Khan Shaykhun (Khān Shaykhūn)
Khan Shaykhun (خَان شَيْخُون), sometimes spelled Khan Sheikhoun or Khan Shikhoun, is a town in the Maarrat al-Nu'man District, within the southern Idlib Governorate of northwestern Syria.
Khan Shaykhun is located at an altitude of 350 meters on the main highway between Aleppo and Damascus. The local economy is primarily agricultural, focusing on the growing of cotton and cereals. The town was formerly known for producing embroidery. Nearby localities include Hbit to the west, Kafr Zita to southwest, Murak to the south and Al-Tamanah to the east. In 2004, it was recorded as having 34,371 inhabitants.
Khan Shaykhun takes its name from a 14th-century khan or caravanserai built by the Mamluk emir Sayf al-Din Shaykhu al-'Umari. The town grew up around the khan and is situated below a prominent tell, where excavations carried out in 1930 under the French Comte du Mesnil du Buisson revealed evidence of habitation dating back to the 20th century BC. The tell, which measures about 200–250 m long by 18–24 m high, was levelled off in the Bronze and Iron Ages to provide a platform for a series of walled towns built successively on top of each other. The second of these, dating to about 700 BC, has been identified as the Assyrian town of Ashkhani. The site was abandoned around 300 BC.
In more recent times, Khan Shaykhun was noted for its beehive houses, an architectural style found across the Levant and probably exported from there to North Africa. It was described in 1902 by the traveller Henry James Ross as "a miserable looking village" and remained small until relatively recently. In 1966 it was recorded as having only around 3,000 inhabitants.
Khan Shaykhun is located at an altitude of 350 meters on the main highway between Aleppo and Damascus. The local economy is primarily agricultural, focusing on the growing of cotton and cereals. The town was formerly known for producing embroidery. Nearby localities include Hbit to the west, Kafr Zita to southwest, Murak to the south and Al-Tamanah to the east. In 2004, it was recorded as having 34,371 inhabitants.
Khan Shaykhun takes its name from a 14th-century khan or caravanserai built by the Mamluk emir Sayf al-Din Shaykhu al-'Umari. The town grew up around the khan and is situated below a prominent tell, where excavations carried out in 1930 under the French Comte du Mesnil du Buisson revealed evidence of habitation dating back to the 20th century BC. The tell, which measures about 200–250 m long by 18–24 m high, was levelled off in the Bronze and Iron Ages to provide a platform for a series of walled towns built successively on top of each other. The second of these, dating to about 700 BC, has been identified as the Assyrian town of Ashkhani. The site was abandoned around 300 BC.
In more recent times, Khan Shaykhun was noted for its beehive houses, an architectural style found across the Levant and probably exported from there to North Africa. It was described in 1902 by the traveller Henry James Ross as "a miserable looking village" and remained small until relatively recently. In 1966 it was recorded as having only around 3,000 inhabitants.
Map - Khan Shaykhun (Khān Shaykhūn)
Map
Country - Syria
Flag of Syria |
The name "Syria" historically referred to a wider region, broadly synonymous with the Levant, and known in Arabic as al-Sham. The modern state encompasses the sites of several ancient kingdoms and empires, including the Eblan civilization of the 3rd millennium BC. Aleppo and the capital city Damascus are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. In the Islamic era, Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. The modern Syrian state was established in the mid-20th century after centuries of Ottoman rule. After a period as a French mandate (1923–1946), the newly-created state represented the largest Arab state to emerge from the formerly Ottoman-ruled Syrian provinces. It gained de jure independence as a democratic parliamentary republic on 24 October 1945 when the Republic of Syria became a founding member of the United Nations, an act which legally ended the former French mandate (although French troops did not leave the country until April 1946).
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
---|---|---|---|
SYP | Syrian pound | £ or لس | 2 |
ISO | Language |
---|---|
AR | Arabic language |
HY | Armenian language |
EN | English language |
FR | French language |
KU | Kurdish language |