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{{Short description|Town in Syria}}
{{Infobox settlement


|official_name = Al-Sukhnah
|other_name = Sikne
|native_name = {{lang|ar|ٱلسُّخْنَة}}

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|settlement_type = [[List of towns and villages in Syria|Town]]
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|pushpin_map_caption =Location in Syria

|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Syrian revolution.svg}} [[Syria]]
|subdivision_type1 = [[Governorates of Syria|Governorate]]
|subdivision_name1 = [[Homs Governorate|Homs]]
|subdivision_type2 = [[Districts of Syria|District]]
|subdivision_name2 = [[Tadmur District|Tadmur]]
|subdivision_type3 = [[Nahiyah|Subdistrict]]
|subdivision_name3 = Al-Sukhnah
| subdivision_type4 = Control
| subdivision_name4 = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Syrian revolution.svg}} [[Syrian caretaker government|Syrian transitional government]]
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|coordinates = {{coord|34|53|12.5|N|38|52|19.5|E|region:SY|display=inline,title}}
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'''Al-Sukhnah''' ({{langx|ar|ٱلسُّخْنَة|as-Suẖnah}}, also spelled ''al-Sukhanah'' or ''al-Sakhnah'' or ''al-Sakhanah'', Roman "Sikne") is a town in eastern [[Syria]] under the administration of the [[Homs Governorate]], located east of [[Homs]] in the [[Syrian Desert]]. Nearby localities include [[Mayadin]] and [[al-Asharah]] to the east, [[Al-Taybah, Homs Governorate|al-Taybah]] and [[Raqqa]] to the north, [[Salamiyah]] to the west, [[Arak, Syria|Arak]] and [[Palmyra (modern)|Tadmur]] ([[Palmyra]]) to the southwest.

According to [[Central Bureau of Statistics (Syria)|Syria Central Bureau of Statistics]] (CBS), al-Sukhnah had a population of 16,173 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center of the al-Sukhnah ''[[nahiyah]]'' ("subdistrict") which consists of six localities with a collective population of 21,880 in the 2004 census.<ref name="CBS">[https://archive.today/20121220222028/http://www.cbssyr.org/new%20web%20site/General_census/census_2004/NH/TAB04-21-2004.htm General Census of Population and Housing 2004]. [[Central Bureau of Statistics (Syria)|Syria Central Bureau of Statistics]] (CBS). Homs Governorate. {{in lang|ar}}</ref> The town's inhabitants are predominantly [[Sunni Muslim]]s.<ref>Boulanger, 1966, p. 357.</ref><ref>Smith, 1841, p. 174.</ref> Al-Sukhnah has attracted hundreds of residents from nearby villages in the 20th century<ref name="Mundy"/> and is currently a processing center for natural gas.

==Etymology==
Al-Sukhnah means "the Warm" in [[Arabic]], and is so named because of the nearby [[sulphur]] springs.<ref name="MesoHandBook">{{cite book|title=A Handbook of Mesopotamia, Volume III: Central Mesopotamia with Southern Kurdistan and the Syrian Desert|date=January 1917|publisher=Admiralty and War Office, Division of Intelligence|page=333}}</ref> As late as the early 20th century, the inhabitants of the village would bathe in the hot springs.<ref name="MesoHandBook"/>

==History==
===Early Islamic period===
In 634, following the capture of [[Arak, Syria|Arak]] by the [[Rashidun army]] of [[Khalid ibn al-Walid]], al-Sukhnah peacefully received the [[Muslim]] force upon hearing the generous surrender terms negotiated for Arak.<ref>Akram, 1970, pp. 321–322.</ref>

In 1225, al-Sukhnah was described by [[Arab]] geographer [[Yaqut al-Hamawi]] as "a small town in the [[Syrian Desert]], lying between Tadmur and 'Urd and Arak. Beside its spring are palm trees. It is on the road of one going to [[Damascus]] from Raqqa, and you come to it before reaching Arak." In the mid-14th century, [[Ibn Batuta]] wrote that al-Sukhnah was "a pretty town", with a mostly [[Islam|Muslim]] population. He noted that the al-Sukhnah received its name from the heat of its water, and that there were bathhouses in the town.<ref>le Strange, 1890, p. 539.</ref>

===Ottoman period===
Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, al-Sukhnah served as an important trade center in the Syrian Desert among the inhabitants of nearby villages and various [[Bedouin]] tribes.<ref name="Mundy"/> In particular, the ''Sawakhina'' ("people from al-Sukhnah"), were integral in the commerce with the [['Anizzah]] tribal confederation. Unlike most Bedouin groups, the 'Anizzah did not maintain economic relations with the inland villages of Syria and their trade with al-Sukhnah was unique. The 'Anizzah would trade [[camel]]s, horses, [[alkali]] ashes and leather while merchants from al-Sukhnah marketed wheat, clothing, arms and utensils.<ref>Douwes, 2000, pp. 39-40.</ref> By the mid-19th-century, however, its role decreased with the rise of [[Deir ez-Zor]], and many of its inhabitants migrated to that city and to [[Aleppo]], [[Homs]] and [[Hama]].<ref name="MesoHandBook"/>

In the early 20th-century, al-Sukhnah had about 100 houses and a large, fortified outpost manned by an Ottoman garrison.<ref name="MesoHandBook"/> Its inhabitants were impoverished and were engaged in the subsistence farming of grain.<ref name="MesoHandBook"/>

===Post-independence Syria===
Until the present day, al-Sukhnah continues to function as a trading center between its residents and the tribes in its vicinity, such as the 'Umur and the [[Sba'a]],<ref name="Mundy"/> two sub-branches of the 'Anizzah.<ref>Douwes, 2000, p. 32.</ref> In the 1960 Syrian census, al-Sukhnah had a population of 2,648.<ref>{{cite book |title=Census of Population, 1960, Volumes 7-8 |date=1960 |publisher=Central Bureau of Statistics (Syria) |page=240 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3tbvpKFq5fwC}}</ref>

