As-Safira

As-Safira
السفيرة
Sfireh, Sipri[1]
City
As-Safira is located in Syria
As-Safira
As-Safira
Location in Syria
Coordinates: 36°04′N 37°22′E / 36.067°N 37.367°E / 36.067; 37.367
CountrySyria
GovernorateAleppo
DistrictAl-Safira
SubdistrictAl-Safira
ControlSyrian opposition Syrian Interim Government[2]
Elevation
348 m (1,142 ft)
Population
 (2007 est.)
 • Total
106,382
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)+3

As-Safira (Arabic: السَّفِيْرَة / ALA-LC: as-Safīrah; Aleppo dialect: Sfīre) is a Syrian city administratively belonging to the Aleppo Governorate. It is the administrative center of the as-Safira District. As Safīrah has an altitude of 348 meters (1,142 ft), and a population of 106,382 as of 2007, making it the 11th largest city per geographical entity in Syria.

As-Safira is the administrative center of Nahiya as-Safira and as-Safira District.

Name

Medieval geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi spells the name Asfīrah[3] (أسفيرة), not as-Safira (السفيرة), which indicates that the definite article in the modern spelling is a result of hypercorrection.

As-Safira was known in pre-Islamic times as Sipri.[1] Historians[4] have suggested that the name Sipri may have come from the Akkadian word siparru meaning "bronze", which might indicate that copper was mined and bronze was worked there.

History

Since ancient times the city has been the distribution point for salt gathered from the nearby Sabkhat al-Jabbul.

Archeological findings

Main article: Sefire steles

The Sfire I Treaty which may contain 8th century BCE evidence of a deity called "Most High."

Geography

Climate

As-Safira has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification: BSk).

Climate data for As Safira
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 10.8
(51.4) 		13.3
(55.9) 		17.7
(63.9) 		23.1
(73.6) 		29.6
(85.3) 		34.7
(94.5) 		37.0
(98.6) 		37.4
(99.3) 		33.7
(92.7) 		28.2
(82.8) 		20.0
(68.0) 		12.9
(55.2) 		24.9
(76.8)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 1.8
(35.2) 		2.6
(36.7) 		5.2
(41.4) 		8.9
(48.0) 		13.6
(56.5) 		17.9
(64.2) 		20.5
(68.9) 		20.7
(69.3) 		16.9
(62.4) 		12.1
(53.8) 		6.6
(43.9) 		3.5
(38.3) 		10.9
(51.5)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 59
(2.3) 		48
(1.9) 		32
(1.3) 		36
(1.4) 		17
(0.7) 		2
(0.1) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		1
(0.0) 		16
(0.6) 		19
(0.7) 		59
(2.3) 		289
(11.3)
Average snowy days 0.9 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.2 1.2
Source: Climate-data.org.

Notes

  1. ^ a b Ball, Warwick (2006) "The desert edges" Syria: A Historical And Architectural Guide Interlink Publishing Group, Northampton, Massachusetts, page 157, ISBN 1-56656-665-7
  2. ^ ""Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham" and "National Army" control the towns of Khanaser and Al-Safira, Kuweires Airport in the Aleppo countryside, and military sites on the outskirts of Aleppo". SOHR (in Arabic). 1 December 2024. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  3. ^ le Strange, 1890, p. 400
  4. ^ Notably Dossin and Lewy, see Sasson, Jack M. (1966) "A Sketch of North Syrian Economic Relations in the Middle Bronze Age" Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 9(3): pp. 161–181, page 169, note 2

Bibliography

36°04′40″N 37°22′24″E / 36.07778°N 37.37333°E / 36.07778; 37.37333