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Homs (;〔("Homs" ). ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.〕 (アラビア語:حمص) / ALA-LC: ''Ḥimṣ''), previously known as ''Emesa'' (Greek: Ἔμεσα ''Emesa''), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is also the central link between the interior cities and the Mediterranean coast. Previous to the civil war, Homs was a major industrial centre, and with a population of at least 652,609 people in 2004,〔2004 census.〕 it was the third largest city in Syria after Aleppo to the north and the capital Damascus to the south. Its population reflects Syria's general religious diversity, composed mostly of Arabic-speaking Sunni Muslims and Alawite and Christian minorities. There are a number of historic mosques and churches in the city, and it is close to the Krak des Chevaliers castle, a world heritage site. Homs did not emerge into the historical record until the 1st century BCE at the time of the Seleucids. It later became the capital of a kingdom ruled by the Emesani dynasty who gave the city its name. Originally a center of worship for the sun god El-Gabal, it later gained importance in Christianity under the Byzantines. Homs was conquered by the Muslims in the 7th-century and made capital of a district that bore its current name. Throughout the Islamic era, Muslim dynasties contending for control of Syria sought after Homs due to the city's strategic position in the area. Homs began to decline under the Ottomans and only in the 19th century did the city regain its economic importance when its cotton industry boomed. During French Mandate rule, the city became a center of insurrection and, after independence in 1946, a center of Baathist resistance to the first Syrian governments. In the ongoing Syrian civil war, Homs became an opposition stronghold and the Syrian government launched a military assault against the city in May 2011. By 14 January 2014, the government was in control of Homs except for the Old City, which remains in rebel hands and is under government siege. The Syrian army's artillery shelling and warplane bombing has left much of the city completely destroyed and thousands dead.〔(Homs: Syrian revolution's 'capital' ). ''BBC News''. 2014-01-27.〕 In May 2014, rebel forces withdrew from all areas in Homs (including Ghintou, Talbiseh, Dar al-Kabira, and Ar Rastan) as per a truce. ==Etymology== "Emesa" is a compound of "Ham-Es", with the ''Es'' representing an assemblage of the locally revered sun god in (El-Gabal) in ancient times. The name "Emesa" or "Hemesa" is also attributed to "Emesenoi", the name of the Arab tribe that ruled the area before its incorporation into the Roman Empire.〔 When the name of the tribe became attached to the city is indiscernible, but is generally thought to have been used under the Romans.〔 "Emesa" was shortened to "Homs" or "Hims" by its Arab inhabitants, many of whom settled there prior to the Muslim conquest of Syria.〔〔Gibbon and Ockley, 1870, p. 177.〕 This name has been preserved throughout the period of Islamic rule continuing to the present day. It was known as "la Chamelle" by the Crusaders, although they never ruled the city. A second possibility about the origin of the city's modern name is that it is an Arabic form of the city's Latin name "Emesus", derived from the Greek "Emesa" or "Emesos".〔Room, 2006, p. 167.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Homs」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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