Salkhad (Arabic: صلخد) a Syrian city in the As Suwayda governorate, southern Syria. It is the capital of Mantiqat Salkhad, one of the governorate's three districts (sing. Mantiqah=District). It has a population of 15,000 inhabitants. Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... Location of the governorate of As Suwayda As Suwayda (also Sweida)(Arabic: السويداء) Is one of Syrias 14 governorates. ... Mintaqah (Arabic: ; plural manatiq Arabic: ) is a term for a country subdivision used in Saudi Arabia and several other Arab countries. ...

It is located at 1350 metres above sea level in the central Jabal el Druze highlands. The western slopes of Jabal el Druze Jabal el Druze (Druze Mountain, also known as Jabal el Arab) (Arabic: جبل الدروز) is an 1803-metre mountain in southern Syria, in the As Suwaydā governorate (mohofazat Souweida). ...

History

Mentioned several times in the Bible as "Salcah", as a settlement in biblical Bashan. home of the Shofe, Choufi family Salkhad (Arabic صلخد ) a Syrian town in the As Suwayda governorate, southern Syria. ... Bashan (meaning light soil) is a biblical place first mentioned in Genesis 14:5, where it is said that Chedorlaomer and his confederates smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth, where Og the king of Bashan had his residence. ...

during the second century BC Salcah was a flourishing Nabataean city, where the gods Dushara and Allat were worshiped. Afterwards it was incorporated into the Roman province of Arabia, it was one of the important citys in Hauran during Roman and later Byzantine epochs, Salkhad is indicated in the Madaba mosaic map of the sixth century AD. Petra, the Nabataean capital The Nabataeans, a people of ancient Arabia, whose settlements in the time of Josephus gave the name of Nabatene to the border-land between Syria and Arabia from the Euphrates to the Red Sea. ... Dhu l-Sharā Lord of the Mountain, also known in Greek transliteration as Dusares, was worshipped at Petra (of which city he was the patron deity) by the Nabataeans. ... Mentioned in the Quran (Sura 53:20), Allāt (a contraction of pre-Arabic *al-ilāhat the Goddess) was a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess who was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca. ... Motto Senatus Populusque Romanus (SPQR) The Roman Empire at its greatest extent. ... Arabia Petraea Arabia Petraea, also called Provincia Arabia or simply Arabia, was a frontier province of the Roman Empire beginning in the second century; it consisted of the former Nabataean kingdom in modern Jordan, southern modern Syria Sinai, and northwestern Saudi Arabia. ... Hauran, also Hawran or Houran, (Arabic: ‎, transliteration: ) is the southern region of modern-day Syria. ... Byzantine Empire at its greatest extent c. ... Madaba Map The Madaba Map is the oldest extant map of the Holy Land and is dated to the middle of the 6th century AD. It was discovered late in the 19th century, during an excavation and reconstruction of a mosaic floor in St Georges Church in Madaba, Jordan. ...

Due to the strategic position of the city overlooking Hauran plains to the west, the Ayyubid dynasty built a fortress in Salkhad between 1214 - 1247 to counter a possible attack of the Crusades into inner Hauran. The Ayyubid Dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Egypt, Iraq in the 12th and 13th centuries. ... The Siege of Antioch, from a medieval miniature painting, during the First Crusade. ...

The importance of the city decreased after the Crusades, and it was occasionally overrun by Bedouins seeking pasture in the summer for their flocks. Bedouin resting at Mount Sinai Bedouin, derived from the Arabic badawi بدوي, a generic name for a desert-dweller, is a term generally applied to Sahara via the Western Desert, Sinai, and Negev to the eastern coast of the Arabian desert. ...

A number of Greek orthodox Christians, of Ghassanid ancestry, successively remained in the region. Salkhad and the adjacent region were re-inhabited by Druze families from Mount Lebanon in the late 17th , 18th ,and 19th centuries. Greek Orthodox Church (Greek: Hellēnorthódoxē Ekklēsía) can refer to any of several hierarchical churches within the larger group of mutually recognizing Eastern Orthodox churches. ... The Ghassanids were Arab Christians that emigrated in 250 CE from Yemen to the Hauran, in southern Syria. ... Religions Druzism Scriptures Rasail al-hikmah (Epistles of Wisdom) Languages Arabic, Hebrew The Druze (Arabic: درزي, derzī or durzī, plural دروز, durūz; ‎, Druzim; also transliterated Druz or Druse) are a Middle Eastern religious community whose traditional religion began as an offshoot of the Ismaili sect of Islam, but is unique... For other uses, see Mount Lebanon (disambiguation). ...

During Ottoman times the city enjoyed a feudal-type autonomy like much of the Jabal el Druze area under the chieftaincy of Al-Hamdan family and later Al-Atrash family, many battles against Ottoman Turks took place in this region by the locals to maintain their autonomy. Motto دولت ابد مدت Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (The Eternal State) Anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Borders in 1680, see: list of territories Capital Söğüt (1299–1326) Bursa (1326–65) Edirne (1365–1453) Constantinople (Ä°stanbul, 1453–1922) Language(s) Ottoman Turkish Government Monarchy [[Category:Former monarchies}}|Ottoman Empire, 1299]] Sultans  - 1281–1326... The western slopes of Jabal el Druze Jabal el Druze (Druze Mountain, also known as Jabal el Arab) (Arabic: جبل الدروز) is an 1803-metre mountain in southern Syria, in the As Suwaydā governorate (mohofazat Souweida). ...

In the early 20th century the city was part of the 1921-1936 Druze state under the French Mandate of Syria, the state was gradually incorporated into Syria after the Syrian Revolution of 1925-1927 led by Sultan Al-Atrash. The Jabal or Jebel el Druze was an autonomous state in the French Mandate of Syria from 1921 to 1936. ... The French Mandate of Syria was a League of Nations Mandate created after the First World War when the Ottoman Empire was split by the Treaty of Versailles. ... The Syrian Revolution (1925-1927) is by far the largest, most widespread, and most organized Syrian revolt against the French Mandate. ... Sultan al-Atrash, (1891-1982) (Arabic: سلطان الأطرش) Commonly known as Sultan Pasha al-Atrash (Arabic: سلطان باشا الأطرش) Prominent Druze leader and Commander General of the Great Syrian Revolution (1925-1927). ...

The city now is the centre of Salkhad district of As Suwayda governorate, it is the southernmost district in Syria.

Archaeology

The fortress of Salkhad is the most important monument located in a hill inside the city , built between 1214-1247 by the Ayyubid dynasty as a part of their defences against the crusades. It is said that this fortress were built in the site of older Roman fortifications.

A hexagonal basalt minaret still standing intact in the city’s main square This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Many Roman old time houses, still partially inhabited by locals

Nabatean, Roman and Ayyubid Tombs with decorative motifs.

External Links

• Old image of the Fortress of Salkhad

Coordinates: 32°29′0″N, 36°42′0″E Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...