Al-Biyah (Arabic: البيه; also transliterated Albiyya or Albaya) is a Syrian village located in the Hirbnafsah Subdistrict in Hama District. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), al-Biyah has a population of 1,803 in the 2024 census.[1] Its inhabitants are predominantly Greek Orthodox Christians.
History
Al-Biyah was one of the Christian villages located between Hama and Homs mentioned by Patriarch Macarius III Ibn al-Za'im (r. 1647–1672). The latter noted the village was part of a diocese called 'Euchaita' under Patriarch Michael VI Sabbagh (r. 1576–1581) but that his successor, Patriarch Ibn Ziyada, split Euchaita between Hama and Homs, assigning al-Biyah to the latter, after Euchaita's metropolitan Malachi died.[2] The village continued to be inhabited in the 17th century,[2]
According to an 1828 tax record, al-Biyah was a grain-growing village of 58 feddans.[3] By 1838 it was listed as a khirba (uninhabited ruin),[4] though it
In 1992 al-Biyah was incorporated into the municipality of Toumin.[5]
References
- ^ "General Census of Population 2024". Retrieved 2024-04-15.
- ^ a b Panchenko 2016.
- ^ Douwes 2000, p. 224.
- ^ Robinson & Smith 1841, p. 178.
- ^ "تومين (Toumin)" (in Arabic). Hama Governorate - Technology and Information Directorate. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
Bibliography
- Douwes, Dick (2000). The Ottomans in Syria: A History of Justice and Oppression. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 1860640311.
- Panchenko, Constantin Alexandrovich (2016). Arab Orthodox Christians Under the Ottomans 1516–1831. Holy Trinity Publications.
- Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 3. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.
