Editing Aleppo (section)

==History==
{{main|Ancient City of Aleppo|Timeline of Aleppo|List of rulers of Aleppo}}

===Pre-history and pre-classical era===
{{main|Armi (Syria)|Yamhad|Yamhad dynasty}}
[[File:Mosques and minarets of Aleppo, Syria.jpg|thumb|left|[[Ancient City of Aleppo|The old town of Aleppo]]]]
Aleppo has scarcely been touched by archaeologists, since the modern city occupies its ancient site. The earliest occupation of the site was around 8,000 BC, as shown by excavations in Tallet Alsauda.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dailysabah.com/history/2015/12/07/meet-some-of-the-worlds-oldest-continually-inhabited-cities |title=Meet some of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities |website=[[Daily Sabah]] |date=7 December 2015 |access-date=9 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820032133/http://www.dailysabah.com/history/2015/12/07/meet-some-of-the-worlds-oldest-continually-inhabited-cities |archive-date=20 August 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Aleppo appears in historical records as an important city much earlier than [[Damascus]]. The first record of Aleppo comes from the third millennium BC, in the [[Ebla tablets]] when Aleppo was referred to as '''Ha-lam''' (𒄩𒇴).<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hFRwonqqNCUC&pg=PA250 |title=Orientalia: Vol. 63 |author=Alfonso Archi |publisher=Gregorian Biblical BookShop |page=250 |year=1945 |access-date=12 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016214635/https://books.google.com/books?id=hFRwonqqNCUC&pg=PA250 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Some historians, such as [[Wayne Horowitz]], identify Aleppo with the capital of an independent kingdom closely related to [[Ebla]], known as [[Armi (Syria)|Armi]],<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9bbgJzacoJYC&pg=PA482 |title=6 ICAANE |author1=Paolo Matthiae |author2=Licia Romano |year=2010 |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=978-3-447-06175-9 |page=482 |access-date=12 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016214635/https://books.google.com/books?id=9bbgJzacoJYC&pg=PA482 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> although this identification is contested. The main temple of the storm god [[Hadad]] was located on the citadel hill in the center of the city,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xno9AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA111 |title=Ancient Syria: A Three Thousand Year History |author=Trevor Bryce |page=111 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-964667-8 |date=2014 |access-date=12 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610161033/https://books.google.com/books?id=Xno9AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA111 |archive-date=10 June 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> when the city was known as the city of '''Hadad'''.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AaZg0ypYrnQC&pg=PA264 |title=Ebla and its Landscape: Early State Formation in the Ancient Near East |author1=Paolo Matthiae |author2=Nicoló Marchetti |page=250 |publisher=Left Coast Press |isbn=978-1-61132-228-6 |date=2013-05-31 |access-date=12 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016214636/https://books.google.com/books?id=AaZg0ypYrnQC&pg=PA264 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Udgravning (Citadellet Aleppo).jpg|thumb|Hadad Temple inside [[Aleppo Citadel]]]]
[[Naram-Sin of Akkad]] mentioned his destruction of [[Ebla]] and [[Armanum]],<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P8fl8BXpR0MC&pg=PA82 |first=Wayne |last=Horowitz |title=Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography |publisher=Eisenbrauns |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-931464-99-7 |page=82 |access-date=19 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424075219/https://books.google.com/books?id=P8fl8BXpR0MC&pg=PA82 |archive-date=24 April 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> in the 23rd century BC.<ref>Pettinato, Giovanni (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991) ''Ebla, a new look at history'' p.135</ref><ref name="Hawkins, John David 2000 p.388">Hawkins, John David (2000) ''Inscriptions of the iron age'' p.388</ref> However, the identification of Armani in the inscription of Naram-Sim as Armi in the Eblaite tablets is heavily debated,<ref name=Herzl>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Rwals-oh6kC&pg=PA63 |title=Eblaitica: Essays on the Ebla Archives and Eblaite Language, Volume 4 |author1=Cyrus Herzl Gordon |author2=Gary Rendsburg |author3=Nathan H. Winter |page=63,64,65,66 |isbn=978-1-57506-060-6 |year=1990 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |access-date=12 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016214635/https://books.google.com/books?id=0Rwals-oh6kC&pg=PA63 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> as there was no Akkadian annexation of Ebla or northern Syria.<ref name=Herzl/>

In the [[First Babylonian dynasty|Old Babylonian]] and [[Old Assyrian Empire]] period, Aleppo's name appears in its original form as Ḥalab (Ḥalba) for the first time.<ref name="Hawkins, John David 2000 p.388"/> Aleppo was the capital of the important [[Amorite]] dynasty of [[Yamhad|Yamḥad]]. The kingdom of Yamḥad (c. 1800–1525 BC), alternatively known as the 'land of Ḥalab,' was one of the most powerful in the Near East during the reign of [[Yarim-Lim I]], who formed an alliance with [[Hammurabi]] of [[Babylonia]] against [[Shamshi-Adad I]] of [[Assyria]].<ref>Kuhrt, Amélie (1998) ''The ancient Near East'' p.100</ref>

====Hittite period====
Yamḥad was devastated by the [[Hittites]] under [[Mursili I]] in the 16th century BC. However, it soon resumed its leading role in the Levant when the Hittite power in the region waned due to internal strife.<ref name="Hawkins, John David 2000 p.388"/>

Taking advantage of the power vacuum in the region, [[Baratarna]], king of the [[Hurrian]] kingdom of [[Mitanni]] instigated a rebellion that ended the life of Yamhad's last king [[Ilim-Ilimma I]] in c. 1525 BC,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=41-MAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA34 |title=Ancient Syria: A Three Thousand Year History |author=Trevor Bryce |page=34 |year=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-100293-9}}</ref> Subsequently, Parshatatar conquered Aleppo and the city found itself on the frontline in the struggle between the Mitanni, the Hittites and [[ancient Egypt|Egypt]].<ref name="Hawkins, John David 2000 p.388"/> [[Niqmepa, King of Alalakh|Niqmepa]] of [[Alalakh]] who descends from the old Yamhadite kings controlled the city as a vassal to Mitanni and was attacked by [[Tudhaliya I]] of the Hittites as a retaliation for his alliance to Mitanni.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Agg5-lpVI2MC&pg=PA152 |year=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-924010-4 |title=The Kingdom of the Hittites |author=Trevor Bryce |page=152 |access-date=12 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016214635/https://books.google.com/books?id=Agg5-lpVI2MC&pg=PA152 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Later the Hittite king [[Suppiluliumas I]] permanently defeated Mitanni, and conquered Aleppo in the 14th century BC. Suppiluliumas installed his son [[List of rulers of Aleppo#The Hittite Dynasty|Telepinus]] as king and a dynasty of Suppiluliumas descendants ruled Aleppo until the [[Late Bronze Age collapse]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6TwiY96cunQC&pg=PA388 |year=2000 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-080420-1 |title=Inscriptions of the Iron Age: Part 1 |author=John David Hawkins |page=388 |access-date=12 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623161755/https://books.google.com/books?id=6TwiY96cunQC&pg=PA388 |archive-date=23 June 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> However, Talmi-Šarruma, grandson of Suppiluliumas I, who was the king of Aleppo, had fought on the Hittite side, along with king [[Muwatalli II]] during the [[Battle of Kadesh]] against the Egyptian army led by [[Ramesses II]].{{efn|Rimisharrinaa was also reported to be the king of Aleppo at that time.{{sfn|Elliott|2020|p=117}}}}
 
