Al-Lataminah اللطامنة Latamneh |
|
---|---|
Village | |
Location in Syria | |
Coordinates: 35°19′15″N 36°37′21″E / 35.32083°N 36.62250°E | |
Country | Syria |
Governorate | Hama |
District | Mahardah |
Subdistrict | Kafr Zita |
Population (2004) | |
• Total | 16,267 |
Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
• Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
Al-Lataminah (Arabic: اللطامنة, also spelled Latamneh or Latamnah) is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located 39 kilometers northwest of Hama. Nearby localities include Karnaz to the northwest, Kafr Zita to the north, Murik to the northeast, Suran to the east, Taybat al-Imam to the southeast, Halfaya and Mahardah to the south, Shaizar and Kafr Hud to the southwest and Hayalin and al-Suqaylabiyah to the west. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), al-Lataminah had a population of 16,267 in the 2004 census, making it the second largest locality in the nahiyah of Kafr Zita. Its inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims.
Al-Lataminah and its vicinity contain several caves, many of which had been used as homes for the village's residents. Today, the use of modern housing has prevailed, but a few families continue to live in the caves.
Al-Lataminah was inhabited during the Stone Age and excavations by teams from the Arab world, the United States, France and the Netherlands have been held at the site. One such excavation was held in 1965 and several artifacts were uncovered.
When Swiss traveler Johann Ludwig Burckhardt visited the region in the early 19th-century, during Ottoman rule, al-Lataminah was described as the "principal village" of Sanjak Hama. During this period the village was part of the Sanjak (District) of Hama and in late 1829, it consisted of 84 faddan, larger than any other village in the district except for Taldou. It paid 8,250 qirsh in taxes, the highest rate of the revenue-producing (hasil) villages in the district. In 1838, it had a predominantly Sunni Muslim population. Towards the end of Egyptian Khedivate rule (1832-1841), in 1840, al-Lataminah was a large village that paid a moderate tax rate of 700 qirsh, as result of a tax decrease for rural villages at the expense of urban towns.