Jableh

File:Jableh 2.jpg

Jableh has been inhabited since at least the second-millennium BCE.{{cite web |last=Esber |first=Hawazan |title=Small historical coastal cities: Urban development and freshwater resources |url=http://www.unesco.org/most/csi_jableh.htm |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=11 August 2015}} The city was part of the Ugaritic kingdom and was mentioned as "Gbʿly" in the archives of the city c. 1200 BC.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T6VtAAAAMAAJ&q=Yarte |title=The Crisis years: the 12th century B.C.: from beyond the Danube to the Tigris |author1= William A. Ward |author2=Martha Joukowsky |page=113 |year=1992|publisher=Kendall/Hunt |isbn=9780840371485 }} In antiquity Jableh (then called Gabala) was an important Hellenistic and then Roman city. One of the main remains of this period is a theatre, capable of housing c. 7,000 spectators. Near the seashore even older remains were found dating to the Iron Age or Phoenician Era.

The Jableh region was incorporated into the Islamic Empire with the conquest of Syria in 637–642. Between approximately 969 and 1081, however, much of the region returned under the control of the Byzantine Empire, until it was captured by Banu Ammar.{{sfn|Wiet|1960|p=448}}{{sfn|Mallett|2014}} The Alawites began spreading in the area in the early eleventh century.{{Harvnb|Winter|2016|page=27–31, 45}}

In the medieval period, Jableh, then called Gibellum, was conquered by Tancred and the Genoese on 23 July 1109,{{Harvnb|Helmolt|1907|p=377}} to be part of the Principality of Antioch, one of the Crusader States. In 1126, the cities of Latakia and Jabala were the dowry of Princess Alice, daughter of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem.{{cite web |author=Andrew D. Buck |url=https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/151849/3/Buck%20-%20Role%20of%20Women%20Haskins%20VERY%20FINAL.pdf |title=Women in the Principality of Antioch: Power, Status, and Social Agency |publisher=Cardiff University |page=13 |date=2020 }} It was captured by Saladin in 1189 during the Third Crusade. One famous resident was Hugh of Jabala, the city's bishop, who reported the fall of Edessa to Pope Eugene III and was the first person to speak of Prester John. Less than {{convert|1|km|mile|abbr=off}} from the city center lies the ancient site of Gibala, today known as Tell Tweini. This city was inhabited from the third millennium BCE until the Persian period.

During the Mamluk period, there was still an "Ayyubid" mosque in the city that had probably been founded by members of Saladin's entourage or army.{{cite journal |last1=Winter |first1=Stefan |title=Les Kurdes de Syrie dans les archives ottomanes |journal=Études Kurdes |date=2009 |pages=125–156}} In 1318, a revolt by the Alawites from the surrounding highlands resulted in an attack on Jableh before a Mamluk column sent from Tripoli was able to retake control. The famous Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta visited Jableh in 1326.{{Harvnb|Winter|2016|page=61–67}}

In the Ottoman period (1516–1918), Jabala originally formed a sub-province (sancak) of the province of Tripoli before it was made its own sancak in 1547–1548.{{Harvnb|Winter|2016|page=88}} The district (nahiye) of Jabala comprised approximately 80 villages in addition to Jableh itself, the majority of which were inhabited by Alawites.{{Harvnb|Winter|2016|page=95–107}} In 1564, the province of Jableh was governed by the son of Janbulad ibn Qasim al-Kurdi, the sancak-beyi of Kilis. The city of Jableh gained special importance with the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus, which lies just 120  km directly offshore, in 1570. The governor and the qadi (judge) of Jableh received numerous orders from the Ottoman government to guard the area against Mediterranean pirates and rebel Alawites in the next decades.{{Harvnb|Winter|2016|page=111–118}} The city and the province of Jableh became less important as Latakia rose in importance in the eighteenth century. At the end of the nineteenth century, the province of Jableh was divided into twenty new nahiyes.{{cite journal |last1=Hartmann |first1=Martin |title=Das Liwa el-Ladkije und die Nahije Urdu |journal=Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins |date=1891 |pages=161–218}}

{{anchor|civilwar}}On May 23, 2016, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for four suicide bombings in Jableh, which had remained largely unaffected since the Syrian Civil War began in 2011. Purportedly targeting Alawite gatherings, the bombs killed over a hundred people. In Tartus, similarly insulated, another three bombers killed 48 people.{{cite news |url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/is-blasts-in-syria-regime/2810604.html |title=IS blasts in Syria regime heartland kill more than 148 |work=AFP |publisher=Channel NewsAsia |access-date=2016-05-24 |archive-date=2016-05-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160524124655/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/is-blasts-in-syria-regime/2810604.html |url-status=dead }}

In February 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and western Syria. It caused widespread destruction and fatalities. In Jableh, at least 283 people died, 173 were injured and 19 buildings collapsed.{{cite news |last1=Dabin |first1=B. |last2=al-Jazaeri |first2=R. |title=283 deaths 173 injuries in the earthquake in Jableh, Lattakia |url=https://www.sana.sy/en/?p=299733 |access-date=9 February 2023 |agency=Syrian Arab News Agency |date=9 February 2023}}

On 8 December 2024, the Syrian opposition took control of Jableh.{{cite web | url=https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/syria-civil-war-12-08-2024/index.html | title=December 8, 2024: Syria civil war news |publisher=CNN |date=8 December 2024 }}

The majority of people in Jableh depend on agriculture for their income, people grow orange and lemon trees, olives, a large number of green houses for vegetables can be found in the country side. In the center of the city people work in trade and there are small factories in the city for cottons and for making orange juice, whilst most residents solely depend on retirement allowance, although Jableh's economy suffers due to barely any electricity times between neighborhoods, which affects water availability in the city.

