Tabqa
town in Siria
Tabqa (Arabic: ٱلطَّبْقَة, romanized: aṭ-Ṭabaqah), formerly Al-Thawrah, is a city in Raqqa Governorate, Syria, approximately 55 kilometres (34 mi) west of Raqqa. Until the 1960s it had been a relatively small settlement. The city had a population of 69,425 as of the 2004 census.
Etymology
Since the fall of the Assad regime, the city has officially reverted to its original name, Tabqa. The name literally means "the layer" or "the stratum" in Arabic, and likely refers to the geographic or topographic features of the area, such as stepped terrain or layered rock formations along the Euphrates, where the city and dam are located.
Prior to the fall of the Assad regime and after the 1963 Syrian coup d'état, on 8 March 1967, the city was renamed al-Thawrah (Arabic: ٱلثَّوْرَة, romanized: ad-Ṭhawrah), meaning The Revolution, in honor of the 1963 Syrian coup d'état and the Ba'athist ideological vision.
History
Syrian civil war
On 26 November 2012, during the Syrian civil war, a main route from Raqqa to Aleppo passing through Tabqa along the Euphrates was dotted with both government and Syrian rebel checkpoints. On 11 February 2013, Syrian opposition rebel groups including the jihadist al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front and Liwa Owais al-Qorani took over the city. On 21 November, there was fierce fighting between government troops and rebels in the town, but by 25 November, the rebels were back in control.
In January 2014, The Islamic State took control of the city.
The public source identifies “Tabqa” as town in Siria. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Tabqa, town and Siria.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Tabqa”, the useful work is to connect “town in Siria” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1822804. VIAF identifies the subject as 126881808. The Library of Congress control number is n2006002135. Authority coordinates are 35.834, 38.546. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2004, 1963, 1967 and 2012.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Tabqa”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Tabqa primary sources, Tabqa archive and Tabqa research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Tabqa”?
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- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Tabqa” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.