or Homs ancient Emesa
City (pop., 1994: 540,133), central Syria.
It is located near the Orontes River . As Emesa, it contained a large temple to the sun god El Gebal and was the birthplace of the priest-king Elagabalus , who became Roman emperor in AD 218. The emperor Aurelian defeated Queen Zenobia of Palmyra there in 272. It was taken in 636 by the Muslims, who renamed it 1E24; im 1E63; . In 1516 it passed into Ottoman hands, where it remained until the creation of Syria after World War I (191418). 1E24; im 1E63; is a thriving agricultural market centre and has oil and sugar refineries. It is the central link between the interior cities and the Mediterranean Sea coast.