Jableh is a coastal city on the Mediterranean in Syria, north of Baniyas and south of Latakia, with c. 80,000 inhabitants. As Ancient Gabala it was a Byzantine bishopric and remains a Latin Catholic titular see. It contains the tomb and mosque of Ibrahim Bin Adham, a legendary Sufi mystic who renounced his throne of Balkh and devoted himself to prayers for the rest of his life.
History
Jableh has been inhabited since at least the second millennium BCE. The city was part of the Ugaritic kingdom and was mentioned as "Gbʿly" in the archives of the city c. 1200 BC. In antiquity Jableh was an important Hellenistic and then Roman city. One of the main remains of this period is a theatre, capable of housing c. 7,000 spectators. Near the seashores even older remains were found dating to the Iron Age or Phoenician Era. In the medieval period, Jableh was part of the Principality of Antioch, one of the Crusader States, until it was captured by Saladin in 1189 during the Third Crusade. One famous resident was Hugh of Jabala, the city's bishop, who reported the fall of Edessa to Pope Eugene III, and was the first person to speak of Prester John. Less than 1 kilometer from the city centre lies the ancient site of Gibala, today known as Tell Tweini. This city was inhabited from the third millennium BCE until the Persian period. On May 23, 2016, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for four suicide bombings in Jableh, which had remained largely unaffected since the Syrian Civil War began in 2011. Purportedly targeting Alawite gatherings, the bombs killed over a hundred people. In Tartus, similarly insulated, another three bombers killed 48 people.
Economy
The majority of people in Jableh depend on agriculture for their life, people grow orange and lemon trees, olives, a large number of green houses for vegetables can be found in the country side. In the center of the city people work in trade and there are small factories in the city for cottons and for making orange juice.
Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, a famous Islamic figure who fought against the French Colonization in Syria, and then moved to Palestine where he led an armed rebellion against the British authorities and Jewish colonists.
Mohammad Zaytoon, the worldwide swimming championship for several consecutive years.
