Masyaf

Also known as Masyad

Masyaf ( '''') is a city in northwestern Syria. It is the center of the Masyaf District in the Hama Governorate. As of 2004, Masyaf had a religiously diverse population of approximately 22,000 Ismailis, Alawites and Christians. The city is well known for its large medieval castle, particularly its role as the headquarters of the Nizari Ismailis and their elite Assassins unit.

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Place details

Locality: مصياف
Region: محافظة حماة
Country: سوريا
Population: 32,262
Timezone: Asia/Damascus

via OpenStreetMap · GeoNames

Key facts

Settlement.official_name: Masyaf
Settlement.image_skyline: Masyaf 001.jpg
Settlement.image_caption: A view of Masyaf, 2008
Settlement.pushpin_map: Syria
Settlement.pushpin_label_position: right
Settlement.pushpin_mapsize: 250
Settlement.pushpin_map_caption: Location in Syria
Settlement.pushpin_relief: 1
Settlement.subdivision_type: Country
Settlement.subdivision_name: Syria
Settlement.subdivision_type1: Governorate
Settlement.subdivision_name1: Hama
Settlement.subdivision_type2: District
Settlement.subdivision_name2: Masyaf
Settlement.subdivision_type3: Subdistrict
Settlement.subdivision_name3: Masyaf
Settlement.subdivision_type4: Control
Settlement.unit_pref: Metric

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Official name: مصياف
Population: 37109
Elevation: 447
Image: Masyaf - panoramio.jpg

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Commons category: Masyaf
native label: مصياف
P12749: Template:Template-linking templates

Sources (2)

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~14 min read

Article

15 sections

Contents

Etymology
History
Early history
Nizari Ismaili era
Mamluk rule
Ottoman era
Modern era
Geography
Climate
Demographics
In popular culture
Gallery
References
Bibliography
External links

Masyaf ( '') is a city in northwestern Syria. It is the center of the Masyaf District in the Hama Governorate. As of 2004, Masyaf had a religiously diverse population of approximately 22,000 Ismailis, Alawites and Christians. The city is well known for its large medieval castle, particularly its role as the headquarters of the Nizari Ismailis and their elite Assassins unit.

==Etymology== Throughout the Islamic era and until the modern day, the Arabic name of the city was pronounced in a number of different ways by the inhabitants of the region as Maṣyaf, Maṣyat or Maṣyad. The Arabic name is a local pronunciation that evolved from the Assyrian name Manṣuate. The "nṣw" in Manṣuate correlates with the Arabic "nṣṣ", which means "to set up", according to orientalist scholar Edward Lipinsky. Moreover, Lipinsky suggests that the Assyrian name was likely a configuration of the Assyrian word manṣuwatu which correlates with the Arabic word minaṣṣatu(n), both of which translate as "raised platform". This translation is indicative of the promontory that the Masyaf fortress occupies which overlooks the rest of the city and the surrounding area.