Idlib

History

A Neolithic settlement dating back to 8500 BCE was identified at Tell Ain el-Kerkh, near Idlib. The Ebla tablets (2350 BCE) mention the city of 𒁺𒄷𒆷𒇥𒌝 (du-ḫu-la-bu₆-um "Duhulabum") which is most probably located at Idlib as suggested by Michael Astour and Douglas Frayne; a similarity exists between the sounds of the ancient and modern names. In the tablets, Duhulabuum is 22 km south of "Unqi" which might correspond to the modern village of Kaukanya/Kukaniyeh (Arabic: كوكانية), located approximately 22 km north of Idlib (see Dead Cities). Thutmose III also mentioned the city with the name Ytḥb.

Classical Antiquity

Idlib, along with the rest of Syria, was conquered by the Armenian king Tigranes the Great and incorporated in the Armenian Empire, only to be later conquered by the Roman Pompey the Great around 64 BCE. The city was never of much significance, belonging to the province of Roman Syria under the Roman Empire and later to the Eastern Roman province of Syria Secunda before being conquered by the Arabs around the middle of the seventh century. Not much remains from the city's Roman and Byzantine times, except in its museum. North of the city are the Dead Cities, a collection of important archaeological sites from the Byzantine era.

Ottoman era

During early Ottoman rule in Syria, beginning in 1516, Idlib was a small timar (fief). The village of Idlib was founded by Fadil Ahmed Pasha, the son of Grand Vizier Köprülü Mehmed Pasha (r. 1656–1661) who appointed him governor of Damascus Eyalet. In later years, it developed as a town with markets, bathhouses and caravanserais, including Khan Abi Ali and Khan al-Ruz.

From the Köprülü period, Idlib was a center of olive production. which in turn gave way to a prosperous olive-based soap industry. Although the major markets for Idlib's soap were at Aleppo, Antioch, and Hama, the product was exported as far as the Ottoman capital of Istanbul. Idlib was also a major producer of cotton fabrics. Western traveler Josias Leslie Porter noted that Idlib was "encompassed in olive groves, rare in this bleak region", and remarked that its olive groves were larger than those of Damascus, Beirut, or Gaza. In the mid-19th century, the town had an estimated population of 8,000, including 500 Christians. In the late 19th century, Idlib was "flourishing" and still contained several Christian families, according to German orientalist Albert Socin.

Syrian civil war and HTS takeover

During the uprising since 2011, Idlib was the focus of protests and fighting in the early phase of the Syrian war. As the uprising descended into armed conflict, Idlib became the focus of a rebel campaign, which temporarily captured the city and the governorate before a government offensive in April 2012. After this, government forces retook the city and the rebel-controlled province after a month of fighting before the attempted enforcement of the ceasefire proposed by Kofi Annan. After the 2015 Idlib offensive in March, the rebel alliance Army of Conquest, led by the al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham, succeeded in the Second Battle of Idlib and captured the city, as well as besieging the Shi'a-majority towns of Al-Fu'ah and Kafriya to the north of Idlib city. In April 2015, the interim seat of the Syrian opposition's Syrian Interim Government was proposed to be Idlib, in Idlib Governorate. On 23 July 2017, Tahrir al-Sham, the successor to the al-Nusra Front, expelled the remaining forces of Ahrar al-Sham from Idlib, capturing the entire city and bringing it under the control of the Syrian Salvation Government.

On 17 September 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan announced an agreement to establish a demilitarized buffer zone in Syria's Idlib province, intended to separate Syrian government forces from rebel factions. Under the agreement, Turkish and Russian troops would patrol the zone to ensure compliance. Putin stated that all heavy weaponry would be removed from the area and that radical rebel groups, such as the Nusra Front, must withdraw. The buffer zone was set to be operational by October 15, 2018.