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DARA'A
The capital of Hauran Province
At 850 km above sea level and 100 km south
opf Damascus, lies the town of Dera’a, capital of the Hauran province.
This province has many archeological sites, belonging mostly to the roman
period, the monuments of which are still very well preserved. Foremost
among them are:
Bosra:
Avry old city, perhaps going back to more
than 4000years, it is mentioned in the Amarna tablets of Akhnaton under
the name of “Bohora”. It became a Nabatean city and an important trade
center under tha name of “bostra”. It was occupied by the Trajan in 106
AD. And became the capital ot newly formed Roman province of Arabia under
the name of “Neatrajiana Bostra”. As provincial capital, and as a stopping
point of the trade with south Arabia, it became a very important cith,
residence of the Roman Proconsul. It is said to have been visited by the
prophet Mohammad when he was a merchant on the road from Mekkah to Syria
and was the first Syrian town taken over by the Arab Muslims. Its square
shaped minarets are reminesxence of the early Islamic religious
architecture. It remained an important city untill the XVII th A.D.
It has many important well preserved
monouments, belonging mostly to the Roman period, including well
engineered water supply systems which are still partly used. The most
important sites in the town are:
Bosra Amphitheatre:
It is the largest amphitheatre built by the
Romans their Eastern provinces. It was constructed in the second Century
A.D. and can seat, until now, more than
15000 spectators. The stage is 45m wide and
8m deep. The gradins are seprated by alleys into three sections, according
to social status. A great many columns. Of the Corinthian style, with
beautifully engraved friezes be seen in the Amphitheatre which is still
used to give performance.
Bosra Citadel:
It is a fortress built around the
amphitheatre at amphitheatre at various periods. Its square towers are
from the Fatimide and Ayoubite periods and consitute a good example of
Arab-Islamic military architecture. It has several floors and is
surrounded by a ditch its entrance being through a bridge. It has many
vaulted arcades and 36 big rooms. Some of these rooms are now used as
resturant and cafteria fot the Amphitheatre, as archeological museum and
popular traditions ( folklore) museum.
Bosra Museum:
It is located in one of the towers of the
citadel. It displays the archeological finds discovered in the province,
including a rich collection of coins, and many inscriptions on black
basalt rock in Nabatean, Greak. Latin and Arabic languages. Many basalt
statues and other sculptures are, due to their size, displayed in open air
at the top of the citadel. The folklore ,museum contains pictures of rural
and poplar life and collections of handicrafts.
Mabrak Al-Naqa Mosque:
It is an important Muslim shrine. Being the
site where the camel carrying the first copy of the Holy Qura’an knelt
down. It is said also that it is the place where the Prophet mohammad
rested when he came to Bosra as a merchant and where he met the Christan
monk Bohaira. The mosque is divided into three sections, the central one
is the main mosque, the East one is a school believed to have been the
convent of the monkBohaira, and the West one is the remains of a cathedral
church which was built in the Ivth Century and is believed to be one of
the oldest churches in the world. It has a basilica form with an oval arch
over the altar and a dome with a diameter of 36m.
Other ruins can be seen n the town,
including ithe remains of an old surrounding wall, of a Nabatean tmple
from the first century A.D. of the roman Triumphal Arch from the third
century, of Roman baths from the second century, and of the main water
supply pool, repaired during Ayoubite period. It is a mixture of Rome,
Byzance and Islam.
Salkhad:
Its old Arabic name was “Sarkhad”. It is a
small town on a hill above the surrounding plains at 23 km East of Bosra
and south of Sweida. It is urrounded by vineyards and orchards. Its main
archeological monuments is the minaret of a mosque built by the Mamluk
Sultan Al-Zaher Bebars ( the mosque it self is in ruins) and the remains
of Salkhad citadel, originally built by the Nabateans, but greatly
modified to become a fortress against the crusaders by the Ayoubites.
Izra’a
A small town at 80km west of Bosra, it has
an important cathedral from the fiveth century >
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