Arab al-Mulk

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Arab al-Mulk
عرب الملك
Beldi al-Melek
Village
UTC+3 (EEST
)

Arab al-Mulk (

Alawites living in the southern part which is known as Beldi al-Melek.[2]

Geography

It is situated off the Mediterranean coast, on the right bank of the Sinn tributary (Nahr as-Sinn) as it empties into the sea. It occupies a small peninsula. The southern part of the village on the left bank is known as Beldi al-Melek. To the immediate northwest of the village is a small creek that measures around 110 meters long and 60 meters wide.[3]

History

Hellenistic era and Antiquity

Arab al-Mulk is the site of the ancient

Late Hellenistic Period.[6] Excavations at the site carried out in 1958 reveal a lengthy period, between the 5th and 1st centuries BCE, where there was no settlement activity in the northern Arab al-Mulk part of the village.[7]

Paltos later served as a military camp for

Syria. The town is mentioned by Greek geographer Strabo in the last quarter of the 1st century BCE as a coastal town of the Aradians and was later mentioned as one of the cities of Syria. When the Province of Syria was divided into Syria Prima and Phoenicia in 194 CE, Paltos marked the border between the two and was included in Syria Prima.[5][8]

As the center of influence along the coast began to shift northward during the 2nd century, it is possible that Paltos experienced a recessionary period between the 3rd and 4th centuries.[6] Under the Severan administration in Rome, coins were minted in the town.[5] Bronze coins found in the village in the late 1950s by a Danish expedition included those minted under Constantius II (336-361), Arcadius (395-408) and Justinian I (527-565.)[9] Paltos continued to be inhabited and began to prosper throughout the late Roman rule and during the Byzantine era (5th-6th centuries CE).[6] It had a Christian community, possibly contained a basilica church,[6] and served as a diocese (bishop's seat) during Byzantine rule. In 528 Paltos, along with Gabla and Laodicea, formed part of the Theodorias Province, with Laodicea as capital.[5]

Islamic and Crusader era

During the

Mu'awiya utilized building materials from Paltos to reconstruct nearby Jableh.[5]

Settlement activity ceased from the time of the Muslim conquest until the period between the 9th and 11th centuries. The ruins of a fortified tower dating to the 11th century are located in the Beldi al-Melek part of the village, suggesting a

Sultan Baibars gained control of Belda and its territories soon after the Crusader garrison at the Krak des Chevaliers fortress was defeated.[14]

Modern era

The modern locality receives its name ′Arab al-Mulk as a result of its settlement by Bedouin ('Arab) and the likelihood that the village was part of the imperial holdings (mulk) of various Ottoman sultans (16th-early 20th centuries) who owned vast swathes of territory along the Syrian coastline.[2] The names roughly translate as follows: Arab al-Mulk being "Arabs of the royal demense" and Balda al-Mulk being "Balda the royal demense", Balda being the Arabic version of the Greek Paltos.[7] In the late 19th-century the part of Arab al-Mulk south of the al-Sinn tributary was marked by the vast ruins of Paltos, while just north of the stream stood a large caravanserai (khan).[15] The ruins of minor medieval fortifications at the Balda al-Mulk neighborhood were noted by travelers.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b General Census of Population and Housing 2004 Archived 2013-01-12 at archive.today. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Latakia Governorate. (in Arabic)
  2. ^ a b The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, 2004, p. 15.
  3. ^ a b The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, 2004, p. 14.
  4. ^ a b Ball, 2007, p. 140.
  5. ^ a b c d e The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, 2004, p. 47.
  6. ^ a b c d The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, 2004, p. 48.
  7. ^ a b The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, 2004, p. 90.
  8. ^ The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, 2004, p. 85.
  9. ^ a b The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, 2004, p. 46.
  10. ^ le Strange, 1890, p. 416.
  11. ^ The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, 2004, p. 49.
  12. ^ Riley-Smith, 2012, p. 243.
  13. ^ Riley-Smith, 2012, p. 91.
  14. ^ Riley-Smith, 2012, p. 211.
  15. ^ Baedeker, 1876, p. 544.

Bibliography

  • Baedeker, Karl (1876). Palestine and Syria, Handbook for Travellers. Vol. 1. Karl Baedeker.
  • Ball, Warwick (2007). Syria: A Historical and Architectural Guide. Interlink Books. . Paltos.
  • Riley-Smith, Jonathan (2012). The Knights Hospitaller in the Levant, c.1070-1309. Palgrave Macmillan. .
  • Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters (2004). Historisk-filosofiske Skrifter. Vol. 28. Kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab. .
  • le Strange, Guy (1890). Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. p. 493. Lajjun Guy le Strange.