Post by Bombadil on Apr 22, 2018 13:41:08 GMT
Arwad Island also called Rouad Island is Syria´s only inhabited island. The island is no bigger than 0.2 km2 with being 800 meters from northwest to southeast corner and about 500 meters wide. Located 3 kilometers away from the coast of Tartous,Syria.The island has been unaffected by the ongoing Civil war in Syria, but it has been economically depressed since then .
The island was settled in the early 2nd millennium BC by the Phoenicians. Under the Phoenician control, it became an independent kingdom called Arvad Aradus, and it´s thought that it was one of the very first known examples of a republic in the entire world.
I was thrilled to find this stamp hiding between some pre 1940 Syrian stamps, i have visited Arwad two times before the War(2011). The island will remind you more of a small fishing village in Greece or Malta than being in Syria.
"Not much more than a dot of rock off the coast of Tartous, Syria, it once dominated a goodly stretch of that coast, ruling the mainland like an offshore castle. War galleys of Arwad fought on the side of the Egyptians, the Assyrians and even the Persians when the tide turned for Greece in the early fifth century bc. More than a millennium and a half later, the island became the last bastion in the entire Levant for the crusading Knights Templar before their final, dramatic expulsion. Though Arwad today is a quieter place, the remains of its massive stone fortifications have many a tale to tell."
A French P.O. was established there during 1916.
1916 - Stamps of French offices in the Levant 1902-1906 overprinted.
I have already started searching online stores for the complete set Scott # 4-16 and i found some reasonable prices .
Scott # 4
1916
1934
The island was settled in the early 2nd millennium BC by the Phoenicians. Under the Phoenician control, it became an independent kingdom called Arvad Aradus, and it´s thought that it was one of the very first known examples of a republic in the entire world.
I was thrilled to find this stamp hiding between some pre 1940 Syrian stamps, i have visited Arwad two times before the War(2011). The island will remind you more of a small fishing village in Greece or Malta than being in Syria.
"Not much more than a dot of rock off the coast of Tartous, Syria, it once dominated a goodly stretch of that coast, ruling the mainland like an offshore castle. War galleys of Arwad fought on the side of the Egyptians, the Assyrians and even the Persians when the tide turned for Greece in the early fifth century bc. More than a millennium and a half later, the island became the last bastion in the entire Levant for the crusading Knights Templar before their final, dramatic expulsion. Though Arwad today is a quieter place, the remains of its massive stone fortifications have many a tale to tell."
A French P.O. was established there during 1916.
1916 - Stamps of French offices in the Levant 1902-1906 overprinted.
I have already started searching online stores for the complete set Scott # 4-16 and i found some reasonable prices .
Scott # 4
1916
1934
Mint CV £1500 Used CV £780
