Saidnaya (also
transliterated Saydnaya or
Sednaya from the , ) is a city located in the mountains, 1500 metres (0.938 miles) above sea level, north of the city of
Damascus in
Syria. Though orthographically slightly variant with Arabic, the spelling is consistent with
Syriac-Aramaic orthography (with no distinction between "sin" and "sad") of the name for "Our Lady" and refers, almost certainly to the
Virgin Mary, a renowned icon of whom is revered in the city's main church by both Christians and Muslims to this day. The town is noted for the large number of (Western Neo-)
Aramaic speakers, along with nearby
Maaloula and a few smaller towns nearby. The Hellenistic-era name for the region centered in the Barada Valley was
Abilene: the local tradition has thus long held it as the site where the grave of
Abel, slain brother of Cain, lies. Scholars consider it likely that the capital of Abilene was the city of Saidnaya. According to the
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Saidnaya had a population of 25,194 in the 2004 census.