Jableh Sporting Club is a football club based in Jableh, playing in the Al-Baath Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 10,000.

• Syrian pioneer of modern Arabic poetry Adunis.
• Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, a famous Islamic figure who organized attacks on the French in Syria and on the British and Jews in Palestine and the namesake of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.
• The Boustani family.{{Cite web |date=2020-11-30 |title=History {{!}} Boustani Congress |url=http://boustanicongress.com/history |access-date=2023-12-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130131410/http://boustanicongress.com/history |archive-date=2020-11-30 }}
• Mohammad Zeitoun, a swimming champion whose story is featured in Zeitoun.
• Ali Maia, footballer
• Dr. Fayez Attaf, general surgeon who was known as 'The Poor People's Surgeon' in Jableh. He regularly paid the cost of operations of displaced and poor patients. He and his wife, neurologist Dr. Hala Saiid died in the February 2023 earthquake.{{cite web | url=https://www.independentarabia.com/node/420906/%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A9/%D9%85%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%AA/spa/aggregate | title=هالة وفايز... الحب يلمع تحت الأنقاض }}

Jableh has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa).

{{Weather box

| width = auto

| location = Jableh

| metric first = yes

| single line = yes

| Jan high C = 12.8

| Feb high C = 14.0

| Mar high C = 17.7

| Apr high C = 21.4

| May high C = 25.0

| Jun high C = 28.3

| Jul high C = 30.0

| Aug high C = 28.8

| Sep high C = 27.6

| Oct high C = 26.5

| Nov high C = 21.5

| Dec high C = 15.5

| Jan mean C = 10.1

| Feb mean C = 10.9

| Mar mean C = 13.8

| Apr mean C = 16.9

| May mean C = 20.3

| Jun mean C = 23.9

| Jul mean C = 26.1

| Aug mean C = 25.6

| Sep mean C = 23.7

| Oct mean C = 21.6

| Nov mean C = 16.9

| Dec mean C = 12.2

| Jan low C = 7.3

| Feb low C = 7.8

| Mar low C = 9.9

| Apr low C = 12.4

| May low C = 15.5

| Jun low C = 19.4

| Jul low C = 22.2

| Aug low C = 22.3

| Sep low C = 19.8

| Oct low C = 16.7

| Nov low C = 12.3

| Dec low C = 8.9

|precipitation colour= green

| Jan precipitation mm = 159

| Feb precipitation mm = 130

| Mar precipitation mm = 109

| Apr precipitation mm = 50

| May precipitation mm = 28

| Jun precipitation mm = 4

| Jul precipitation mm = 1

| Aug precipitation mm = 1

| Sep precipitation mm = 15

| Oct precipitation mm = 52

| Nov precipitation mm = 89

| Dec precipitation mm = 190

| unit rain days = 1 mm

| Jan rain days = 14

| Feb rain days = 12

| Mar rain days = 11

| Apr rain days = 8

| May rain days = 4

| Jun rain days = 1

| Jul rain days = 1

| Aug rain days = 1

| Sep rain days = 2

| Oct rain days = 6

| Nov rain days = 9

| Dec rain days = 12

| Year rain days =

| source 1 = [http://www.worldweatheronline.com/jableh-weather-averages/al-ladhiqiyah/sy.aspx World Weather Online]

| source 2 = [http://en.climate-data.org/location/47687/ Climate Data]

}}

• Levant
• Shaam

{{Reflist}}

• {{Citation |last=Helmolt |first=Hans Ferdinand |title=The World's History: Central and northern Europe |publisher=The University of Michigan |year=1907 |isbn= }}
• {{EI3 | last = Mallett | first = Alex | title = ʿAmmār, Banū (Syria) | year = 2014 | doi =10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_24909 }}
• {{EI2 | last = Wiet | first = G. | title = ʿAmmār | volume = 1 | page = 448 | doi =10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_0625 }}
• {{Citation |last=Winter |first=Stefan |title=A History of the Alawis: From Medieval Syria to the Turkish Republic |publisher= Princeton University Press |year=2016 |isbn=9780691173894}}

{{Cities of Syria}}

{{Latakia Governorate|Jableh}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Cities in Syria

Category:Populated places in Jableh District

Category:Populated coastal places in Syria

it:Arcidiocesi di Gabala