Qinnasrin, also known by numerous other romanizations and originally known as , was a historical town in northern Syria. The town was situated 25 km south west of Aleppo on the west bank of the Queiq River and was connected to Aleppo with a major road during Roman times. Some scholars propose that the ruins of Qinnasrin are located at Al-Hadher to the east of the Queiq River, while Chalcis lie at the modern Syrian village of Al-Iss, Aleppo Governorate to the west of the river. Others think that Qinnasrin has always been located at al-Iss from the Hellenistic to the Ayyubid period.
History
Hellenistic and Roman periods
According to Appian, Chalcis was founded by Seleucus I Nicator, and named after Chalcis in Euboea. Chalcis was distinguished from Chalcis sub Libanum by its river, the ancient Belus. The river—but not the city—was named for the Semitic godBel or Baʿal. In 92 AD, Chalcis received the title "Flavia", in honor of Emperor Domitian, to be known as "Flavia of the Chalcidonese".
Barely ten years later, in 636/7, it fell to the Arabs after a brief resistance. The Arab general Khalid ibn al-Walid took up residence in the city thereafter. The Umayyad caliphYazid I ordered its walls to be demolished. He or his father and predecessor Mu'awiya I made Qinnasrin the center of its own jund, called Jund Qinnasrin, within the greater administrative region of Islamic Syria. They utilized the city as an important army headquarters, though until the mid-10th century there were no recorded events of significance relating to Qinnasrin. By 943, during Hamdanid rule, Qinnasrin was noted as one of northern Syria's most well-built cities, though it lost its paramountcy in Jund Qinnasrin to nearby Aleppo. The Hamdanid emir of Aleppo Sayf al-Dawla was defeated at Qinnasrin by the Ikhshidids of Egypt in 945. During the second half of the 10th century, the city became a frequent conflict zone between the Byzantines and Hamdanids during the latter stages of the Arab–Byzantine wars. Upon news of an impending Byzantine assault, the inhabitants evacuated in 963 though they returned afterward. Three years later, Sayf al-Dawla made a stand against the Byzantine emperorNikephoros II Phokas at Qinnasrin, but ultimately retreated and evacuated its residents, after which the Byzantines set fire to its mosques. The inhabitants then made their abode partly in areas east of the Euphrates and partly in Aleppo. Within several years, Qinnasrin was repopulated but destroyed again by the Byzantines in 998. It was rebuilt, but once more sacked by the Byzantines in 1030. The Persian geographer Nasir Khusraw passed through in 1047 and mentioned Qinnasrin was an impoverished village. Toward the end of the 11th century, Qinnasrin was rebuilt by the Seljuq ruler of AnatoliaSulayman ibn Qutulmish. However, the city was destroyed by his Seljuq rival from Damascus, Tutush I. It remained as a barely populated, but strategic town during the Crusader period. In 1119, the Artuqid emir Ilghazi made it into an arms depot from which he raided the surrounding areas of Ruj, Jabal Summaq and Harim.
