Al-Hasakah

Al-Hasakah[nb 1] (Arabic: ٱلْحَسَكَة, romanized: al-Ḥasaka;[2] Kurdish: Heseke/حەسەکە;[3][4][5] Syriac: ܚܣܝܟܐ Hasake[6]) is the capital city of the Al-Hasakah Governorate, in the northeastern corner of Syria. With a 2023 estimated population of 422,445[7] Al-Hasakah is predominantly populated by Arabs with large numbers of Kurds, Assyrians and a smaller number of Armenians and Chechens. Al-Hasakah is 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the city of Qamishli. The Khabur River, a tributary of the Euphrates River, flows west–east through the city. The Jaghjagh River flows into the Khabur from the north at Al-Hasakah. A portion of the city is a Syrian government-controlled enclave, comprising the city center and various government buildings, with the rest of the city (and the surrounding countryside) controlled by the AANES.[8] An ancient tell has been identified in the city centre by Dominique Charpin as the location of the city of Qirdahat.[9] Another possibility is that it was the site of the ancient Aramean city of Magarisu, mentioned by the Assyrian king Ashur-bel-kala, who fought the Arameans near the city.[10] The etymology of "Magarisu" is Aramaic (from the root mgrys) and means "pasture land".[11] The city was the capital of the Aramean state of Bit-Yahiri, which was invaded by Assyrian kings Tukulti-Ninurta II and Ashurnasirpal II.[12] Excavations in the tell discovered materials dating to the Middle-Assyrian, Byzantine and Islamic eras. The last level of occupation ended in the fifteenth century.[2] A period of 1,500 years separated the Middle-Assyrian and Byzantine levels.[13]