Hellenistic and Byzantine Kallinikos
The area of Raqqa has been inhabited since remote antiquity, as attested by the mounds (tells) of Tall Zaydan and Tall al-Bi'a, the latter being identified with the Babylonian

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In the 6th century, Kallinikos became a center of Assyrian monasticism. Dayra d'Mār Zakkā, or the Saint Zacchaeus monastery, situated on

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Raqqa has never been home to a sizeable Shi'i community. However, since the Iran-Iraq War made the important Shi'i holy cities of

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The Islamic State banned all media reporting outside its own efforts, kidnapping and killing journalists. However, a group calling

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• Al-Battani, astronomer, astrologer and mathematician (c. 858 – 929)
• Abdul-Salam Ojeili, novelist and politician (1918–2006)
• Harun al-Rashid, fifth Abbasid Caliph (786–809)

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• Battle of Callinicum
• Raqqa offensive (2016)
• Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently

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Prior to the Syrian Civil War the city was served by Syrian Railways.

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