Minţaqat Ḩamāh

The Orontes (English: /ˈrɒntz/; from Ancient Greek , ) or Asi (Arabic: العاصي, Arabic: [alˈʕaːsˤiː]; Turkish: Asi) is a river with a length of in Western Asia that begins in Lebanon, flowing northwards through Syria before entering the Mediterranean Sea near Samandağ in Turkey. As the chief river of the northern Levant, the Orontes was the site of several major battles. Among the most important cities on the river are Homs, Hama, Jisr al-Shughur, and Antakya (the ancient Antioch, which was also…

The Azm Palace (Arabic: بيت العظم, Bayt al-ʿAẓm) is an 18th-century Ottoman-era palace in Hama, Syria at the center of the city on the banks of the Orontes River, about south of the Hama Citadel. Ross Burns, author of Monuments of Syria (1999), reportedly considers the Azm Palace to be "one of the loveliest Ottoman residential buildings in Syria." The palace has been used as a regional archaeology museum since 1956. History The Azm Palace at Hama was built in 1742 by the Ottoman governor, As'ad…