[[File:Al_Qaiqan-Moschee3.JPG|thumb|[[Al-Qaiqan Mosque]] was originally a Hittite pagan temple during ancient times; in addition, a stone block with [[Anatolian hieroglyphs]] can be found on the southern wall.]]
Aleppo had [[cult]]ic importance to the Hittites as the center of worship of the [[Teshub|Storm-God]].<ref name="Hawkins, John David 2000 p.388"/> This religious importance continued after the collapse of the Hittite empire at the hands of the [[Assyria]]ns and [[Phrygians]] in the 12th century BC, when Aleppo became part of the [[Middle Assyrian Empire]],<ref name="bryce3">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q8Z7AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA111 |year=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-100292-2 |title=Ancient Syria: A Three Thousand Year History |author=Trevor Bryce |page=111 |access-date=12 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016214636/https://books.google.com/books?id=q8Z7AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA111 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> whose king renovated the temple of Hadad which was discovered in 2003.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YMxY_hfXkCQC&pg=PA130 |year=2006 |publisher=Peeters Publishers |isbn=978-90-429-1817-7 |title=A New Luwian Stele and the Cult of the Storm-god at Til Barsib-Masuwari |author=Guy Bunnens |page=130 |access-date=12 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016214636/https://books.google.com/books?id=YMxY_hfXkCQC&pg=PA130 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2003, a statue of a king named Taita bearing inscriptions in [[Luwian language|Luwian]] was discovered during excavations conducted by German archeologist Kay Kohlmeyer in the [[Citadel of Aleppo]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YMxY_hfXkCQC&pg=PA130 |title=A New Luwian Stele and the Cult of the Storm-god at Til Barsib-Masuwari |author=Guy Bunnens |page=130 |isbn=9789042918177 |year=2006 |publisher=Peeters Publishers |access-date=12 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016214636/https://books.google.com/books?id=YMxY_hfXkCQC&pg=PA130 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> The new readings of Anatolian hieroglyphic signs proposed by the Hittitologists Elisabeth Rieken and Ilya Yakubovich were conducive to the conclusion that the country ruled by Taita was called [[Palistin]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rieken |first1=Elisabeth |last2=Yakubovich |first2=Ilya |year=2010 |editor-last=Singer |editor-first=I. |title=The New Values of Luwian Signs L 319 and L 172 |url=https://www.academia.edu/617478 |journal=Ipamati Kistamati Pari Tumatimis: Luwian and Hittite Studies Presented to J. David Hawkins on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday |publisher=Institute of Archaeology |location=Tel-Aviv |access-date=1 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029010330/https://www.academia.edu/617478/The_New_Values_of_Luwian_Signs_L_319_and_L_172 |archive-date=29 October 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> This country extended in the 11th-10th centuries BC from the [[Amik Valley|Amouq Valley]] in the west to Aleppo in the east down to [[Maharda]] and [[Shaizar]] in the south.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q8Z7AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA111 |title=Ancient Syria: A Three Thousand Year History |author=Trevor Bryce |page=111 |isbn=9780191002922 |date=2014-03-06 |publisher=OUP Oxford |access-date=12 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016214636/https://books.google.com/books?id=q8Z7AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA111 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Due to the similarity between Palistin and Philistines, [[Hittitologist]] John David Hawkins (who translated the Aleppo inscriptions) hypothesizes a connection between the [[Syro-Hittite states]] Palistin and the Philistines, as do archaeologists Benjamin Sass and Kay Kohlmeyer.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gBCl2IQfNioC&pg=PA662 |title=The Philistines and Other "Sea Peoples" in Text and Archaeology |author=Ann E. Killebrew |page=662 |isbn=9781589837218 |date=2013-04-21 |publisher=Society of Biblical Lit |access-date=1 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190520075325/https://books.google.com/books?id=gBCl2IQfNioC&pg=PA662 |archive-date=20 May 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Gershon Galil]] suggests that King David halted the Arameans' expansion into the Land of Israel on account of his alliance with the southern Philistine kings, as well as with Toi, king of Ḥamath, who is identified with Tai(ta) II, king of Palistin (the northern Sea Peoples).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.haifa.ac.il/index.php/en/2012-12-16-11-30-12/new-media/900-the-history-of-king-david-in-light-of-new-epigraphic-and-archeological-data |title=The History of King David in Light of New Epigraphic and Archeological Data |access-date=1 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001070407/https://www.haifa.ac.il/index.php/en/2012-12-16-11-30-12/new-media/900-the-history-of-king-david-in-light-of-new-epigraphic-and-archeological-data |archive-date=1 October 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

====State of Bit Agusi====
During the early years of the 1st millennium BC, Aleppo was incorporated into the [[Arameans|Aramean]] realm of [[Bit Agusi]], which held its capital at [[Arpad, Syria|Arpad]].<ref name="Lipinsky, Edward 2000. p. 195">Lipinsky, Edward, 2000.'' The Aramaeans: Their Ancient History, Culture, Religion'' (Peeters), p. 195.</ref> Bit Agusi along with Aleppo and the entirety of the Levant was conquered by the [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] in the 8th century BC and became part of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] during the reign of [[Tiglath-Pileser III]] until the late 7th century BC,<ref name="Healy, Mark 1992 p. 25">Healy, Mark (1992). ''The Ancient Assyrians'' (Osprey) p. 25.</ref> before passing through the hands of the [[Neo-Babylonian]]s and the [[Achaemenid|Achaemenid Persians]].<ref name="Kipfer, Barbara Ann 2000 p. 626">Kipfer, Barbara Ann (2000). ''Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology''. p. 626.</ref> The region remained known as [[Aramea]] and [[Eber Nari]] throughout these periods.

=== Classical antiquity (Beroea) ===
[[File:TabulaPeutingeriana-berya.jpg|thumb|Beroea as it is shown in [[Tabula Peutingeriana]]]]
[[File:Brad Northern Basilica.jpg|thumb|The ruins of the [[Maronite]] basilica in [[Barad, Syria|Barad]]]]
[[Alexander the Great]] took over the city in 333 BC. [[Seleucus Nicator]] established a [[Hellenic Republic|Hellenic]] settlement in the site between 301 and 286 BC. He called it ''Beroea'' (Βέροια), after [[Veria|Beroea]] in [[Macedon]]; it is sometimes spelled as Beroia. Beroea is mentioned in [[1 Maccabees|1 Macc.]] 9:4.

Northern Syria was the center of gravity of the Hellenistic world and Greek culture in the [[Seleucid Empire]]. As did other Greek cities of the Seleucid kingdom, Beroea probably enjoyed a measure of local autonomy, with a local civic assembly or ''[[Boule (ancient Greece)|boulē]]'' composed of free Hellenes.<ref name="Phenix, Robert R. 2008">Phenix, Robert R. (2008) ''The sermons on Joseph of [[Balai of Qenneshrin]]''</ref>

Beroea remained under Seleucid rule until 88 BC when Syria was conquered by the [[Armenian people|Armenian]] king [[Tigranes the Great]] and Beroea became part of the [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Kingdom of Armenia]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Savory |first=R. M. |title=Safavid Persia |date=1977 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-islam/safavid-persia/E475A272F197D060EC9C4696C5E99CEF |work=The Cambridge History of Islam: Volume undefined: The Central Islamic Lands from Pre-Islamic Times to the First World War |pages=394–429 |editor-last=Lambton |editor-first=Ann K. S. |series=The Cambridge History of Islam |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-29135-4 |access-date=2021-11-26 |editor2-last=Lewis |editor2-first=Bernard |editor3-last=Holt |editor3-first=P. M. |archive-date=19 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619103559/https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-islam/safavid-persia/E475A272F197D060EC9C4696C5E99CEF |url-status=live }}</ref> After the [[Roman Republic|Roman]] victory over Tigranes, Syria was handed over to [[Pompey]] in 64 BC, at which time they became a [[Roman Syria|Roman province]]. Rome's presence afforded relative stability in northern Syria for over three centuries. Although the province was administered by a [[legatus|legate]] from Rome, Rome did not impose its administrative organization on the Greek-speaking ruling class or [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] speaking populace.<ref name="Phenix, Robert R. 2008"/>

The Roman era saw an increase in the population of northern Syria that accelerated under the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]] well into the 5th century. In [[Late Antiquity]], Beroea was the second largest Syrian city after [[Antioch]], the capital of [[Roman Syria]] and the third largest city in the Roman world. Archaeological evidence indicates a high population density for settlements between Antioch and Beroea right up to the 6th century. This agrarian landscape still holds the remains of large estate houses and churches such as the [[Church of Saint Simeon Stylites]].<ref name="Phenix, Robert R. 2008"/>

===Ecclesiastical history===
[[File:Aleppo Citadel 10 - Mosque of Abraham.jpg|thumb|The Mosque of Abraham in the Citadel of Aleppo, originally built by the Byzantines as a church]]
The names of several bishops of the [[episcopal see]] of Beroea, which was in the [[Roman province]] of [[Syria Prima]], are recorded in extant documents. The first whose name survives is that of Saint [[Eustathius of Antioch]], who, after being bishop of Beroea, was transferred to the important [[metropolitan see]] of [[Patriarch of Antioch|Antioch]] shortly before the 325 [[First Council of Nicaea]]. His successor in Beroea Cyrus was for his fidelity to the Nicene faith sent into exile by the [[Roman Emperor]] [[Constantius II]]. After the [[Council of Seleucia]] of 359, called by Constantius, [[Meletius of Antioch]] was transferred from [[Sivas|Sebastea]] to Beroea but in the following year was promoted to Antioch. His successor in Beroea, Anatolius, was at a council in Antioch in 363. Under the persecuting Emperor [[Valens]], the bishop of Beroea was Theodotus, a friend of [[Basil the Great]]. He was succeeded by [[Acacius of Beroea]], who governed the see for over 50 years and was at the [[First Council of Constantinople]] in 381 and the [[Council of Ephesus]] in 431. In 438, he was succeeded by Theoctistus, who participated in the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in 451 and was a signatory of the joint letter that the bishops of the province of Syria Prima sent in 458 to Emperor [[Leo I the Thracian]] about the murder of [[Proterius of Alexandria]]. In 518, Emperor [[Justin I]] exiled the bishop of Beroea Antoninus for rejecting the Council of Chalcedon. The last known bishop of the see is Megas, who was at a synod called by [[Patriarch Menas of Constantinople]] in 536.<ref>Michel Lequien, [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_86weAemI-e4C ''Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus''] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010052512/https://books.google.com/books?id=86weAemI-e4C |date=10 October 2017 }}, Paris 1740, Vol. II, coll. 781–786</ref><ref>Raymond Janin, v. ''2. Berrhée'' in [http://booksnow.scholarsportal.info/ebooks/oca2/4/dictionnairedhis08bauduoft/dictionnairedhis08bauduoft.pdf ''Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques''] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029010330/http://booksnow.scholarsportal.info/ebooks/oca2/4/dictionnairedhis08bauduoft/dictionnairedhis08bauduoft.pdf |date=29 October 2019 }}, vol. VIII, 1935, coll. 887–888</ref> After the Arab conquest, Beroea ceased to be a residential bishopric, and is today listed by the [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]] as a [[titular see]].<ref>''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), p. 848</ref>

