Hama

Hama (Arabic: حماة‎ Ḥamā [ħaˈmaː], Biblical Ḥamāth, ("Fortress") is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria north of Damascus. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. Hama is the fourth-largest city in Syria—behind Aleppo, Damascus, and Homs—with a population of 696,863 (2009). The modern city is the successor at the site of the ancient city of Hamath. The city is renowned for its seventeen norias used for watering the gardens, which—it is locally claimed—date back to 1100 BC. Though historically used for purpose of irrigation, the norias exist today as an almost entirely aesthetic traditional show. In the last decades, the city of Hama has become known as a center of the anti-Ba'ath opposition in...