Sahwat al-Khudr
سهوة الخضر | |
---|---|
Village | |
Coordinates: 32°36′8″N 36°42′27″E / 32.60222°N 36.70750°E | |
Grid position | 310/224 |
Country | Syria |
Governorate | as-Suwayda |
District | as-Suwayda |
Subdistrict | as-Suwayda |
Population (2004 census) | |
• Total | 3,625 |
Time zone | UTC+2 ( EET) |
• Summer ( DST) | UTC+3 ( EEST) |
Sahwat al-Khudr ( Arabic: سهوة الخضر; also spelled Sahwat al-Khidr or Sahwet el-Khodar) is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the al-Suwayda District of the al-Suwayda Governorate, located south of al-Suwayda. In the 2004 census, it had a population of 3,625. [1] The village is named after a Byzantine-era church named dedicated to Saint George (known by local Muslims as "al-Khudr"). It was resettled by Druze in the mid-19th century after a period of abandonment.
This village is probably the center of Biblical " Kedar," a regional nation of nomadic shepherd-people who inhabited the general area. [2] The 19th century German visionary Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich mentions "Cedar" as also being a city, presumably this city (as verified by her detailed descriptions), to which Jesus visited, so she says, on an historically unrecorded journey. [3]
Sahwat al-Khudr receives its name from an ancient Byzantine church dedicated to Saint George, who is identified with " al-Khudr" by Muslims. An inscription on a monument in the church dates back to 306 CE. [4]
In 1596 it appeared in the Ottoman tax registers under the name of Sahut al-Qamh, located in the Nahiya of Bani Nasiyya of the Qada of Hawran. The population was 142 households and 54 bachelors, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 40 % on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, vineyards, goats and beehives; in addition to occasional revenues and a water mill; a total of 31,300 akçe. [5]
In 1838 Eli Smith noted that the place was located South of Juneineh and that it was in ruins. [6] Sahwat al-Khudr had been abandoned for a time, but was settled by Druze between 1857 and 1860 at the encouragement of Ismail al-Atrash, a prominent Druze sheikh (chieftain) in the Hauran. [7] In the mid-19th-century, Albert Socin, a European orientalist noted that Sahwat al-Khudr was "a dilapidated town with a castle and a church" surrounded by a forested area. The shrine of al-Khudr in the village was revered by all the religious sects of the vicinity. [8]
In the late 1960s, French geographer Robert Boulanger described Sahwat al-Khudr as "a very picturesque place" with an old mosque that was formerly a pagan temple in Antiquity. [9] The mosque's prayer room contained a column with Nabataean inscriptions. [9] The people of the village slaughtered sheep outside of the mosque annually. [9]
Nearby localities include Salah to the northeast, Miyamas to the north, Hubran to the northwest, Salkhad to the southwest and Orman to the south.
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: CS1 maint: location (
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Sahwat al-Khudr
سهوة الخضر | |
---|---|
Village | |
Coordinates: 32°36′8″N 36°42′27″E / 32.60222°N 36.70750°E | |
Grid position | 310/224 |
Country | Syria |
Governorate | as-Suwayda |
District | as-Suwayda |
Subdistrict | as-Suwayda |
Population (2004 census) | |
• Total | 3,625 |
Time zone | UTC+2 ( EET) |
• Summer ( DST) | UTC+3 ( EEST) |
Sahwat al-Khudr ( Arabic: سهوة الخضر; also spelled Sahwat al-Khidr or Sahwet el-Khodar) is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the al-Suwayda District of the al-Suwayda Governorate, located south of al-Suwayda. In the 2004 census, it had a population of 3,625. [1] The village is named after a Byzantine-era church named dedicated to Saint George (known by local Muslims as "al-Khudr"). It was resettled by Druze in the mid-19th century after a period of abandonment.
This village is probably the center of Biblical " Kedar," a regional nation of nomadic shepherd-people who inhabited the general area. [2] The 19th century German visionary Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich mentions "Cedar" as also being a city, presumably this city (as verified by her detailed descriptions), to which Jesus visited, so she says, on an historically unrecorded journey. [3]
Sahwat al-Khudr receives its name from an ancient Byzantine church dedicated to Saint George, who is identified with " al-Khudr" by Muslims. An inscription on a monument in the church dates back to 306 CE. [4]
In 1596 it appeared in the Ottoman tax registers under the name of Sahut al-Qamh, located in the Nahiya of Bani Nasiyya of the Qada of Hawran. The population was 142 households and 54 bachelors, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 40 % on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, vineyards, goats and beehives; in addition to occasional revenues and a water mill; a total of 31,300 akçe. [5]
In 1838 Eli Smith noted that the place was located South of Juneineh and that it was in ruins. [6] Sahwat al-Khudr had been abandoned for a time, but was settled by Druze between 1857 and 1860 at the encouragement of Ismail al-Atrash, a prominent Druze sheikh (chieftain) in the Hauran. [7] In the mid-19th-century, Albert Socin, a European orientalist noted that Sahwat al-Khudr was "a dilapidated town with a castle and a church" surrounded by a forested area. The shrine of al-Khudr in the village was revered by all the religious sects of the vicinity. [8]
In the late 1960s, French geographer Robert Boulanger described Sahwat al-Khudr as "a very picturesque place" with an old mosque that was formerly a pagan temple in Antiquity. [9] The mosque's prayer room contained a column with Nabataean inscriptions. [9] The people of the village slaughtered sheep outside of the mosque annually. [9]
Nearby localities include Salah to the northeast, Miyamas to the north, Hubran to the northwest, Salkhad to the southwest and Orman to the south.
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (
link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)