Very few physical remains have been found from the Roman and Byzantine periods in the Citadel of Aleppo. The two mosques inside the Citadel are known to have been converted by the [[Mirdasid dynasty|Mirdasids]] during the 11th century from churches originally built by the Byzantines.<ref name="Julia1">Gonnela, 2008, pp. 12–13</ref>

===Medieval period===
[[File:Bab Qinnasrin2010.jpg|thumb|The old walls of Aleppo and the [[Bab Qinnasrin|Gate of Qinnasrin]] restored in 1256 by [[An-Nasir Yusuf]]]]

====Early Islamic period====
The [[Sasanian Persia]]ns led by King [[Khosrow I]] pillaged and burned Aleppo in 540,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/content/aleppo |title=Aleppo |website=UNESCO |access-date=3 August 2020 |archive-date=10 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201010212416/https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/content/aleppo |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Aleppo |title=Aleppo |website=Britannica |date=9 May 2023 |access-date=3 August 2020 |archive-date=29 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729085943/https://www.britannica.com/place/Aleppo |url-status=live }}</ref> then they [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628|invaded and controlled]] Syria briefly in the early 7th century. Soon after Aleppo was [[Siege of Aleppo (637)|taken]] by the [[Rashidun Caliphate|Rashidun]] [[Early Muslim conquests|Muslims]] under [[Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah]] in 637. It later became part of [[Jund Qinnasrin]] under the [[Umayyad Caliphate]]. In 944, it became the seat of an independent Emirate under the [[Hamdanid]] prince [[Sayf al-Dawla]], and enjoyed a period of great prosperity, being home to the great poet [[al-Mutanabbi]] and the philosopher and [[polymath]] [[al-Farabi]].{{sfn|Burns|2016|pp=90–92}} In 962, the city was [[Sack of Aleppo (962)|sacked]] by the Byzantine general [[Nikephoros II Phokas|Nikephoros Phokas]].{{sfn|Burns|2016|pp=92–93}} Subsequently, the city and its emirate [[Treaty of Safar|became a temporary vassal]] of the Byzantine Empire. For the next few decades, the city was disputed by the [[Fatimid Caliphate]] and [[Byzantine Empire]], with the nominally independent Hamdanids in between, eventually falling to the Fatimids in 1017.{{sfn|Burns|2016|pp=96–99}} In 1024, [[Salih ibn Mirdas]] launched an attack on Fatimid Aleppo, and after a few months was invited into the city by its population.{{sfn|Burns|2016|p=99}} The [[Mirdasid dynasty]] then ruled the city until 1080, interrupted only in 1038–1042, when it was in the hands of the Fatimid commander-in-chief in Syria, [[Anushtakin al-Dizbari]], and in 1057–1060, when it was ruled by a Fatimid governor, [[Ibn Mulhim]]. Mirdasid rule was marked by internal squabbles between different Mirdasid chieftains that sapped the emirate's power and made it susceptible to external intervention by the Byzantines, Fatimids, [[Uqaylids]], and [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turkoman]] warrior bands.{{sfn|Bianquis|1993|pp=116–122}}

====Seljuq and Ayyubid periods====
In late 1077, Seljuk emir [[Tutush I]] launched a campaign to capture Aleppo during the reign of [[Sabiq ibn Mahmud]] of the [[Mirdasid dynasty]], which lasted until 1080, when his reinforcements were ambushed and routed by a coalition of Arab tribesmen led by [[Banu Kilab|Kilabi]] chief Abu Za'ida at [[Wadi Butnan]].{{sfn|Zakkar|1969|p=202}} After the death of [[Muslim ibn Quraysh|Sharaf al-Dawla]] of the [[Uqaylid dynasty]] in June 1085, the headman in Aleppo [[Sharif]] Hassan ibn Hibat Allah Al-Hutayti promised to surrender the city to Sultan [[Malik-Shah I]]. When the latter delayed his arrival, Hassan contacted the Sultan's brother Tutush. However, after Tutush defeated [[Suleiman ibn Qutalmish|Suleiman ibn Qutulmish]], who had intended to take Aleppo for himself, in the [[battle of Ain Salm]], Hassan went back on his commitment. In response, Tutush attacked the city and managed to get hold of parts of the walls and towers in July 1086, but he left in September, either due to the advance of Malik-Shah or because the Fatimids were besieging Damascus.{{sfn|Basan|2010|p=91}}{{sfn|Beihammer|2017|p=247}} In 1087, [[Aq Sunqur al-Hajib]] became the Seljuk governor of Aleppo under Sultan Malik Shah I.<ref name="Kamāl">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZV-6AAAAIAAJ |title=Zubdat al-ḥalab min tārīkh Ḥalab |author=Kamāl al-Dīn ʻUmar ibn Aḥmad Ibn al-ʻAdīm |year=1996 |access-date=15 February 2021 |archive-date=23 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923074247/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZV-6AAAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> During his bid for the Seljuk throne, Tutush had Aq Sunqur executed and after Tutush died in battle, the town was ruled by his son [[Fakhr al-Mulk Ridwan|Ridwan]].{{sfn|Basan|2010|p=99, 101}}{{sfn|Beihammer|2017|p=252,254}}

The [[Siege of Aleppo (1124)|city was besieged]] by [[Crusades|Crusaders]] led by the King of Jerusalem [[Baldwin II of Jerusalem|Baldwin II]] in 1124–1125, but was not conquered after receiving protection by forces of [[Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi|Aqsunqur al Bursuqi]] arriving from Mosul in January 1125.{{sfn|Burns|2016|pp=121–122}}

In 1128, Aleppo became capital of the expanding [[Zengid dynasty]], which ultimately conquered Damascus in 1154. In 1138, Byzantine emperor [[John II Komnenos]] led a campaign, which main objective was to capture the city of Aleppo. On 20 April 1138, the Christian army including Crusaders from [[Principality of Antioch|Antioch]] and [[County of Edessa|Edessa]] launched an [[Siege of Aleppo (1138)|attack on the city]] but found it too strongly defended, hence John II moved the army southward to take nearby fortresses.{{sfn|Runciman|1952|p=215}} On 11 October 1138, [[1138 Aleppo earthquake|a deadly earthquake]] ravaged the city and the surrounding area. Although estimates from this time are very unreliable, it is believed that 230,000 people died, making it the [[Lists of earthquakes#Deadliest earthquakes|seventh deadliest]] earthquake in recorded history.

In 1183, Aleppo came under the control of [[Saladin]] and then the [[Ayyubid dynasty]]. When the Ayyubids were toppled in Egypt by the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluks]], the Ayyubid emir of Aleppo [[An-Nasir Yusuf]] became sultan of the remaining part of the Ayyubid Empire. He ruled Syria from his seat in Aleppo until, on 24 January 1260,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Jackson, Peter |title=The Crisis in the Holy Land in 1260 |journal=[[The English Historical Review]] |volume=95 |date=July 1980 |pages=481–513 |issue=376 |doi=10.1093/ehr/XCV.CCCLXXVI.481}}</ref> the [[Siege of Aleppo (1260)|city was taken]] by the [[Mongols]] under [[Hulagu]] in alliance with their vassals the [[Franks|Frankish]] knights of the ruler of Antioch [[Bohemond VI]] and his father-in-law the [[Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia|Armenian]] ruler [[Hethum I, King of Armenia|Hethum I]].<ref>''Histoire des Croisades'', René Grousset, p. 581, {{ISBN|2-262-02569-X}}.</ref> The city was poorly defended by Turanshah, and as a result the walls fell after six days of siege, and the [[citadel]] fell four weeks later. The Muslim population was massacred and many Jews were also killed.<ref name="Shelemay1998">{{cite book |author=Kay Kaufman Shelemay |title=Let jasmine rain down: song and remembrance among Syrian Jews |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pgoFDZeHhF4C&pg=PA70 |year=1998 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-75211-2 |page=70 |access-date=12 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016214635/https://books.google.com/books?id=pgoFDZeHhF4C&pg=PA70 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Christian population was spared. Turanshah was shown unusual respect by the Mongols, and was allowed to live because of his age and bravery. The city was then given to the former Emir of [[Homs]], [[Al-Ashraf Musa, Emir of Homs|al-Ashraf]], and a Mongol garrison was established in the city. Some of the spoils were also given to Hethum I for his assistance in the attack. The Mongol Army then continued on to [[Damascus]], which surrendered, and the Mongols entered the city on 1 March 1260.{{sfn|Runciman|1987|p=307}}

====Mamluk period====
[[File:Souk Al Zirb Aleppo.jpg|thumb|Souq az-Zirb, where coins were struck during the Mamluk period]]
In September 1260, the Egyptian Mamluks negotiated for a treaty with the Franks of Acre which allowed them to pass through Crusader territory unmolested, and engaged the Mongols at the [[Battle of Ain Jalut]] on 3 September 1260. The Mamluks won a decisive victory, killing the Mongols' Nestorian Christian general [[Kitbuqa]], and five days later they had retaken Damascus. Aleppo was recovered by the Muslims within a month, and a Mamluk governor placed to govern the city. Hulagu sent troops to try to recover Aleppo in December. They were able to massacre a large number of Muslims in retaliation for the death of Kitbuqa, but after a fortnight could make no other progress and had to retreat.{{sfn|Runciman|1987|p=314}}

