Aqarib

{{Infobox settlement   | official_name = Aqarib | native_name = عقارب | other_name = Aqarib al-Safiyah | settlement_type = Village  | image_skyline = | image_caption = | image_flag = | image_seal = | image_shield = | nickname = | motto = | image_map = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = Syria  | pushpin_label_position = bottom | pushpin_mapsize = 250 | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Syria  | coordinates = {{coord|35.104133|N|37.210547|E|region:SY|display=inline,title}} | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Syrian revolution.svg}} Syria | subdivision_type1 = Governorate | subdivision_name1 = Hama | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = Salamiyah | subdivision_type3 = Subdistrict | subdivision_name3 = Sabburah | government_footnotes =  | leader_title = | leader_name =  | unit_pref = Metric  | elevation_footnotes =  | elevation_m = | elevation_ft =  | population_footnotes = | population_total = 3,830 | population_as_of = 2004 | population_note =  | timezone = EET | utc_offset = +2 | timezone_DST = EEST | utc_offset_DST = +3  | postal_code_type =  | postal_code = | area_code = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Aqarib''' ({{langx|ar|عقارب}}), also known as '''Aqarib al-Safiyah''' ({{langx|ar|عقارب الصافية}}), is a village in central Syria, administratively part of the Salamiyah District of the Hama Governorate. It is located {{convert|45|km}} east of Hama and {{convert|17|km|mi|sp=us}} east of Salamiyah, on the margin of the Syrian Desert.<ref name="AlQasir">{{cite web |last1=Al-Qasir |first1=Mohammed |title="عقارب الصافية" القرية التي شرب "المتنبي" من مائها (Aqarib al-Safiya:The Village from whose Water al-Mutanabbi Drank) |url=https://www.esyria.sy/2010/03/%D8%B9%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%8A-%D8%B4%D8%B1%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%A8%D9%8A-%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%87%D8%A7 |website=e-Syria |access-date=30 December 2024 |language=Arabic |date=13 March 2010}}</ref> Nearby localities include Salamiyah and Tell al-Tut to the southwest, Uqayribat to the southeast and Sabburah to the north. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Aqarib had a population of 3,830 in the 2004 census.<ref name="CBS">[https://archive.today/20130112133453/http://www.cbssyr.org/new%20web%20site/General_census/census_2004/NH/TAB05-13-2004.htm General Census of Population and Housing 2004]. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Hama Governorate. {{in lang|ar}}</ref> Its inhabitants are predominantly Ismailis.<ref name="Daftary">{{Citation|last1=Douwes|first1=Dick|editor=Farhad Daftary|chapter=Modern History of the Nizari Ismailis of Syria|title=A Modern History of the Ismailis: Continuity and Change in a Muslim Community|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sf9fAwAAQBAJ&q=masyaf|publisher=I. B. Tauris|year=2010|isbn=9780857735263}}</ref>

==History== Aqarib was founded in 1876 by Ismaili migrants from the area of Shaizar, a town west of Hama. The Ismailis had been evicted from their homes by a prominent landowning family based in Hama who owned the area around Shaizar. Part of the reason the migrants chose to settle in Aqarib was its proximity to Salamiyah, the center of Ismaili life in Syria.<ref name="Daftary"/> On 18 May 2017, ISIL fighters attacked the village at dawn and after regime forces fled the village the militants killed at least 52 civilians, including 16 children and 11 women.<ref>{{Cite web |last=wm-developer |last2=Skaf |first2=Hala |date=2023-04-22 |title=ISIS attacks Salamiyah - Creative Memory |url=https://creativememory.org/chronology/isis-attacks-salamiyah/ |access-date=2025-04-27 |language=en-US}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Populated places established in 1876 Category:Populated places in Salamiyah District Category:1870s establishments in Ottoman Syria Category:Ismaili communities in Syria