Al-Qaryatayn
city in Syria
Al-Qaryatayn (Arabic: ٱلْقَرْيَتَين), also spelled Karyatayn, Qaratin or Cariatein, is a town in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate located southeast of Homs. It is situated on an oasis in the Syrian Desert. Nearby localities include Tadmur (Palmyra) to the northeast, Furqlus to the north, al-Riqama and Dardaghan to the northwest, Mahin, Huwwarin and Sadad to the west, Qarah, Deir Atiyah and al-Nabk to the southwest and Jayrud to the south. Al-Qaryatayn translates as "the two villages".
According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Qaryatayn had a population of 14,208 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center of the al-Qaryatayn nahiyah ("subdistrict") which consists of three localities with a collective population of 16,795 in 2004. Its inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims and Syriac Christians.
History
Antiquity
There are numerous Greco-Roman-era buildings located in al-Qaryatayn, including an extensive sanitarium known as Hamaam Balkis ("Bath of Sheba"). During Roman rule, it served as a popular health resort, and a base for the legionary cavalry unit "Equites Promoti Indigenae". There are also a number of Corinthian columns and marble ornaments that date from this era, when nearby Palmyra was a major city in the region; Palmyrene inscriptions were found in the city written by Palmyrene residents and dedicated to the "Great God of Nazala".
The public source identifies “Al-Qaryatayn” as city in Syria. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Al-Qaryatayn, city and Syria.
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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 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4703079. Authority coordinates are 34.229, 37.241. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2004.
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This entry incorporates text from “Al-Qaryatayn” 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.