Hamah

Hamah (Gr. Epiphania), the HAMATH of the Bible, a very ancient city of Syria, on the Orontes, 110 miles N. by E. of Damascus. The town stands in the midst of gardens, though the streets are narrow and irregular, and the houses are built of sun-dried bricks and wood. The inhabitants, about 45,000, manufacture coarse woollen mantles and yarn, and carry on considerable trade with the Bedouins. Hamath seems to have come very early in conflict with the Assyrians, having been taken by them in 854 B.C. and again in 743, whilst two revolts of the people were crushed by the Assyrians in 740 and 720 B.C. After the Græco-Macedonian conquest of Syria, Hamah became known as Epiphania. In 639 it fell into Moslem hands, and, though it was held by Tancred from 1108 to 1115, it was again taken possession of by the Moslems. Abulfeda, the Arab geographer, was prince of Hamah in the 14th century. Four stones were discovered there in 1812 by Burekhardt, bearing inscriptions in an unknown language, now believed to be Hittite (q.v.).