Bosra (alternative Bostra, Busrana, Bozrah, Bozra, Busra Eski Sham, Busra ash-Sham, Nova Trojana Bostra) is an ancient city in southern modern-day Syria.
The city was later on the southern capital of the Nabataeans. The Nabatean Kingdom was destroyed by Cornelius Palma, a general of Trajan, in 106 AD, and Bostra conquered. Under the Romans, it was renamed Nova Trajana Bostra, residence of the third Legio Cyrenaica and capital of the Roman provinceArabia Petraea. The city flourished and became a major metropolis at the juncture of several trade routes, inlcuding the Roman road to the Red Sea.
Bostra, "The fortress", is neither Bosor of Reuben and Moab (Deuteronomy 4:24; Joshua 20:8), nor Bosrah of Edom (Genesis 36:33, Jeremiah 49:13, etc.), now Bouseira between Tafile and Shobaq.
When the kingdom was destroyed by Cornelius Palma (105 or 106), a general of Trajan, Bostra became the metropolis of Arabia and was known as Nova Trajana Bostra.
The Crusaders by a mistake ranked Bostra under the authority of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, instead of under that of Antioch.
It is clear that Umm el-Jimal was part of a network of settlements in which agriculture was the basic activity, and in which villages and towns were graded by size, according to their regional significance, as market centers for locally-grown agricultural produce.
While the most elaborate ecclesiastical structures are still to be found in Bostra, the plethora of construction in the towns of the diocese represents a vast shift in the distribution of resources previously available for public liturgies from city to countryside (Cameron 1993: 170).
A counterpoint to Umm el-Jimal's relationship with Bostra was its connection with the tribes of the desert.
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