[[File:Al-Atroush Mosque, Aleppo.jpg|thumb|[[Al-Otrush Mosque]] of the Mamluk period]]
The Mamluk governor of the city became insubordinate to the central Mamluk authority in Cairo, and in Autumn 1261 the Mamluk leader [[Baibars]] sent an army to reclaim the city. In October 1271, the Mongols led by general [[Samagar]] took the city again, attacking with 10,000 horsemen from [[Anatolia]], and defeating the [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turcoman]] troops who were defending Aleppo. The Mamluk garrisons fled to [[Hama]], until Baibars came north again with his main army, and the Mongols retreated.{{sfn|Runciman|1987|pp=336–337}}

On 20 October 1280, the Mongols took the city again, pillaging the markets and burning the mosques.{{sfn|Burns|2016|p=179}} The Muslim inhabitants fled for Damascus, where the Mamluk leader [[Qalawun]] assembled his forces. When his army advanced following the [[Second Battle of Homs]] in October 1281, the Mongols again retreated, back across the [[Euphrates]]. In October 1299, [[Ghazan]] captured the city, joined by his vassal Armenian King [[Hethum II, King of Armenia|Hethum II]], whose forces included some [[Knights Templar|Templars]] and [[Knights Hospitaller|Hospitallers]].{{sfn|Demurger|2007|p=142}}

In 1400, the Mongol-Turkic leader [[Timur|Tamerlane]] [[Sack of Aleppo (1400)|captured the city]] again from the Mamluks.{{sfn|Runciman|1987|p=463}} He massacred many of the inhabitants, ordering the building of a tower of 20,000 skulls outside the city.<ref>[http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=Battle%20of%20Aleppo Battle of Aleppo@Everything2.com<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117131348/https://everything2.com/index.pl?node=Battle%20of%20Aleppo |date=17 January 2018 }}.</ref> After the withdrawal of the Mongols, all the Muslim population returned to Aleppo. On the other hand, Christians who left the city during the Mongol invasion, were unable to resettle back in their own quarter in the old town, a fact that led them to establish a new neighbourhood in 1420, built at the northern suburbs of Aleppo outside the city walls, to become known as ''[[Al-Jdayde|al-Jdeydeh]]'' quarter ("new district" {{langx|ar|جديدة|link=no}}).

===Ottoman era===
{{See also|Aleppo Eyalet}}
[[File:Khusruwiyah mosque and Aleppo view2.jpg|thumb|[[Khusruwiyah Mosque]] of the early Ottoman period]]
[[File:Alep. Prise de Bab Antakieh (publiée) MET DP-1757-027.jpg|thumb|right|1842 [[daguerreotype]] by [[Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey]] (the earliest photograph of the city)]]
Aleppo became part of the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1516 as part of the vast expansion of the Ottoman borders during the reign of [[Selim I]]. The city then had around 50,000 inhabitants, or 11,224 households according to an Ottoman census.<ref>"Population and Revenue in the Towns of Palestine in the Sixteenth Century"</ref> In 1517, Selim I obtained a fatwa from Sunnite religious leaders and unleashed violence on the [[Alawites]], killing 9,400 men, which is known as the [[Massacre of the Telal]].<ref>{{cite web |date=9 May 2017 |title=Ottoman Empire massacre against Alawites |url=http://sy-center.net/?p=1512 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423182731/http://sy-center.net/?p=1512 |archive-date=23 April 2019 |access-date=28 May 2018 |work=Syrian Center for Studies}}</ref> It was the centre of the [[Aleppo Eyalet]]; the rest of what later became Syria was part of either the eyalets of Damascus, Tripoli, Sidon or [[Rakka Eyalet|Raqqa]]. Following the Ottoman provincial reform of 1864 Aleppo became the centre of the newly constituted Vilayet of Aleppo in 1866.

Aleppo's agriculture was well-developed in the [[Ottoman Syria|Ottoman]] period. Archaeological excavations revealed water mills in its river basin.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wilkinson |first=Tony J. |title=The Archaeological Landscape of the Balikh Valley, Syria |url=https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/ar/91-00/95-96/95-96_BalikhValley.pdf |access-date=24 March 2022 |archive-date=24 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324183438/https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/ar/91-00/95-96/95-96_BalikhValley.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Chen |first=Yuan Julian |date=2021-10-11 |title=Between the Islamic and Chinese Universal Empires: The Ottoman Empire, Ming Dynasty, and Global Age of Explorations |url=https://www.academia.edu/59068575 |journal=Journal of Early Modern History |volume=25 |issue=5 |pages=422–456 |doi=10.1163/15700658-bja10030 |s2cid=244587800 |issn=1385-3783 |access-date=24 March 2022 |archive-date=17 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417192653/https://www.academia.edu/59068575 |url-status=live }}</ref> Contemporary Chinese source also suggests Aleppo in the Ottoman period had well-developed animal husbandry.<ref name=":1" />

During his travels to the Levant in the 17th century, French traveler Jacques Goujon recounted how the [[Maronites|Maronite]] community in Aleppo, facing financial difficulties and considering conversion to Islam due to their inability to pay the [[Jizya|jizya tax]], was aided by the [[Franciscans]] who bought their church, enabling them to meet their tax obligations.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last=Tramontana |first=Felicita |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvc16s06 |title=Passages of Faith: Conversion in Palestinian villages (17th century) |date=2014 |publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=978-3-447-10135-6 |edition=1 |pages=69–70 |chapter=III. Conversion to Islam in the villages of Dayr Abān and Ṣūbā |doi=10.2307/j.ctvc16s06.8|jstor=j.ctvc16s06 }}</ref>

Moreover, thanks to its strategic geographic location on the trade route between [[Anatolia]] and the east, Aleppo rose to high prominence in the Ottoman era, at one point being second only to [[Constantinople]] in the empire. By the middle of the 16th century, Aleppo had displaced [[Damascus]] as the principal market for goods coming to the Mediterranean region from the east. This is reflected by the fact that the [[Levant Company of London]], a joint-trading company founded in 1581 to monopolize England's trade with the Ottoman Empire, never attempted to settle a factor, or agent, in Damascus, despite having had permission to do so. Aleppo served as the company's headquarters until the late 18th century.<ref name="Masters 2009">Ágoston and Masters (2009), Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire</ref>

[[File:Aleppo Khan Shuneh.jpg|thumb|left|Khan al-Shouneh dating back to 1546]]
As a result of the economic development, many European states had opened consulates in Aleppo during the 16th and the 17th centuries, such as the consulate of the [[Republic of Venice]] in 1548, the consulate of [[Kingdom of France|France]] in 1562, the consulate of [[Kingdom of England|England]] in 1583 and the consulate of the [[Dutch Republic|Netherlands]] in 1613.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.panoramaline.com/aleppo-arab.htm |title=Aleppo in History (in Arabic) |publisher=Panoramaline.com |access-date=11 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315181143/http://www.panoramaline.com/aleppo-arab.htm |archive-date=15 March 2012}}</ref> The [[Armenians|Armenian]] community of Aleppo also rose to prominence in this period as they moved into the city to take up trade and developed the new quarter of Judayda.<ref>{{cite book |first=Elyse |last=Semerdjian |editor1-first=Stefan |editor1-last=Winter |editor2-first=Mafalda |editor2-last=Ade |title=Aleppo and its Hinterland in the Ottoman Period / Alep et sa province à l'époque ottomane |chapter=Armenians in the Production of Urban Space in Early Modern Judayda |year=2019 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-37902-2 |url=https://brill.com/view/title/38977 |access-date=5 September 2021 |archive-date=28 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128154204/https://brill.com/view/title/38977 |url-status=live }}pp. 28-61</ref> The most outstanding among Aleppine [[Armenian merchantry|Armenian merchants]] during the late 16th and early 17th centuries were [[Petik and Sanos|Khwaja Petik Chelebi]], the richest merchant in the city, and his brother [[Petik and Sanos|Khwaja Sanos Chelebi]], who monopolized Aleppine silk trade and were important patrons of the Armenians.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Aslanian |first1=Sebouh |title=From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean: The Global Trade Networks of Armenian Merchants from New Julfa |date=2011 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-94757-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mYAkDQAAQBAJ|page = 68}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1 = Sanjian|first1 = Avedis|title = The Armenian Communities in Syria under Ottoman Dominion|url = https://archive.org/details/Sanjian1965ACSOD|date = 1965|publisher = [[Harvard University Press]]|pages = 48–49, 261}}</ref>

[[File:Aleppo in Syrien - Peeters Jacob - 1690.jpg|thumb|left|Aleppo in 1690]] 
However, the prosperity Aleppo experienced in the 16th and 17th century started to fade as silk production in Iran went into decline with the fall of the [[Safavid dynasty]] in 1722. By mid-century, caravans were no longer bringing silk from Iran to Aleppo, and local Syrian production was insufficient for Europe's demand. European merchants left Aleppo and the city went into an economic decline that was not reversed until the mid-19th century when locally produced cotton and tobacco became the principal commodities of interest to the Europeans.<ref name="Masters 2009"/> According to [[Halil İnalcık]], "Aleppo ... underwent its worst catastrophe with the wholesale destruction of its villages by [[Bedouin]] raiding in the later years of the century, creating a long-running [[famine]] which by 1798 killed half of its inhabitants."<ref>Suraiya Faroqhi, Halil İnalcık, Donald Quataert (1997). "''[https://books.google.com/books?id=c00jmTrjzAoC&pg=PA651 An economic and social history of the Ottoman Empire] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029010330/https://books.google.com/books?id=c00jmTrjzAoC&pg=PA651 |date=29 October 2019 }}''". [[Cambridge University Press]]. p.651. {{ISBN|0-521-57455-2}}</ref>

The economy of Aleppo was badly hit by the opening of the [[Suez Canal]] in 1869. This, in addition to political instability that followed the implementation of significant reforms in 1841 by the central government, contributed to Aleppo's decline and the rise of Damascus as a serious economic and political competitor with Aleppo.<ref name="Masters 2009"/> The city nevertheless continued to play an important economic role and shifted its commercial focus from long-distance caravan trade to more regional trade in wool and agricultural products. This period also saw the immigration of numerous "Levantine" (European-origin) families who dominated international trade. Aleppo's mixed commercial tribunal (''ticaret mahkamesi''), one of the first in the Ottoman Empire, was set up around 1855.<ref>{{cite book |first=Mafalda |last=Ade |editor1-first=Stefan |editor1-last=Winter |editor2-first=Mafalda |editor2-last=Ade |title=Aleppo and its Hinterland in the Ottoman Period / Alep et sa province à l'époque ottomane |chapter=L’innovation judiciaire dans l’Empire ottoman : l’établissement d’un tribunal de commerce à Alep au milieu du XIXe siècle |year=2019 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-37902-2 |url=https://brill.com/view/title/38977 |access-date=5 September 2021 |archive-date=28 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128154204/https://brill.com/view/title/38977 |url-status=live }}pp. 175-203</ref>

[[File:1 Beit Gazaleh RCh 2010 DSC 1798.jpg|thumb|left|The 17th-century oriental mansion of [[Beit Ghazaleh]]]]
[[File:Haygazian Armenian School, Aleppo Armenian Quarter (2).jpg|thumb|Qalayet al-Mawarina alley at the Christian quarter in [[Al-Jdayde|Jdeydeh]], dating back to the early 17th century]]
Reference is made to the city in 1606 in William Shakespeare's ''Macbeth''. The witches torment the captain of the ship the ''Tiger'', which was headed to Aleppo from England and endured a 567-day voyage before returning unsuccessfully to port. Reference is also made to the city in Shakespeare's ''Othello'' when Othello speaks his final words (ACT V, ii, 349f.): "Set you down this/And say besides that in Aleppo once,/Where a malignant and a turbanned Turk/Beat a Venetian and traduced the state,/I took by th' throat the circumcised dog/And smote him—thus!" (Arden Shakespeare Edition, 2004). The English naval chaplain [[Henry Teonge]] describes in his diary a visit he paid to the city in 1675, when there was a colony of Western European merchants living there.
[[File:Alep 1850.jpg|thumb|250px|City walls and citadel of Aleppo (1850)]]

The city remained under Ottoman rule until the empire's collapse, but was occasionally riven with internal feuds as well as attacks of [[cholera]] from 1823. Around 20–25 percent of the population died of [[Plague (disease)|plague]] in 1827.<ref>Suraiya Faroqhi, Halil İnalcık, Donald Quataert (1997). "''[https://books.google.com/books?id=c00jmTrjzAoC&pg=PA788 An economic and social history of the Ottoman Empire] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029010331/https://books.google.com/books?id=c00jmTrjzAoC&pg=PA788 |date=29 October 2019 }}''". Cambridge University Press. p.788. {{ISBN|0-521-57455-2}}</ref> In 1850, a Muslim mob [[Massacre of Aleppo (1850)|attacked]] Christian neighbourhoods, tens of Christians were killed and several churches looted. Though this event has been portrayed as driven by pure sectarian principles, Bruce Masters argues that such analysis of this period of violence is too shallow and neglects the tensions that existed among the population due to the commercial favor afforded to certain [[Christianity in Syria|Christian minorities]] by the [[Tanzimat]] Reforms during this time which played a large role in creating antagonism between previously cooperative groups of Muslim and Christians in the eastern quarters of the city.<ref>Masters, Bruce. "The 1850 Events in Aleppo: The Aftershock of Syria's Incorporation into the Capitalist World System." ''International Journal of Middle East Studies'' 22, no. 1 (February 1990): 3–4.</ref> By 1901, the city's population was around 110,000.

In October 1918, Aleppo was [[Battle of Aleppo (1918)|captured]] by [[Feisal I of Iraq|Prince Feisal]]'s Sherifial Forces and the [[5th Cavalry Division (India)|5th Cavalry Division]] of the [[Allies of World War I|Allied forces]] from the Ottoman Empire during the [[World War I]]. At the end of war, the [[Treaty of Sèvres]] made most of the Province of Aleppo part of the newly established nation of [[Syria]], while Cilicia was promised by France to become an Armenian state. However, [[Kemal Atatürk]] annexed most of the Province of Aleppo as well as Cilicia to Turkey in his [[Turkish war of independence|War of Independence]]. The Arab residents in the province (as well as the Kurds) supported the Turks in this war against the French, including the leader of the [[Hananu Revolt]], [[Ibrahim Hananu]], who directly coordinated with Atatürk and received weaponry from him. The outcome, however, was disastrous for Aleppo, because as per the [[Treaty of Lausanne]], most of the Province of Aleppo was made part of Turkey with the exception of Aleppo and [[Alexandretta]];<ref name="atak5">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ttYVBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT149 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-8041-5347-8 |title=Eastward to Tartary |author=Robert D. Kaplan |page=149 |year=2014 |access-date=19 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010052607/https://books.google.com/books?id=ttYVBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT149 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> thus, Aleppo was cut from its northern satellites and from the Anatolian cities beyond on which Aleppo depended heavily in commerce. Moreover, the [[Sykes-Picot]] division of the Near East separated Aleppo from most of [[Mesopotamia]], which also harmed the economy of Aleppo.

===French mandate===
{{See also|State of Aleppo}}
[[File:General Gouraud marching in Aleppo.jpg|thumb|left|General [[Henri Gouraud (French Army officer)|Gouraud]] crossing through al-Khandaq street on 13 September 1920]]
The [[State of Aleppo]] was declared by French General [[Henri Gouraud (French Army officer)|Henri Gouraud]] in September 1920 as part of a French plan to make Syria easier to administer by dividing it into several smaller states. France became more concerned about the idea of a united Syria after the [[Battle of Maysaloun]].

By separating Aleppo from Damascus, Gouraud wanted to capitalize on a traditional state of competition between the two cities and turn it into political division. The people in Aleppo were unhappy with the fact that Damascus was chosen as capital for the new nation of Syria. Gouraud sensed this sentiment and tried to address it by making Aleppo the capital of a large and wealthier state with which it would have been hard for Damascus to compete. The State of Aleppo as drawn by France contained most of the fertile area of Syria: the fertile countryside of Aleppo in addition to the entire fertile basin of river [[Euphrates]]. The state also had access to sea via the autonomous [[Sanjak of Alexandretta]]. On the other hand, Damascus, which is basically an oasis on the fringes of the [[Syrian Desert]], had neither enough fertile land nor access to sea. Basically, Gouraud wanted to satisfy Aleppo by giving it control over most of the agricultural and mineral wealth of Syria so that it would never want to unite with Damascus again.<ref name="M. Andrew 1981">M. Andrew & Sydney Kanya-Forstner (1981) The climax of French imperial expansion, 1914–1924</ref><ref name="Fieldhouse, David Kenneth 2006">Fieldhouse, David Kenneth (2006) Western imperialism in the Middle East 1914–1958</ref> Damascus's relative economic weakness was further exacerbated by the economic success of Beirut during the 1920s, a territory part of the larger French Mandate at the time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schayegh |first=Cyrus |title=The Middle East and the making of the modern world |date=2017 |publisher=Harvard university press |isbn=978-0-674-08833-7 |location=Cambridge (Mass.)}}</ref>

[[File:Aleppo Grand Seray.jpg|thumb|[[Grand Serail of Aleppo|Grand Serail d'Alep]], originally planned to become the seat of the government of the short-lived [[State of Aleppo]]]]
The limited economic resources of the Syrian states made the option of completely independent states undesirable for France, because it threatened an opposite result: the states collapsing and being forced back into unity. This was why France proposed the idea of a Syrian federation that was realized in 1923. Initially, Gouraud envisioned the federation as encompassing all the states, even Lebanon. In the end however, only three states participated: Aleppo, [[State of Damascus|Damascus]], and the [[Alawite State]]. The capital of the federation was Aleppo at first, but it was relocated to Damascus. The president of the federation was [[Subhi Barakat]], an [[Antioch]]-born politician from Aleppo.
[[File:Quweik flood Aleppo.jpg|The Queiq River flood of 6 February 1922|200px|thumb]]

