Aleppo’s proud history

• Halab (Arabic name) or Aleppo is the principal city of northern Syria. It is situated in the northwestern part of Syria and is considered the largest city in Syria.

• In 18th century BC, Halab was the capital of the Amorite kingdom of Yamkhad.

• Assyrians conquered the city in the 8th century BC. By the 6th-4th century BC, it was controlled by the Achaemenid Empire before being absorbed into the Roman province of Syria in the 1st century BC.

• Under Byzantine rule the city prospered but was destroyed by the Persians in 540.

• The Arabs conquered the city in 637.

• In 1124-25, crusaders besieged the city but were unsuccessful.

• Mongols massacred the inhabitants of the city and took over in 1260.

• In 1516 Aleppo was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire and underwent a commercial revival until the end of the 18th century.

• Full economic recovery came in 1880 with the arrival of the railroad.

• The city became an industrial town in the 20th century, rivalling Damascus.

• In 1986, Unesco named the old section of Aleppo as a World Heritage site, which is famous for its covered bazaars in the Middle East. The old section was built around a 12th century AD citadel that rests on a partly man-made mound dominating the city.

Compiled by Mary Jean Bernabe/Gulf News Archives

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica