Amik Valley

The Amik Valley, also "Amuk", "Amuq" or "Amaq Valley" (Arabic: ٱلْأَعْمَاق‎, romanized: al-ʾAʿmāq), is located in the Hatay Province, close to the city of Antakya (Antioch on the Orontes River) in the southern part of Turkey. Along with Dabiq in north western Syria, it is believed to be one of two possible sites of the battle of Armageddon according to Islamic eschatology.[1][2][3][4][5]

Amik Valley
Al-ʾAʿmāq (ٱلْأَعْمَاق)
Shown within Turkey
Amik Valley (Middle East)
Amik Valley (Asia)
Alternative nameAmuk Valley
Amuq Valley
Amouq Valley
Amaq Valley
LocationAntakya, Turkey
RegionAsh-Shaam
Coordinates36.33°N 36.33°E / 36.33; 36.33
TypeCluster of Tells
History
PeriodsPPNB, Neolithic
Site notes
ConditionRuins
Public accessYes

Archaeological significance

It is notable for a series of archaeological sites in the "plain of Antioch".[6] The primary sites of the series are Tell al-Judaidah, Çatalhöyük (Amuq) (not to be confused with Çatalhöyük in Anatolia), Tell Tayinat, Tell Kurdu, Alalakh, and Tell Dhahab.[7] Tell Judaidah was surveyed by Robert Braidwood and excavated by C. MacEwan of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago in the 1930s.[8][9]

There is also archaeological evidence for Caspian tigers in this valley (Ellerman and Morrison-Scott, 1951; Vallino and Guazzo Albergoni, 1978).[10]

Islamic eschatology

In a hadith, Abu Hurayrah (a companion of the Islamic Nabi (Prophet) Muhammad) reported that Muhammad said:

The Last Hour would not come until the Romans land at al-A'maq or in Dabiq. An army consisting of the best of the people of Earth at that time will come from Medina (to counteract them).

— Sahih Muslim, Volume 41, Chapter 9, Hadith 6924[11]

Islamic scholars and hadith commentators suggest that the word "Romans" refers to Christians.[12] The hadith further relates the subsequent Muslim victory, followed by the peaceful takeover of Constantinople with invocations of takbir and tasbih, and finally the defeat of the Anti-Christ following the return and descent of Jesus Christ.[13][14] Other hadiths relate the appearance of Imam Mahdi immediately before the Second Coming of Jesus.[15]

See also

References
  1. "MELHAME-İ KÜBRA (ARMAGEDDON) SAVAŞI". Archived from the original on 2015-12-12. Retrieved 2015-09-11.
  2. Amik Ovası ve Armageddon Savaşı (in Turkish)
  3. IŞİD’in nihai hedefi (in Turkish)
  4. MELHAME-İ KÜBRA / BÜYÜK SAVAŞ (in Turkish)
  5. Büyük savaş melhamei kübra (in Turkish)
  6. Robert John Braidwood; Richard C. Haines; Linda S. Braidwood (1971). Excavations in the Plain of Antioch. University of Chicago Press. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  7. Robert John Braidwood; Richard C. Haines; Linda S. Braidwood (August 1971). Excavations in the Plain of Antioch: The structural remains of the later phases, Chatal Hüyük, Tell Al-Judaidah, and Tell Taʻyinat, by R.C. Haines. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226621982. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  8. Joseph Ward Swain (1950). The ancient world. Harper. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  9. Krijna Nelly Ciggaar; David Michael Metcalf (2006). East and West in the Medieval Eastern Mediterrean: Antioch from the Byzantine reconquest until the end of the Crusader principality. Peeters Publishers. pp. 323–. ISBN 9789042917354. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  10. Masseti, M. (2009). "Carnivores of Syria". In E. Neubert; Z. Amr; S. Taiti; B. Gümüs (eds.). Animal Biodiversity in the Middle East. Proceedings of the First Middle Eastern Biodiversity Congress, Aqaba, Jordan, 20–23 October 2008. ZooKeys. ZooKeys 31: 229–252. pp. 229–252. doi:10.3897/zookeys.31.170.
  11. Sahih Muslim, per Abu Huraira from Quran/Hadith study site: The Only Quran. Retrieved 16 November 2014
  12. Farzana Hassan (15 Jan 2008). Prophecy and the Fundamentalist Quest: An Integrative Study of Christian and Muslim Apocalyptic Religion (illustrated ed.). McFarland. p. 41. ISBN 9780786480791.
  13. Farzana Hassan (15 Jan 2008). Prophecy and the Fundamentalist Quest: An Integrative Study of Christian and Muslim Apocalyptic Religion (illustrated ed.). McFarland. pp. 41–2. ISBN 9780786480791.
  14. Muhammad Saed Abdul-Rahman (2009). The Meaning and Explanation of the Glorious Qur'an (Vol 2) (2 ed.). MSA Publication Limited. pp. 311–12. ISBN 9781861797667.
  15. Sonn (2004) p. 209


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