The federation ended in December 1924, when France merged Aleppo and Damascus into a single Syrian State and separated the Alawite State again. This action came after the federation decided to merge the three federated states into one and to take steps encouraging Syria's financial independence, steps which France viewed as too much.<ref name="M. Andrew 1981"/><ref name="Fieldhouse, David Kenneth 2006"/>
[[File:Aleppo Old Photo of Psot Office (1920s).jpg|thumb|200px|The central post office, 1920]]
[[File:Old trams in Aleppo.JPG|Tram line, put into operation in 1929|thumb|200px]]

When the [[Great Syrian Revolt|Syrian Revolt]] erupted in southern Syria in 1925, the French held in Aleppo State new elections that were supposed to lead to the breaking of the union with Damascus and restore the independence of Aleppo State. The French were driven to believe by pro-French Aleppine politicians that the people in Aleppo were supportive of such a scheme. After the new council was elected, however, it surprisingly voted to keep the union with Damascus. [[Syrian National Block|Syrian nationalists]] had waged a massive anti-secession public campaign that vigorously mobilized the people against the secession plan, thus leaving the pro-French politicians no choice but to support the union. The result was a big embarrassment for France, which wanted the secession of Aleppo to be a punitive measure against Damascus, which had participated in the Syrian Revolt, however, the result was respected. This was the last time that independence was proposed for Aleppo.<ref>LaMaziere, Pierre (1926) Partant pour la Syrie</ref>

Bad economic situation of the city after the separation of the northern countryside was exacerbated further in 1939 when [[Sanjak of Alexandretta|Alexandretta]] was annexed to Turkey as [[Hatay State]],<ref name="atak">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cO50m62MA8AC&pg=PT55 |title=Ataturk |author=Andrew Mango |page=55 |year=2011 |publisher=John Murray Press |isbn=9781848546189 |access-date=19 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010052810/https://books.google.com/books?id=cO50m62MA8AC&pg=PT55 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="atak3">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=smkXH4UwJOsC&pg=PA64 |title=Negotiating for the Past: Archaeology, Nationalism, and Diplomacy in the Middle East, 1919–1941 |author=James F. Goode |page=64 |year=2009 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0-292-77901-3 |access-date=19 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010053301/https://books.google.com/books?id=smkXH4UwJOsC&pg=PA64 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="atak4">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3dnGAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA58 |title=Turkish Foreign Policy: Islam, Nationalism, and Globalization |author=Hasan Kösebalaban |page=58 |year=2011 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-230-11869-0 |access-date=19 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010053324/https://books.google.com/books?id=3dnGAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA58 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> thus depriving Aleppo of its main port of [[Iskenderun]] and leaving it in total isolation within Syria.<ref name="doi_10.1093/ia/iix118">{{cite journal |author=[[I. William Zartman]] |url=https://academic.oup.com/ia/article/93/4/937/3897516?searchresult=1 |title=States, boundaries and sovereignty in the Middle East: unsteady but unchanging |journal=International Affairs |volume=93 |issue=4 |date=July 1, 2017 |pages=937–948 |doi=10.1093/ia/iix118 |issn=0020-5850 |access-date=May 17, 2021 |oclc=1005506048 |publisher=Oxford University Press |archive-date=7 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707170653/https://academic.oup.com/ia/article/93/4/937/3897516?searchresult=1 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Post-independence===
[[File:Aleppo Quwwatli.jpg|thumb|''Boulevard de France'', renamed after [[Shukri al-Quwatli]] upon the independence of Syria]]
The increasing disagreements between Aleppo and Damascus led eventually to the split of the [[Syrian National Block|National Block]] into two factions: the [[National Party (Syria)|National Party]], established in Damascus in 1946, and the [[People's Party (Syria)|People's Party]], established in Aleppo in 1948 by [[Rushdi al-Kikhya]], [[Nazim Qudsi]] and [[Mustafa Bey Barmada]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rothe |first=Wenja |date=January 1972 |title=Hvorfor blive ved med at interessere sig for Rorschach prøven?: En kommentar og nogle overvejelser vedrørende førskolebørns Rorschachprøver. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00291463.1972.11675812 |journal=Nordisk Psykologi |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=344–351 |doi=10.1080/00291463.1972.11675812 |issn=0029-1463 |access-date=28 October 2020 |archive-date=23 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923074731/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00291463.1972.11675812 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> An underlying cause of the disagreement, in addition to the union with Iraq, was Aleppo's intention to relocate the capital from Damascus. The issue of the capital became an open debate matter in 1950 when the Popular Party presented a constitution draft that called Damascus a "temporary capital."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ibtimes.com/syrias-assad-end-one-party-rule-410958 |title=Syria's Assad to 'End' One-Party Rule |date=15 February 2012 |website=ibtimes.com |access-date=15 April 2018 |archive-date=6 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306081100/http://www.ibtimes.com/syrias-assad-end-one-party-rule-410958 |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Aleppo 1950s.JPG|thumb|left|230px|[[Aleppo Public Park]] and adjacent highway, 1950]]
[[File:King Faisal street Aleppo 1950.jpg|thumb|left|230px|[[King Faisal Street]], 1950]]

The first [[coup d'état]] in modern Syrian history was carried out in March 1949 by an army officer from Aleppo, [[Hussni Zaim]]. However, lured by the absolute power he enjoyed as a dictator, Zaim soon developed a pro-Egyptian, pro-Western orientation and abandoned the cause of union with Iraq. This incited a second coup only four months after his.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wilford |first=Hugh |title=America's Great Game: The CIA's Secret Arabists and the Making of the Modern Middle East |publisher=Basic Books |year=2013 |isbn=9780465019656 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/americasgreatgam0000wilf/page/94 94, 101] |url=https://archive.org/details/americasgreatgam0000wilf/page/94}}</ref> The second coup, led by [[Sami Hinnawi]] (also officer from Aleppo), empowered the Popular Party and actively sought to realize the union with Iraq. The news of an imminent union with Iraq incited a third coup the same year: in December 1949, [[Adib Shishakli|Adib Shishakly]] led a coup preempting a union with Iraq that was about to be declared.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mardelli |first1=Bassil A. |title=Middle East Perspectives: Personal Recollections |date=16 April 2010 |publisher=iUniverse |location=New York Bloomington |isbn=978-1-4502-1118-5 |page=28 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=INl8jGsewjUC&q=adib+shishakli+mother+kurd&pg=PA28 |access-date=5 September 2021 |archive-date=23 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923074744/https://books.google.com/books?id=INl8jGsewjUC&q=adib+shishakli+mother+kurd&pg=PA28 |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Nasser addresses Aleppo, 1960.jpg|230px|thumb|left|Nasser's speech in Aleppo (1960)]]

Soon after Shishakly's domination ended in 1954, a [[United Arab Republic|union]] with Egypt under [[Gamal Abdul Nasser]] was implemented in 1958. The union, however, collapsed three and a half years later when a junta of young Damascene officers carried out a separatist coup. Aleppo resisted the separatist coup, but eventually it had no choice but to recognize the new government.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iIy5CgAAQBAJ&q=nawaf+ghazaleh&pg=PT606 |title=Understanding the Volatile and Dangerous Middle East: A Comprehensive Analysis |isbn=9781491766583 |last1=Carol |first1=Steven |date=25 August 2015 |publisher=iUniverse |access-date=7 July 2022 |archive-date=23 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923074826/https://books.google.com/books?id=iIy5CgAAQBAJ&q=nawaf+ghazaleh&pg=PT606 |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Syrien 1961 Aleppol 2.jpg|thumb|150px|Streets of Aleppo shortly after [[1961 Syrian coup d'état|1961 Coup d'état]]]]

In March 1963 a coalition of [[Baathist]]s, [[Nasserist]]s, and Socialists launched a new coup whose declared objective was to restore the union with Egypt. However, the new government only restored the flag of the union. Soon thereafter disagreement between the Baathists and the Nasserists over the restoration of the union became a crisis, and the Baathists ousted the Nasserists from power. The Nasserists, most of whom were from the Aleppine middle class, responded with an insurgency in Aleppo in July 1963.

