| Official Name: | Al-Tayba |
| Native Name: | الطيبة |
| Other Name: | Tayyiba |
| Settlement Type: | Village |
| Pushpin Map: | Syria |
| Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 250 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Syria |
| Coordinates: | 35.0878°N 38.9128°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Governorate |
| Subdivision Name1: | Homs |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Tadmur |
| Subdivision Type3: | Subdistrict |
| Subdivision Name3: | al-Sukhnah |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Population Total: | 2,413 |
| Population As Of: | 2004 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone: | EET |
| Utc Offset: | +3 |
| Timezone Dst: | EEST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +2 |
Al-Tayba (Arabic: الطيبة, also spelled Tayyiba or Tayibah) is a village in eastern Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate. It is located in the Syrian Desert, near the Euphrates River to the east and al-Sukhnah and the village of al-Kawm to the west. Like many of the other desert towns in Syria, it is situated in a spring-fed oasis. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), al-Taybah had a population of 2,413 in the 2004 census.[1]
Al-Taybah is an Arabic name meaning "the Good."[2] In the early 13th-century Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi noted al-Taybah was a "village in the district of 'Urd, lying between Palmyra and Aleppo."[3]
Al-Taybah was visited in 1616 by Italian explorer Pietro Della Valle, who noted that the presence of several "old relics" in the village. The mosque was well-maintained and appeared to have previously served as a church tower. Residences consisted of mud huts, many of which were reinforced by ancient stone columns.[2]
The village was abandoned sometime in the 18th century with its inhabitants migrating to nearby al-Sukhnah. The modern-day settlement was founded in 1870 after one of the descendants of the 17th-century emigrants from al-Taybah and a resident of al-Sukhnah obtained permission by the governor of the Sanjak of Zor (Deir ez-Zor). He established the new village with ten or twelve other families. The Ottomans set up a gendarmerie post there afterward.[4] In 1838 al-Taybah was classified as an abandoned village by English scholar Eli Smith.[5]
At some point between 1914 and 1918, during World War I when Ottoman authority in Syria was being challenged, al-Taybah was raided and looted by Bedouin tribesmen from the area, resulting in a second exodus of the village's residents. It was reoccupied during French Mandate rule which restored a level of security in al-Taybah.[4]
During the Syrian Civil war, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) captured the village.[6] However, on 20 August 2017, the Army stormed the Taybah area from their positions at the Al-Kawm axis, pushing their way through ISIL's front-lines. Unable to maintain their positions, ISIL was forced to retreat from Taybah, leaving the entire area for the Army to take control of after a short battle.[7]