b. Urbanism in Roman and Islamic times
5. Hama

Topographical survey of the Old Town of Hama

Location

Hama, capital of the synonymous province, lies in western Syria on the perennial Orontes River.

History

	Fig. 1 Hama - Nuri mosque, seen from the east

Hama belongs to the oldest towns in Syria, which were inhabited without interruption. Year-long excavations on the Tell, located in the midst of the modern town, were conducted by Danish archaeologists in the 1930s. They brought forth evidence of a settlement sequence that started at least with the 7th millennium BC. Hama is of wide renown above all as the capital of the Aramaic kingdom Hamath during the first quarter of the 1st millennium BC. The town is attested as an importance trade centre in medieval Islamic times, that is, during the Zengid and Ayyubid reign in the 12th and 13th centuries. The town recovered only slowly after its destruction by the Timurids in 1401, yet at the beginning of Ottoman rule it attained a special position as seat of a district governor and as a station along a pilgrims' route.  

Objectives

	Fig. 2 Hama - Qasr al-'Azm, seen from the southeast
	Fig. 3 Hama - Qasr al-'Azm, courtyard 1

Next to Damascus and Aleppo, Hama displays the most comprehensive array of structures dating from Ottoman times. Moreover, there are many important buildings from medieval Islamic period, such as the Abu´l Fida and the Nuri mosques (Fig.1). As in all cities of Syria, in Hama as well older structures are greatly threatened by the numerous modifications and new developments. This situation urgently calls for the systematic documentation of the still existing buildings as well as the recording of outstanding architectural monuments. Therefore, in collaboration with the Direction Générale des Antiquités et des Musées de la Syrie (DGAMS), the German Archaeological Institute in Damascus initiated the project Topographical Survey of the Old Town of Hama in 2005, a project that is devoted in particular to recording older architectural remains and structures. The first phase of work is concerned with the architectural investigations of the quarter at-Tawafira on the west bank, which forms a mostly closed complex with buildings from the 12th to 19th century. Among these, the 'Azm Palace (Qasr al-'Azm) is an outstanding residence from Ottoman times, in view of its size, structure and significance (Fig.2). The core of the complex dates back to 1740, ranking it as one of the oldest governor's palaces in Syria. Located directly on the bank of the Orontes, the Palace with its fronting gardens and façades visible on all sides presents a singular building. Detailed studies on the complex will provide important recognitions about architectural history during the Ottoman period in Syria. The Palace is composed of three courts (Fig. 3) and aside from various original arrangements of rooms displays a multitude of complex constructional details, such as the elaborate stone carving of the window frames (Fig. 4). Aside from the detailed documentation of the Palace complex, work of the project is aimed at determining the different building phases between 1740 and 1918. In connection with this, the bordering buildings of the at-Tawafira and the Bashura quarter adjoining to the west should be investigated as well.  

Methods

	Fig. 4 Hama - Qasr al-'Azm, courtyard 2

Work carried out between 2005 and 2007 encompasses drawing up a groundplan, recording several views and conducting four sections. For the measuring as well as recording the innumerable architectural details, reflectorless tachymetry, stereophotogrammetry as well as analog and digital photogrammetry were employed (Fig. 5). Some details were measured by hand. Further, the architectural description of all rooms was set up in the form of a Raumbuch. These are complemented by a complete photographic documentation of the interior rooms and their architectural details. Archival studies on the Azm family in Hama were undertaken in 2007. The architectural evaluation and comparative analysis of the context will proceed on the basis of these data. 

Results

	Fig. 5 Hama - Qasr al-'Azm, raw data from the digital recording of buildings, fall 2007

Qasr al-'Azm is one of the most important residential and representative buildings of the Ottoman period in Syria; moreover, in view of its size and special structure, it is one of the outstanding buildings of the 18th/19th century. Due to various uses of the complex throughout time the building underwent numerous modifications, in particular the interior arrangements. Investigations have identified countless minor changes in the building, foremost pertaining to the entrance, whose date cannot always be clearly determined. Historical sources studied thus far report that above all comprehensive restructuring measures were undertaken at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century. By means of detailed measurements different units of rooms could be disclosed, which do not appear in the available, very schematic plans. With more than 70 rooms, the Palace reveals clearly more units than hitherto presumed. The digitalised documentation of the present context together with the help of modern methods of recording has now enabled the portrayal of different views and aspects of the building in the evaluation. Considering that this was the first project to investigate a building of this size from Ottoman times in Syria, the methods used in the work involved represent a pilot-project for future documentation of Ottoman complexes in Syria.  

Cooperation

Direction Générale des Antiquités et des Musées de la Syrie (DGAMS)

Scientific collaboration
Dr. Ariane Ahmad, University of Lattakia (building research)
Dr. Thomas Urban, Berlin (survey)
Prof. Dr. James Reilly, University of Toronto (Ottoman history)
I. Wagner, German Archaeological Institute, Orient-Dept. (photos)  

Contact

PD Dr. phil. Karin Bartl

Vorderasiatische Altertumskunde
Telefon: +963/11/374 9812-0 +963/11/3749813-0
Telefax: +963/11/374 9812-9 +963/11/3749813-9
Email: sekretariat@damaskus.dainst.org

Further Contact Partners

J. Ramadan
Direction Générale des Antiquités et des Musées de la Syrie, Hama Branch

Bibliography

K. Bartl, Topographische Untersuchungen in der Altstadt von Hama. Phase I - Qasr al-´Azm, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Orient-Abteilung, Außenstelle Damaskus (Hrsg.), Orte und Zeiten, 25 Jahre archäologische Forschung in Syrien. 1980-2005, 46-49, Damaskus 2005.