Ḥiṣn Maslama ("the fort of Maslama") was a small city in the upper Balikh River valley that was inhabited during the early Islamic period.[1][2][3] It was located at the present-day ruin site of Madīnat al-Fār, located 6 km east of the Balikh river near its junction with the Wadi Hamar.[1][2] The site consists of a northern enclosure and a southern extension.[1] Originally founded as a rural estate by the Umayyad general Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik in the 700s, it expanded significantly during the Abbasid period and grew into a small city.[2][3]
Location map Hisn Maslama is located in Diyar Mudar
No coins from Maslama's lifetime have been found at Hisn Maslama – he died in 738, and the earliest coin finds are from the 740s.[2][3] This is probably because Hisn Maslama was then a self-sufficient rural estate that had no need for local markets and therefore coins.[2][3] Hisn Maslama itself was probably the administrative center of Maslama's rural estates in the region, and when he retired from military service in 732 he probably came here.[2][3] The nearby small town of Bajadda to the south was granted by Maslama to one of his retainers around this time.[2] Architectural remains from the Umayyad period at Hisn Maslama are limited, consisting only of some construction beneath the central building in the site's northern enclosure.[1]
Under the Abbasids, the nature of Hisn Maslama changed from a rural estate to an urban settlement with a market economy using coins for everyday transactions.[2] As a result, coin finds are continuous until the 9th century.[2] The reason for Hisn Maslama's expansion, like other settlements in the area, is probably because Harun al-Rashid moved his court to Raqqa in 796, which created a new demand for agricultural produce and stimulated the region's economy in general.[2] Hisn Maslama may have served as a way-station and had a garrison during this time.[1]
The northern part of early Abbasid Hisn Maslama was enclosed by square city walls, 330x330m in length with projecting half-towers similar to the ones at Tall Mahra and al-Jarud.[2] These towers served almost no defensive purpose and instead seem to have been built as "symbols of urban pride and wealth in [a] small rural town".[3] Within the walls, the streets followed a rectilinear pattern and were lined by houses with courtyards.[1] A central building, on top of the earlier Umayyad remains, also dates from this period.[1] To the south of the north enclosure was a trapezoid-shaped extension, itself partly walled and probably also built during the early Abbasid period.[1][2] Structures identified in this area include a small bathhouse, a necropolis with an associated religious building, and an ornate building dated to the reign of Harun al-Rashid.[1] Hisn Maslama was provided with water from the Balikh by a canal, and large cisterns found at the site were probably used to store this water.[1]
The latest evidence of Hisn Maslama's occupation is in the late 9th century.[2] A single fragment of a counterfeit dirham of Nasibin, dated to 886-7, is the latest archaeological evidence.[2] At about the same time, the author Ahmad ibn al-Tayyib al-Sarakhsi visited Hisn Maslama in 884-5 and left a short description of the town.[2] Most likely, the reason for Hisn Maslama's decline was the political instability in the region: the Abbasid-Tulunid wars in the 880s and then conflict with the Shi'i Qarmatians in following years had a serious impact on the region.[2] The rule of the Hamdanids was also devastating; after they took Raqqa in 942, it no longer served as a garrison city for the Abbasids, and the loss of the soldiers and their disposable income meant that economic activity decreased in general.[2] Then with the immigration of the nomadic Banu Numayr in the mid-9th century, the irrigated agricultural base of the region was largely displaced with nomadic pastoralism and the monetary economy shrank dramatically to the lowest level since ancient times.[2]
Although the place name element "Hisn" (meaning "fortified place") was often omitted by contemporary authors (such as Hisn al-Tinat, "the castle of the figs", which al-Muqaddasi refers to as simply "Tinat"), Hisn Maslama was always referred to by its full name.[4] This is probably because if the "Hisn" part got dropped, then it would just be a person's name, Maslama, which would have been confusing.[4]Hisn Mansur was another place that followed a similar pattern.[4]