Again, the Ba'ath government tried to absorb the dissent of the Syrian middle class (whose center of political activism was Aleppo) by putting to the front [[Amin al-Hafiz]], a Baathist military officer from Aleppo.<ref>{{cite news |title=Amin al-Hafez obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2010/feb/16/syria |work=The Guardian |access-date=31 May 2012 |agency=Associated Press |date=16 February 2010 |location=London |archive-date=9 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130909123147/http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2010/feb/16/syria |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Tilel street old pic, Aleppo.jpg|thumb|Tilel street, 1970s|200px]]

President [[Hafez al-Assad]], who came to power in 1970, relied on support from the business class in Damascus.<ref>Seale, Patrick (1990) Asad: The Struggle for the Middle East</ref> This gave Damascus further advantage over Aleppo, and hence Damascus came to dominate the Syrian economy. The strict centralization of the Syrian state, the intentional direction of resources towards Damascus, and the hegemony Damascus enjoys over the Syrian economy made it increasingly hard for Aleppo to compete. Despite this, Aleppo remained a nationally important economic and cultural center.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200725024213/http://www.cbssyr.org/economy%20statistics/Foreign%20Investment/2008/m-tab7.htm The centralization of Economy in Syria]</ref>

[[File:Aleppo View.jpg|General view of the city from the Citadel (1989)|thumb|250px]]
On 16 June 1979 thirty-two military cadets were [[Aleppo Artillery School massacre|massacred]] by antigovernmental Islamist rebel group [[Syrian Muslim Brotherhood|Muslim Brotherhood]].{{sfnp|Seale|1989|p=316}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Conduit |first=Dara |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1112495832 |title=The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria |date=2019 |isbn=978-1-108-75832-1 |location=Cambridge, U.K. |pages=101 |oclc=1112495832}}</ref> In the subsequent violence around fifty people were killed.<ref>[[Middle East International]] No 103, 6 July 1979; pp.12-13</ref> On 10 July a further twenty-two Syrian soldiers were killed.<ref>Middle East International No 104, 20 July 1979; pp.13-14</ref> Both terrorist attacks were part of the [[Islamist uprising in Syria]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lia |first=Brynjar |date=2016-10-01 |title=The Islamist Uprising in Syria, 1976–82: The History and Legacy of a Failed Revolt |journal=British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=546 |doi=10.1080/13530194.2016.1139442 |s2cid=146869114 |issn=1353-0194}}</ref> In 1980, events escalated into the [[Siege of Aleppo (1980)|a large-scale military operation]] in Aleppo, where Syrian government responded with military and security forces, sending in tens of thousands of troops backed by tanks, armored vehicles and helicopters.<ref name="Things Fall Apart p153">{{cite book |last1=Byman |first1=Daniel |last2=Pollack |first2=Kenneth Michael |title=Things Fall Apart: Containing the Spillover from an Iraqi Civil War |url=https://archive.org/details/thingsfallapartc00byma |url-access=limited |year=2008 |publisher=Brookings Institution Press |location=Washington D.C. |page=[https://archive.org/details/thingsfallapartc00byma/page/n169 153] |isbn=9780815713791}}</ref> Several hundred rebels were killed in and around city and eight thousand were arrested. By February 1981, the Islamist uprising in the city of Aleppo was suppressed.{{sfnp|Carré |Michaud |1983 |pages=141–146}}

Since the late 1990s, Aleppo has become one of the fastest growing cities in the Levant and the Middle East.<ref name="acad" /> The opening of the industrial city of [[Shaykh Najjar]] and the influx of new investments and flow of the new industries after 2004 also contributed to the development of the city.<ref>Oxford Business Group. (2011). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=oDz9juos_tkC&q=Sheik+Najjar+Aleppo The Report: Syria 2011] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923075255/https://books.google.com/books?id=oDz9juos_tkC&q=Sheik+Najjar+Aleppo |date=23 September 2023 }}''. Oxford Business Group. pp. 149–152.</ref> In 2006, Aleppo was named by the [[Islamic Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization]] (ISESCO) as the capital of Islamic culture.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aleppo-cic.sy/ |title=ﺣﻠﺐ ﻋﺎﺻﻤﺔ ﺍﻟﺜﻘﺎﻓﺔ ﺍﻟﺈﺳﻠﺎﻣﻴﺔ-Aleppo the Capital of Islamic Culture |access-date=2008-07-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705113151/http://www.aleppo-cic.sy/ |archive-date=5 July 2008}}. Retrieved 1 February 2010.</ref>

===Syrian civil war===
{{Main|Syrian civil war|Battle of Aleppo (2012–2016)}}
[[File:Saadallah al-Jabiri square, Aleppo, after the explosion of October 2012.jpg|thumb|The scene at [[Saadallah al-Jabiri Square]] after being targeted by Al-Nusra Front in October 2012]]

On 12 August 2011, some months after protests had begun elsewhere in Syria, anti-government protests were held in several districts of Aleppo, including the city's Sakhour district. During this demonstration, which included tens of thousands of protesters, security forces shot and killed at least twelve people.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Martin Chulov in Beirut |author2=Nour Ali |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/12/syria-violence-spreads-aleppo |title=Syria violence spreads to commercial capital Aleppo &#124; World news |work=The Guardian |date=12 August 2011 |access-date=11 March 2012 |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930192526/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/12/syria-violence-spreads-aleppo |archive-date=30 September 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> Two months later, a pro-government demonstration was held in [[Saadallah Al-Jabiri Square]], in the heart of the city. According to the ''New York Times'', the 11 October 2011 rally in support of [[Bashar al-Assad]] was attended by large crowds,<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/world/middleeast/assad-supporters-hold-rally-in-aleppo-syria.html |work=The New York Times |first=Nada |last=Bakri |author-link=Nada Bakri |title=Pro-Assad Rally Shows Syrian Government Can Still Command Support |date=19 October 2011 |access-date=14 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215064143/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/world/middleeast/assad-supporters-hold-rally-in-aleppo-syria.html |archive-date=15 February 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> while state and local media claimed more than 1.5&nbsp;million attended and stated that it was one of the largest rallies ever held in Syria.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dp-news.com/en/detail.aspx?articleid=100538 |title=Aleppo Mass Rally &#124; DayPress |publisher=Dp-news.com |date=20 October 2011 |access-date=11 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405223753/http://www.dp-news.com/en/detail.aspx?articleid=100538 |archive-date=5 April 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In early 2012, rebels began bombing Aleppo after the spread of anti-government protests. On [[February 2012 Aleppo bombings|10 February 2012]], suicide [[car bombs]] exploded outside two security compounds — the [[Military Intelligence Directorate (Syria)|Military Intelligence Directorate]]'s local headquarters, and a Syrian [[Syrian Public Security Police|Internal Security Forces]] barracks<ref name="herald-sun">{{cite news |title=Syria says bombers kill 28 in Aleppo |url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/syria-says-bombers-kill-28-in-aleppo/story-e6frf7jx-1226268384138 |access-date=11 February 2012 |newspaper=[[The Herald-Sun]] |date=11 February 2012 |author=Aji, Albert |author2=Keath, Lee |agency=Associated Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501233052/http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/syria-says-bombers-kill-28-in-aleppo/story-e6frf7jx-1226268384138 |archive-date=1 May 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> — reportedly killing 28 (four civilians, thirteen military personnel and eleven security personnel)<ref name="herald-sun"/> and wounding 235.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |title=Syria unrest: Aleppo bomb attacks 'kill 28' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16978803 |access-date=11 February 2012 |newspaper=BBC |date=10 February 2012 |author=Staff |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914210040/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16978803 |archive-date=14 September 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 18 March 2012, another car bomb blast in a residential neighbourhood reportedly killed two security personnel and one female civilian, and wounded 30 residents.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emirates247.com/news/world/deadly-car-bombing-hits-syria-s-aleppo-2012-03-18-1.449068 |title=Deadly car bomb hits Alepp |publisher=Emirates247.com |date=18 March 2012 |access-date=29 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130707110431/http://www.emirates247.com/news/world/deadly-car-bombing-hits-syria-s-aleppo-2012-03-18-1.449068 |archive-date=7 July 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=The Associated Press |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/syria-blames-aleppo-blast-on-terrorists-1.1203410 |title=Syria blames Aleppo blast on terrorists|publisher=Cbc.ca |date=18 March 2012 |access-date=29 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130707103417/http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/03/18/syria-violence-sunday.html |archive-date=7 July 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Blown out tank Aleppo.jpg|250px|thumb|Destroyed [[Syrian Arab Army|SAA]] tank in the city in October 2012]]

In late July 2012, the conflict reached Aleppo in earnest when rebels in the city’s surrounding countryside mounted their first offensive there,<ref name=mogelson>{{citation |url=https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/04/29/130429fa_fact_mogelson |title=The River Martyrs |magazine=New Yorker |author=Luke Mogelson |page=42 |date=29 April 2013 |access-date=13 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130503235154/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/04/29/130429fa_fact_mogelson |archive-date=3 May 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> apparently trying to capitalise on momentum gained during the Damascus assault.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Martin Chulov |author2=Luke Harding |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/29/syria-unrest-assad-forces-aleppo |title=Syria unrest: Assad forces continue onslaught in Aleppo |work=The Guardian |date=29 July 2001 |access-date=2 August 2012 |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130920022123/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/29/syria-unrest-assad-forces-aleppo |archive-date=20 September 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> Then, some of the civil war's "most devastating bombing and fiercest fighting" took place in Aleppo, often in residential areas.<ref name=mogelson/> In the summer, autumn and winter of 2012 house-to-house fighting between armed opposition and government forces continued, and by the spring 2013 the Syrian Army had entrenched itself in the western part of Aleppo (government loyalist forces were operating from a military base in the southern part of the city) and the Free Syrian Army in the eastern part with a [[no man's land]] between them.<ref name=mogelson/> One estimate of casualties by an international humanitarian organization is that by this time 13,500 had been killed in the fighting — 1,500 under 5 years of age — and that another 23,000 had been injured.<ref name=mogelson/> Local police stations in the city, used as bases of government forces and hated and feared by residents, were a focus of much of the conflict.<ref name=NYT73112>{{cite news |title=Rebels in Syria's Largest City Said to Seize 2 Police Stations |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/01/world/middleeast/rebels-in-syrias-aleppo-claim-to-seize-important-police-stations.html |access-date=1 August 2012 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=31 July 2012 |author=Damien Cave |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120731215953/http://www.nytimes.com//2012/08/01/world/middleeast/rebels-in-syrias-aleppo-claim-to-seize-important-police-stations.html |archive-date=31 July 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=NYT8312>{{cite web |title=Brutal Treatment of Pro-Assad Captives |url=https://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/08/02/world/middleeast/20120812-aleppo.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=3 August 2012 |format=Slide show |date=1–3 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120803045120/http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/08/02/world/middleeast/20120812-aleppo.html |archive-date=3 August 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref>

