Apamea : the citadel Qalaat al Mudiq

Parrdouaud Terrains

Mathilde Gelin, Shaker Al Shbib (DGAMS, Idlib)

The city of Apamea on the Orontes, founded by Seleucus I, was one of the major cities of the Tetrapolis, which controlled access of the Seleucid Empire to the Mediterranean.

Qalaat al-Mudiq, the citadel of Apamea, seen from the Orontes plain. View to the northeast.
Photo from the Qalaat al-Mudiq archaeological mission, citadel of Apamea

It then experienced significant occupation during the Roman period, followed by the Byzantine and medieval periods. Regular excavations were conducted by a Belgian archaeological mission (dir. D. Viviers, Free University of Brussels).

Its citadel, Qalaat al Mudiq, now occupied by a village, had never been the subject of archaeological work (except for a survey at the base of the hill).

In 2004, an emergency situation in response to the imminent collapse of various elements of the medieval fortifications led to the creation of a new mission whose objectives were the restoration and preliminary excavation of part of these fortifications.

The mission was created jointly by the IFPO, represented by Mr. Gelin, and the DGAMS, represented by Sh. Al Shbib, within the framework of the EU MEDA program for training DGAMS staff in the preservation of cultural heritage. It received support from Total E&P Syria.

The initial results of the mission led to the discovery of Hellenistic walls dating back to the early 3rd century BC, shedding new light on the citadel of the city of Apamea.

Other important elements have emerged, such as the now certain fact that Qalaat al Mudiq is an archaeological tell dating back to the Bronze Age; at that time, it was protected by a large rampart of mud bricks. Medieval tower No. 5, which has been fully restored by the mission, dates back to the 13th century AD and is built on remains of walls from the post-Byzantine period.

Bibliography
  • M. Gelin, J.-C. Bessac, M. Al Heib, B. Michaudel, S. Zugmeyer, “Qalaat el Moudiq, citadelle d’Apamée de l’Oronte. Résultats des travaux de 2004”, Résultats du programme de formation à la sauvegarde du patrimoine culturel de Syrie 2002-2004, Documents d’Archéologie syrienne XI, Damas, 2007, p. 363-388 (p. 389-404 pour la version arabe). https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03033043/document
  • Sh. Al Shbib, (s.p.), “Qalaat al Moudiq”, Annales Arabes Archéologiques Syriennes, 2008 (en arabe).
  • Gelin M., “Conservation et mise en valeur du patrimoine architectural au Proche-Orient : quelques réalisations de missions archéologiques”, Проблемы Истории, Филологии, Культуры = Journal of historical philological and cultural studies, в честь 75-летия Геннадия Андреевича Кошеленко, Moscou-Magnitogorsk-Novossibirsk, 2010, p. 62-84, pl. 1. https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03010389/document
  • Gelin M., “Note sur le rempart “de l’âge du Bronze“ à Qalaat el Mudiq, citadelle d’Apamée de l’Oronte”, Studia Orontica 11, 2013, p. 129-142. https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03025817/document
  • Gelin M., Al Shbib Sh., “Qalaat Al Mudiq/Apamean Citadel (Hama)”, A History of Syria in One Hundred Sites, ed. Y. Kanjou and A. Tsuneki (Archaeopress Archaeology), Oxford, 2016, p. 427-429, ISBN 978-1-78491-381-6.
  • Gelin M., Al Shbib Sh., “Qalaat Al Mudiq, Citadel of Apamea: Past and Present”, Archaeological Explorations in Syria 2000-2011, ed. J. Abdul Massih, Sh. Nishiyama, H. Charaf, A. Deb (Archaeopress Archaeology), Oxford, 2018, p. 221-227, ISBN 978-1-78491-947-4 et 978-1-78491-948-1 (e-Pdf). https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03032899/document

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