Arabic Ḥalab
City (pop., 1994: 1,582,930), northwestern Syria.
Syria's largest city, it is about 30 mi (48 km) from the Turkish border. Lying at the crossroads of great commercial routes, it has long been inhabited and is first mentioned at the end of the 3rd millennium BC. It subsequently came under the control of many kingdoms, including the Seleucid dynasty , under which it was renamed Beroea. Absorbed into the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC, it prospered for several centuries. In AD 637 it was conquered by the Arabs, under whom it reverted to its old name, Ḥalab. The city successfully defended itself from the Crusaders (1124), fell to the Mongol s (1260), and finally was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire (1516). Modern Aleppo is an industrial and intellectual centre rivaling the Syrian capital, Damascus .