Al Resafa الرصافة |
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Arches in Resafa
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Location in Syria | |
Coordinates: 35°37′N 38°45′E / 35.617°N 38.750°E | |
Country | Syria |
Governorate | Raqqa Governorate |
District | Raqqa District |
Occupation | Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant |
Elevation | 300 m (1,000 ft) |
Resafa (Arabic: الرصافة [reṣafa]), known in Roman times as Sergiopolis (which has namesakes) and briefly as Anastasiopolis, was a city located in the Roman province of Euphratensis, in modern-day Syria. It is an archaeological site situated southwest of the city of Raqqa and the Euphrates.
Procopius describes at length the ramparts and buildings erected there by Justinian. The walls of Resafa, which are still well preserved, are over 1600 feet in length and about 1000 feet in width; round or square towers were erected about every hundred feet; there are also ruins of a church with three apses.
Resafa corresponds to the Akkadian Raṣappa and the Biblical Rezeph (Septuagint; in Ancient greek Ràphes, Ράφες), where it is mentioned in Isaiah 37:12; cuneiform sources give Rasaappa, Rasappa, and Rasapi Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company..