Samal

an ancient city in southeastern Turkey; the ruins are near the present-day settlement of Zenjirli (Zincirlihöyük), Ga-ziantep Vilayet.

Founded in the mid-second millennium B.C., Samal was originally settled by the Hittites, and in the early first millennium B.C. it was captured by the Aramaeans. In the ninth to eighth century B.C., Samal was the center of a kingdom of the same name, which became part of the coalition of northern Syrian kingdoms headed by Carchemish. In 743 the city was captured by Assyria. Archaeological excavations in Samal since the late 19th century have uncovered a palace decorated with bas-relief and sculpture, large fortifications, houses, and inscriptions in the local Canaan dialect and in Akkadian that contain important information on the history of ancient Syria.