Excavations at the Citadel of Hims indicate that the earliest settlement at the site dates back to around 2300 BCE. Biblical scholars have identified the city with Zobah mentioned in the Bible.[5][10] In 1274 BCE,[11] a battle took place between the forces of the Egyptian Empire under Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatalli II at the city of Kadesh on the Orontes River near Hims.[12] It was possibly the largest chariot battle ever fought, involving perhaps 5,000–6,000 chariots.[13][14] Hims itself may have been founded by Seleucus I Nicator who established the Seleucid Empire upon the death of Alexander the Great, although the city did not emerge in the light of history until the 1st century BCE. At this time, Greek philosopher Strabo spoke of a tent-dwelling tribe called the "Emesani" living in the area around the Orontes and south of the Apamea region.[5] They were an Arab tribe in the area and settled in Emesa—which derived its name from them. Upon Pompey's incorporation of the Seleucid state of Syria into the Roman Empire in 64 BCE, the Emesani dynasty were made vassals to the Romans for aiding their troops in various wars. Their chief at the time, Samsigeramus I, gained the status as king of the Emesanis, but their capital was at Arethusa, a city north of Emesa, also along the Orontes River. At its greatest extent, the kingdom's boundaries extended from the Bekaa Valley in the west to the border with Palmyra in the east, and from Yabrud in the south to al-Rastan (Arethusa) in the north. Semsigeramus's kingdom was the first of Rome's Arab clients on the desert fringes.[4] The city of Emesa grew to prominence after the new-found wealth of the Emesani dynasty, governed first by Samsigeramus's son Iamblichus who made it the kingdom's capital.[4] The Emesani proved their loyalty to Rome once more when they aided Caesar in his siege of Alexandria in 41 BCE, by sending him army detachments. Subsequently, they became embroiled in the Roman Civil War between the rebelling Mark Antony and the pro-Caesar Octavian. King Iamblichus took the side of Octavian, and so upon encouragement from Antony, the king's brother Alexas usurped the throne and put him to death in 31 BCE. Octavian's forces prevailed in the war, however, and as a result the kingdom's throne was reverted to Iamblichus II after Alexas was executed for treason. Under his stable rule emerged a new era of peace from 20 BCE and 14 CE, known as Emesa's "golden age". In 32 CE, Heliopolis and the Bekaa Valley came under the kingdom's control.[4] Relations with the Roman government grew closer when King Sohaemus inherited the kingship. Under him, Emesa sent the Roman military a regular levy of archers and assisted them in their siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. His loyalty to Rome gained the Emesani dynasty little, however; in 75 CE the Kingdom of Emesa was completely incorporated into the Roman Empire, diminishing the dynasty's autonomy. It is unclear whether King Sohaemus abdicated his throne or had died with an incapable heir, prompting the Romans to annex the territory.[15] Some frescoes inside the Church of Saint Elian date back to the 6th century

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