49.1) |
20.2 (68.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 2.7 (36.9) |
3.9 (39.0) |
6.9 (44.4) |
11.6 (52.9) |
16.7 (62.1) |
21.4 (70.5) |
24.3 (75.7) |
24.0 (75.2) |
19.5 (67.1) |
13.8 (56.8) |
7.8 (46.0) |
3.9 (39.0) |
13.0 (55.5) |
| Averageprecipitationmm (inches) | 27 (1.1) |
22 (0.9) |
23 (0.9) |
21 (0.8) |
9 (0.4) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
1 (0.0) |
7 (0.3) |
12 (0.5) |
24 (0.9) |
146 (5.7) |
| Source:[1] | |||||||||||||
References
[edit]- ^"General Census of Population 2004"(XLS).HumanitarianResponse.info.UN OCHA.Retrieved2014-07-10.
- ^Boulanger, Robert (1966).The Middle East: Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran.Hachette.p. 490.Retrieved28 February2017.
- ^Sale, George; Psalmanazar, George; Bower, Archibald; Shelvocke, George; Campbell, John; Swinton, John (1748).An Universal History, from the Earliest Account of Time.T. Osborne. p. 348.
- ^Bianquis 1995,p. 393.
- ^abcBianquis 1995,p. 395.
- ^abBianquis 1995,p. 394.
- ^abcdMusil, Alois (1927).The Middle Euphrates: A Topographical Itinerary(PDF).New York: American Geographical Society. p. 6.
- ^abcA Handbook of Mesopotamia, Volume III: Central Mesopotamia with Southern Kurdistan and the Syrian Desert.Admiralty and War Office, Division of Intelligence. January 1917. p. 124.
- ^Mroue, Bassem (August 24, 2012)."Regime airstrike targets Syrian apartments".Newsday.
- ^Yeranian, Edward (22 November 2012)."Analysts Weigh In on Longevity of Syria's Assad".Voice of America.Retrieved24 November2012.
- ^"IS Takes Over Towns, Countryside in Oil-Rich Syria Province: NGO".NDTV.3 July 2014.Retrieved25 October2014.
- ^"Gunmen kill more than 12 ISIL militants in eastern Syria".Today's Zaman.8 March 2015. Archived fromthe originalon 9 March 2015.
- ^"After repeated attacks launched by unknown gunmen, IS digs a trench around the city of Mayadin".Syrian Observatory For Human Rights.28 March 2015. Archived fromthe originalon 3 April 2015.Retrieved28 February2017.
- ^Speckhard, Anne; Almohammad, Asaad H. (3 April 2017)."Is ISIS Moving its Capital from Raqqa to Mayadin in Deir ez-Zor?".Modern Diplomacy.Archived fromthe originalon 23 August 2017.Retrieved4 April2017.
- ^Daniez, Clément (30 June 2017)."Mayadin, nouvelle et probablement ultime capitale de l'Etat islamique".L'Express(in French).Retrieved28 July2022.
- ^"Why Iran Targets ISIS Positions in Syria's Deir Ezzor? - Iran's View | Iran's View".
- ^"موقع مراسلون | الرئيسية".
- ^Breaking: ISIS almost driven-out of capital city by elite Syrian forces
- ^El Ejército sirio toma la ciudad de Al Mayadín, uno de los últimos reductos del Estado Islámico en Siria
- ^El Ejército sirio toma la ciudad de Al Mayadín, uno de los últimos reductos del Estado Islámico en Siria
- ^Breaking: Syrian Army liberates ISIS capital city
- ^"إدارة نادي الميادين تشكل الكوادر الفنية لفرق كرة القدم"(in Arabic).Retrieved22 October2017.
Bibliography
[edit]- Bianquis, Thierry(1995)."Al-Raḥba".InBosworth, C. E.;van Donzel, E.;Heinrichs, W. P.&Lecomte, G.(eds.).The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition.Volume VIII:Ned–Sam.Leiden: E. J. Brill.ISBN978-90-04-09834-3.