As a result of the severe battle, many sections in [[Al-Madina Souq]] (part of the [[Old City of Aleppo]] [[World Heritage Site]]), including parts of the [[Great Mosque of Aleppo]] and other medieval buildings in the ancient city, were destroyed and ruined or burnt in late summer 2012 as the armed groups of the [[Syrian Arab Army]] and the [[Free Syrian Army]] [[Battle of Aleppo (2012)|fought]] for control of the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/world/fighting-in-aleppo-starts-fire-in-medieval-souks-313673.html |title=Fighting in Aleppo starts fire in medieval souqs |date=29 September 2012 |publisher=Kyivpost.com |access-date=29 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130613062345/http://www.kyivpost.com/content/world/fighting-in-aleppo-starts-fire-in-medieval-souks-313673.html |archive-date=13 June 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/940 |title=UNESCO Director-General deplores destruction of ancient Aleppo markets, a World Heritage site |access-date=29 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530143248/http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/940/ |archive-date=30 May 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> By March 2013, a majority of Aleppo’s factory owners transferred their goods to Turkey with the full knowledge and facilitation of the Turkish government.<ref>{{cite news |agency=Agence France Presse |url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Jan-10/201697-syria-says-turkey-involved-in-looting-northern-factories.ashx#axzz2O7XdaZUm |title=Syria says Turkey involved in looting northern factories |newspaper=The Daily Star |date=10 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130318011503/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Jan-10/201697-syria-says-turkey-involved-in-looting-northern-factories.ashx#axzz2O7XdaZUm |archive-date=18 March 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>[[File:National Evangelical Church of Aleppo (destructed), 12 June 2013.jpg|thumb|[[National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon|The National Presbyterian Church of Aleppo]] after being destroyed on 6 November 2012<ref name="thirdrva.org">{{Cite web |url=http://www.thirdrva.org/blog/vacation-bible-school-summer-mission-project |title=VBS and Aleppo Presbyterian Church, Syria |date=23 April 2015 |access-date=27 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427192935/http://www.thirdrva.org/blog/vacation-bible-school-summer-mission-project |archive-date=27 April 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>]]

A stalemate that had been in place for four years ended in July 2016, when Syrian Army troops closed the last supply line of the rebels into Aleppo with the support of Russian airstrikes. In response, rebel forces launched unsuccessful counter-offensives in September and October that failed to break the siege; in November, government forces embarked on a decisive campaign. The rebels agreed to evacuate from their remaining areas in December 2016.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sim |first=David |url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/fall-aleppo-timeline-how-assad-captured-syrias-biggest-city-1596504 |title=The fall of Aleppo timeline: How Assad captured Syria's biggest city |work=IB Times |date=16 December 2016 |access-date=26 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212094836/https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/fall-aleppo-timeline-how-assad-captured-syrias-biggest-city-1596504 |archive-date=12 February 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Syrian government victory with Russian aerial bombardment was widely seen as a potential turning point in Syria's civil war.<ref>{{cite news |last=Aron |first=Lund |url=http://carnegie-mec.org/diwan/66314 |title=A Turning Point in Aleppo |work=Carnegie Middle East Center |date=2016-12-15 |access-date=2016-12-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181213094844/http://carnegie-mec.org/diwan/66314 |archive-date=13 December 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/syrias-long-brutal-civil-war-may-be-reaching-a-turning-point/ |title=Syria's long, brutal civil war may be reaching turning point |website=[[CBS News]] |date=4 December 2016 |access-date=26 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502003252/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/syrias-long-brutal-civil-war-may-be-reaching-a-turning-point/ |archive-date=2 May 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 22 December, the evacuation was completed with the Syrian Army declaring it had taken complete control of the city.<ref name=Announcedvictory2>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN14B1NQ |title=Syrian army announces victory in Aleppo in boost for Assad |date=22 December 2016 |work=Reuters |access-date=23 February 2018 |archive-date=4 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200504194706/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria/syrian-army-announces-victory-in-aleppo-in-boost-for-assad-idUSKBN14B1NQ |url-status=live }}</ref> Red Cross later confirmed that the evacuation of all civilians and rebels was complete.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN14B1NQ |title=Aleppo evacuation is complete, Red Cross says |date=22 December 2016 |work=Reuters |access-date=23 February 2018 |archive-date=4 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200504194706/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria/syrian-army-announces-victory-in-aleppo-in-boost-for-assad-idUSKBN14B1NQ |url-status=live }}</ref>

When the battle ended, 500,000 refugees and internally displaced persons returned to Aleppo,<ref name=":0"/> and Syrian state media said that hundreds of factories returned to production as electricity supply greatly increased.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://sana.sy/en/?p=111818 |title=400 factories return to production in al-Kallaseh industrial zone in Aleppo |work=Syrian Arab News Agency |language=en-US |date=15 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013025728/http://sana.sy/en/?p=111818 |archive-date=13 October 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Many parts of the city that were affected are undergoing reconstruction.<ref name=":0"/> On 15 April 2017, a convoy of buses carrying evacuees was [[2017 Aleppo suicide car bombing|attacked by a suicide bomber]] in Aleppo, killing more than 126 people, including at least 80 children.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-17/syrian-bus-bombing-kills-at-least-80-children/8447104 |title='A new horror': 80 children among those slaughtered in suicide attack on refugee convoy |date=2017-04-17 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU |access-date=25 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180503042731/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-17/syrian-bus-bombing-kills-at-least-80-children/8447104 |archive-date=3 May 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> Syrian state media reported that the Aleppo shopping festival took place on 17 November 2017 to promote industry in the city.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://sana.sy/en/?p=118464 |title=Thousands of people participate in Aleppo shopping festival |work=Syrian Arab News Agency |language=en-US |date=17 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205203237/http://sana.sy/en/?p=118464 |archive-date=5 December 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> A [[YPG]] commander stated in February 2018 that Kurdish fighters had shifted to [[Afrin, Syria|Afrin]] to help repel the [[Operation Olive Branch|Turkish assault]]. As a result, he said the pro-Syrian government forces had regained control of the districts previously controlled by them.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-militia/syrian-ypg-militia-government-has-taken-control-of-aleppo-district-idUSKCN1G62K9 |title=Syrian YPG militia: government has taken control of Aleppo district |website=Reuters |date=22 February 2018 |access-date=23 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180223110234/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-militia/syrian-ypg-militia-government-has-taken-control-of-aleppo-district-idUSKCN1G62K9 |archive-date=23 February 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> In February 2020, government forces achieved a major breakthrough when they captured the last remaining rebel-held areas in Aleppo's western periphery, thus decisively ending the clashes that began with the [[Battle of Aleppo (2012–2016)|Battle of Aleppo]] over eight years prior.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://apnews.com/b7132a6044a40d68934f693836b3a767 |title=Assad vows to defeat rebels, as forces capture new ground |date=2020-02-16 |website=AP NEWS |access-date=2020-02-16 |archive-date=17 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217081705/https://apnews.com/b7132a6044a40d68934f693836b3a767 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/battle-of-aleppo-city-ends-in-syrian-army-victory-after-7-years-of-fighting/ |title=Battle of Aleppo city ends in Syrian Army victory after 7+ years of fighting |date=2020-02-16 |website=AMN - Al-Masdar News {{!}} المصدر نيوز |language=en-US |access-date=2020-02-16 |archive-date=16 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216165355/https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/battle-of-aleppo-city-ends-in-syrian-army-victory-after-7-years-of-fighting/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The city suffered damage due to the [[2023 Turkey-Syria earthquake]].<ref name="Aleppo360">{{cite news |date=8 February 2023 |title=Earthquake stuns Syria's Aleppo even after war's horrors |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/08/earthquake-aleppo-syria-turkey-00081989 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211152551/https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/08/earthquake-aleppo-syria-turkey-00081989 |archive-date=11 February 2023 |access-date=9 February 2023 |work=Politico |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-25 |title=2023 Turkey-Syria Earthquake |url=https://disasterphilanthropy.org/disasters/2023-turkey-syria-earthquake/ |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=Center for Disaster Philanthropy |language=en-US}}</ref>

==== Takeover by Syrian opposition ====
{{main|Fall of Aleppo (2024)}}
On 29 November 2024, [[Syrian opposition]] groups, led by [[Tahrir al-Sham|Hayat Tahrir al-Sham]], captured the city during the [[Battle of Aleppo (2024)|Battle of Aleppo]]  as part of the [[Northwestern Syria offensive (2024)|offensive in northwestern Syria]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=El Deeb |first=Sarah |date=2024-11-29 |title=In a shock offensive, insurgents breach Syria's largest city for the first time since 2016 |url=https://apnews.com/article/syria-attack-clashes-aleppo-9c07da6f83036f34d4b18a479de9d085 |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Michaelson |first=Ruth |date=2024-11-29 |title=Syrian rebels enter Aleppo three days into surprise offensive |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/29/syrian-rebels-launch-surprise-attack-on-aleppo |access-date=2024-11-30 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>