====Syrian civil war====
{{Main|Palmyra offensive (May 2015)|Palmyra offensive (March 2016)}}
The town was taken by [[Syrian opposition|rebels]] early in the [[Syrian civil war]]. On 25 July 2013, the [[Syrian Observatory for Human Rights]] reported that the government-loyal [[Syrian Arab Army]] secured the town, after expelling the [[al-Nusra Front]].{{cn|date=January 2023}}

After a number of unsuccessful attempts, the [[Islamic State in Iraq and Syria]] captured the town on 13 May 2015, as part of their wider [[Palmyra offensive (May 2015)|offensive]] to control [[Tadmur]] ([[Palmyra]]) and the Syrian Desert, a strategic area that is key to ISIS supply lines and an area with numerous oil wells.<ref>{{cite web|title=Islamic State at the gates of Palmyra|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2015/05/syria-regime-reinforcements-isis-palmyra-homs.html#|publisher=Al-Monitor|access-date=16 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517032213/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2015/05/syria-regime-reinforcements-isis-palmyra-homs.html|archive-date=2015-05-17|url-status=dead}}</ref> During the battle for al-Sukhnah, the [[Syrian Army]] incurred 70 fatalities, while ISIS lost 40 of its militants. About 1,800 families fled the town for safety in Tadmur. Following their capture of al-Sukhnah, ISIS militants executed 26 civilians, beheading ten of them.<ref>{{Citation|title=Syria conflict: IS advances on ancient ruins of Palmyra|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32735677|work=[[BBC News]]|date=2015-05-15|access-date=2015-05-20}}</ref>

Since the final [[Palmyra offensive (2017)|Palmyra offensive]] in February 2017, a battle which resulted in a major Syrian government victory, government forces made advances along the Palmyra-Al Sukhnah Road. By 27 July 2017, the government forces had reached and captured strategic hills less than two kilometres from the town.<ref>{{Citation|title=Syrian Civil War Map|url=http://syriancivilwarmap.com/|date=2017-07-28|access-date=2017-07-28}}</ref>{{SPS|date=October 2022}} On 6 August 2017, government forces recaptured the town in the [[Central Syria campaign (2017)|Central Syria offensive]]; this left the road open to the besieged city of [[Deir ez-Zor]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/breaking-syrian-army-fully-captures-isis-stronghold-al-sukhnah-east-homs-countryside/ |title=BREAKING: Syrian Army, allies liberate al-Sukhnah town from ISIS in east Homs |access-date=2017-08-06 |archive-date=2019-06-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190624084633/https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/breaking-syrian-army-fully-captures-isis-stronghold-al-sukhnah-east-homs-countryside/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://www.syriahr.com/en/?p=71320 Regime forces control the last city controlled by the “Islamic State” organization in Homs province]</ref>

==Economy==
The residents of Sukhnah were linked to the different tribes in the region through various hierarchical economic ties. They paid the levy on their grain harvest to the Sba'a, who in return protected their trade. They also consigned their sheep flocks to the 'Umur and the Hadidiyin. To all these tribes, al-Sukhnah's residents supplied grain, cloth, clothing, and various household items and foodstuffs, while purchasing from them pastoral products for resale to Syria's large cities.<ref name="Mundy">Mundy and Musallam, 2000, pp. 126–129.</ref> Today, al-Sukhnah has become a minor industrial center for [[natural gas]].<ref>Gibb, 1996, p. 231.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{Refbegin}}
*{{cite book|first=A. I. |last=Akram |title=The Sword of Allah, Khalid Bin al-Waleed: His Life and Campaigns |url=http://www.swordofallah.com/html/bookchapter28page1.htm |publisher=National Publishing House |year=1970 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030217050508/http://www.swordofallah.com/html/bookchapter28page1.htm |archive-date=2003-02-17 }}
*{{cite book|first1=Robert|last1=Boulanger|title=The Middle East, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2a8LAQAAIAAJ&q=Tell+Selhab+Hama|publisher=Hachette|year=1966}}
*{{cite book|first=Dick|last=Douwes|title=The Ottomans in Syria: a history of justice and oppression|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zYptAAAAMAAJ&q=Hasya|publisher=I.B. Tauris|year=2000|isbn=1860640311}}
*{{cite book|first=H. A. R.|last=Gibb|title=The Encyclopedia of Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NdCTI5FqayAC&q=Arak+Palmyra|page=157|publisher=BRILL|year=2003|isbn=9004106332}}
*{{Citation|title=Transformation of Nomadic Society in the Arab East|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iwxeHaKUGFMC&q=Sukhna+Syria&pg=PA132|first1=Martha|last1=Mundy|first2=Basim|last2=Musallam|year=2000|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn= 978-0-521-77057-6}}.
*{{Citation|first1=Eli|last1=Smith|first2=Edward|last2=Robinson|title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the Year 1838|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vt0uAAAAQAAJ&q=d'Helfaya|publisher=Crocker and Brewster|volume=3|year=1841}}
*{{Citation|title=Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ENANAAAAIAAJ&q=Lajjun+Guy+le+Strange&pg=PA493 |first1=Guy|last1=le Strange|year=1890|publisher=Committee of the [[Palestine Exploration Fund]]}}.
{{Refend}}

{{Homs Governorate|tadmur}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sukhnah}}
[[Category:Populated places in Tadmur District]]
[[Category:Towns in Syria]]

Al-Sukhnah, Syria - Revision history

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