For roughly 2,000 years, Homs has served as a key agricultural market, production site, and trade center for the villages of northern Syria. It has also provided security services to the hinterland of Syria, protecting it from invading forces. Excavations at the Citadel of Homs 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. In 1274 BCE, 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 Homs. It was possibly the largest chariot battle ever fought, involving perhaps 5,000–6,000 chariots.
Modern era
Throughout the 20th-century Homs held high political importance in the country and was home to several heads of state and other high-ranking government officials. During the French mandate, Homs was part of the State of Damascus. In Autumn 1925, the city joined Damascus and the southern Druze chieftains in a full-blown revolt against French rule, In 1932 the French moved their military academy from Damascus to Homs, and it remained the only military academy in Syria until 1967. The French authorities had created a unit of Special Forces in which the Alawites were given privileged positions. The military academy in Homs served as a stronghold for these Special Forces. The Homs Military Academy played a major role in the years following Syria's independence, as many of its graduates went on to become high-ranking officers in the Syrian Army, many of them taking part in the series of coup d'états that were to follow. An important example was Hafez al-Assad who became the president of Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000.
An oil pipeline between Tripoli and Kirkuk was built in Homs in the early 1930s and it followed an ancient caravan route between Palmyra and the Mediterranean. In 1959, an oil refinery was
