Official Name: | Shamsin |
Other Name: | Shemsin |
Native Name: | شمسين |
Pushpin Map: | Syria |
Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
Pushpin Mapsize: | 250 |
Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Syria |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Type1: | Governorate |
Subdivision Name1: | Homs |
Subdivision Type2: | District |
Subdivision Name2: | Homs |
Subdivision Type3: | Subdistrict |
Subdivision Name3: | Hisyah |
Population As Of: | 2004 |
Population Total: | 811 |
Population Blank1 Title: | Ethnicities |
Timezone: | EET |
Utc Offset: | +3 |
Timezone Dst: | EEST |
Utc Offset Dst: | +2 |
Coordinates: | 34.5414°N 36.7406°W |
Shamsin (ar|شمسين Shamsîn also spelled Shemsin, Shamsinn or Shimsan) is a village in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate, located south of Homs. Nearby localities include al-Qusayr to the west, Damina al-Sharqiya to the northwest, Shinshar to the north, Dardaghan to the southeast and Hisyah to the south. According to the Syrian Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Shamsin had a population of 811 in the 2004 census.[1] Its inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims.[2]
In 1226, during Ayyubid rule, Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi visited Shamsin, noting it was "a place between Hims (Homs) and Kara."[3] Under the Ayyubids and later the Mamluks who gained power in 1250, Shamsin was part of Mamlakat Hims ("Kingdom of Homs"), the smallest district in both sultanates.[4]
In the mid-19th-century, Shamsin was described as "a small place" by German traveler Albert Socin.[5] During this period, the village was walled and referred to as the site of an old khan (caravanserai). It was populated by a few families, while the surrounding areas were dominated by the nomadic `Anizzah tribe.[6]
. Albert Socin. Palestine and Syria, Handbook for Travellers. Karl Baedeker. 1876.