The location of Qal’at Halab

Aleppo is a city on the plain that is situated on a rather infertile, slightly hilly limestone plateau with only a small irrigation area on the banks of the river Quwaiq. From this plateau, around one and a half kilometers from the river, rises an oval mesa in the form of an irregular cone with a bottom surface of 470 m x 320 m. On the northern side it reaches its greatest height of 45 meters. In the south, where the entrance of Qal’at Halab (Aleppo’s citadel) is located, it’s only 20 meters high. In some areas the bare rock reaches the surface, while in other areas it is covered by natural sediments that can be 14-16 meters deep. Thus, an oval form of varying heights at the surface is formed with an area of around 290 m x 160 m (Fig. 1).