Apamea, Syria

For the post-Roman/Byzantine history of Apamea and the modern town, see Qalaat al-Madiq.

Apamea

Greek: Ἀπάμεια Arabic: آفاميا
View of Apamea ruins
Shown within Syria
Location	Hama Governorate, Syria
Region	Ghab plain
Type	settlement
History
Builder	Seleucus I Nicator
Founded	ca. 300 BC
Abandoned	13th century
Cultures	Seleucid, Roman, Byzantine, Arab
Site notes
Condition	ruins
Ownership	Public
Public access	Yes

Apamea (Greek: Ἀπάμεια, Apameia; Arabic: آفاميا, Afamia), on the right bank of the Orontes River, was a treasure city and stud-depot of the Seleucid kings, and was the capital of Apamene. (Stephanus of Byzantium s. v.; Strabo xvi. p. 752; Ptolemy v. 15. § 19; Festus Avienus, v. 1083; Anton. Itin.; Hierocles). Its site is found about 55 km (34 mi) to the northwest of Hama, Syria, overlooking the Ghab valley. Previously known as Pharmake, it was fortified and enlarged by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC, who so named it after his Bactrian wife, Apama – not his mother, as Stephanus asserts (compare Strabo, p. 578). In pursuance of his policy of Hellenizing Syria, it bore the Macedonian name of Pella.

History

The fortress was placed upon a hill; the windings of the Orontes, with the lake and marshes, gave it a peninsular form, whence its other name of Cherronêsos. Seleucus had his commissariat there, 500 elephants, with 30,000 mares, and 300 stallions. The pretender, Diodotus Tryphon, made Apamea the basis of his operations. (Strab. l. c.) Located at a strategic crossroads for Eastern commerce, the city flourished to the extent that its population eventually numbered half a million. It was one of the four cities of the Syrian tetrapolis. The city boasted one of the largest theatres in the Roman world, and a monumental colonnade.

The Great Colonnade at Apamea

Josephus (Ant. xiv. 3. § 2) relates, that Pompey marching south from his winter quarters, probably at or near Antioch, razed the fortress of Apamea in 64 BC whence the city was annexed to the Roman Republic. In the revolt of Syria under Q. Caecilius Bassus, it held out against Julius Caesar for three years till the arrival of Cassius, 46 BC. (Dion. Cass. xlvii. 26–28; Joseph. Bel. Jud. i. 10. § 10.) On the outbreak of the Jewish War, the inhabitants of Apamea spared the Jews who lived in their midst, and would not suffer them to be murdered or led into captivity (Josephus, Bell. Jud. ii. 18, § 5). Destroyed by Chosroes I in the 6th century, it was partially rebuilt and known in Arabic as Famia or Fâmieh, and destroyed by an earthquake in 1152. In the Crusades it was still a flourishing and important place and was occupied by Tancred. (Wilken, Gesch. der Ks. vol. ii. p. 474; Abulfeda, Tab. Syr. pp. 114, 157.)

The acropolis hill is now occupied by the ruins called Kalat el-Mudik (Kŭlat el-Mudîk). The ruins of a highly ornamental character, and of an enormous extent, are still standing, the remains, probably, of the temples of which Sozomen speaks (vii. 15); part of the town is enclosed in an ancient castle situated on a hill; the remainder is to be found in the plain. In the adjacent lake are the celebrated black fish, the source of much wealth.

Both the Jerusalem Targumim considered the city of Shepham (Num. xxxiv. 11) to be identical with Apamea. Since Apamea virtually belonged to Rabbinic Palestine, the first-fruits brought by Ariston from that town were accepted for sacrifice in Jerusalem (Mishnah Ḥal. iv. 11). The bishopric of Apamea in Syria is included in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees. The see has been vacant since the death of the last titular bishop in 1974.

As a result of the ongoing civil war in Syria, the ancient city has been ravaged by illegal treasure hunters

Notable residents

• Archigenes (Greek physician)
• Posidonius (Greek philosopher and author)
• Aristarchus (bishop, one of the Seventy Apostles)
• Numenius of Apamea (2nd century philosopher)
• Iamblichus of Chalcis (Neo-Platonist philosopher)
• Polychronius (bishop, and brother of Theodore of Mopsuestia)
• Theodoret (5th-century bishop)
• Evagrius Scholasticus (6th-century historian)
• Junias (9th-century bishop)
• Al-Muqtana (11th-century Ismāʿīlī Governer and a founder of the Druze Faith, the primary exponent of the Divine call and author of several of the Epistles of Wisdom.)

See also

• Qalaat al-Madiq

Sources

• William Smith (editor); Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, "Apameia", London, (1854)
• R. F. Burton and T. Drake, Unexplored Syria
• E. Sachau, Reise in Syrien, 1883.
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Apamea". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.

External links

• Suggestion to have Apamea recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site Template:Fr icon
• Apamea travel guide from Wikivoyage