Suwayda (Arabic: ٱلسُّوَيْدَاء, romanized: al-Suwaydāʾ), also spelled Sweida, is a mainly Druze city located in southwestern Syria, close to the border with Jordan.
Suwayda
ٱلسُّوَيْدَاء | |
|---|---|
City | |
 Aerial view of the Suwayda city, October 2011 | |
  Suwayda Location of Suwayda within Syria  Suwayda Suwayda (Eastern Mediterranean) | |
| Coordinates: 32°42′45″N 36°34′00″E / 32.71250°N 36.56667°E | |
| Grid position | 296/235 |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Suwayda |
| District | Suwayda |
| Subdistrict | Suwayda |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Akram Ali Muhammad[2][3] |
| Elevation | 3,543 ft (1,080 m) |
| Population (2020 census) | |
• City | 120,000[1] |
| • Metro | 138,822 |
| Demonym(s) | Arabic: سويداوي, romanized: Suwaydāwi |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Area code | 16 |
| Geocode | C6147 |
| Climate | Csa |
It is the capital of Suwayda Governorate, one of Syria's 14 governorates, bordering Jordan in the South and Daraa Governorate in the West and Rif Dimashq Governorate in the north and east. The city is referred to by some as "Little Venezuela" due to the city's influx of affluent Venezuelan Syrian immigrants.[4][5][6][7]
History
editAncient and Medieval eras
edit
The city was founded by the Nabataeans as Suada. It became known as Dionysias Soada (Ancient Greek: Διονῡσιάς) in the Hellenistic period and the Roman Empire, for the god Dionysus, patron of wine - the city is situated in a famous ancient wine-producing region.
The name Dionysias replaced the former Nabataean name in 149 AD after Nabataean influence decreased and then concentrated towards the south, as a result of the then accelerating Hellenization of Coele-Syria.
Dionysias was a part of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea, and received the rights of civitas during the reign of Commodus between 180 and 185.
Dionysus was worshipped in the same Nabatean temple dedicated to Dushara. This practice of associating the worship of local and Hellenic gods was common in Hellenistic Syria.
This name remained in use during the Byzantine Empire, when the town was under the influence of the Ghassanids. Dionysias then was a diocese with a suffragan bishop from Bosra. It was mentioned in the Synecdemus of Hierocles. After the early Muslim conquests, the city was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate of the Arabs in 629 and became a titular see.[8]
Yaqut al-Hamawi noted in the 1220s that As Suwaida was "a village of the Hauran Province".[9]
Ottoman era
editIn 1516, the city and the adjoining region was conquered from the Mamluk Sultanate by the Ottoman Empire. In 1596 Suwayda appeared under the name of Majdal Sawda in the Ottoman tax registers as part of the nahiya (subdistrict) of Bani Nasiyya of the Hauran Sanjak. It had a population of 5 households and 5 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 20% on various agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and/or beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues"; a total of 6,125 akçe. 3/4 of the revenue went to a waqf.[10]
In recent times Dionysias was identified as Suwayda by William Waddington.
In the 19th century, visitors recorded the now-destroyed Tomb of Hamrath, an elaborate late Hellenistic mausoleum dating from the 1st century BCE.[11]
Modern era
editThe city has been held by the Syrian government for the duration of the Syrian Civil War. On 28 October 2012, security forces launched a campaign of mass arrests in the city.[12]
2018 Suwayda attacks
editOn July 25, 2018, the city was rocked by a string of terrorist attacks. A group of at least 56 ISIS-affiliated attackers entered the city and initiated a series of gunfights and suicide bombings killing 246 people, the vast majority of them civilians. Many of the terrorists were reported killed during the attack, bringing the total death toll to at least 302 people.[13] Forty-two Druze residents between the ages of 7 and 60 were kidnapped by ISIS and held captive. One was executed bringing the total in captivity to 41.[14]
Protests
edit2020 Suweida protests
editOn 7 June 2020, anti-government protests erupted in the city due to the deteriorating economic situation. Protesters demanded the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad for the first time since 2015.[15][16] As a result of the protests, Prime Minister Imad Khamis was sacked on 11 June and replaced by Hussein Arnous.[17]
2022 Suweida protests
editIn February, hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Sweida to decry corruption and worsening living standards.[18]
2023 Suweida protests
editIn August, thousands of protestors took to the streets to decry worsening economic conditions and demanding the departure of Syrian President Bashar al Assad.[19]
Demographics and population
edit
The inhabitants of the city are mainly Druze with a Greek Orthodox Christian and Sunni Muslim minority.
The population of Suwayda Governorate is 313,231 (2004 census).
Archaeology
edit
Many archeological sites can be found in the old part of the city:
- Temple of Dionysus-Dushara: eight well-decorated columns are still standing from the temple.
- Saint Sergius Basilica: was built in the fifth century. It has Byzantine architectural elements, with an abbey surrounding it. The basilica was dedicated to Sergius.
- The arch of the lesser church: the church itself is ruined. An arch is still standing there known locally as "The Gallows" (Arabic: المشنقة al-Mashnaqah) with grape motif decorations.
- The theater: was recently discovered[when?], south of the Agora.
The city has many ancient reservoirs, towers and old Roman houses that are still inhabited by locals today.
Many parts of the old city still await excavation, such as the Roman aqueduct, a conical reservoir, and a larger Roman theatre. There is also an old 7th century mosque built during the time of the Rashidun Caliphate.
Climate
editSuwayda's climate is warm, dry and temperate. There is more rainfall in the winter than in the summer. This location is classified as BSk by Köppen and Geiger. The average temperature is 15.5 °C. About 323 mm of precipitation falls annually.
| Climate data for Suwayda | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 10.5 (50.9) |
11.7 (53.1) |
15.2 (59.4) |
20.1 (68.2) |
25.4 (77.7) |
29.2 (84.6) |
30.1 (86.2) |
30.9 (87.6) |
29.2 (84.6) |
26.0 (78.8) |
19.1 (66.4) |
12.8 (55.0) |
21.7 (71.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 6.2 (43.2) |
7.1 (44.8) |
10.0 (50.0) |
13.9 (57.0) |
18.3 (64.9) |
21.7 (71.1) |
22.8 (73.0) |
23.5 (74.3) |
21.8 (71.2) |
18.9 (66.0) |
13.6 (56.5) |
8.3 (46.9) |
15.5 (59.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 1.9 (35.4) |
2.6 (36.7) |
4.8 (40.6) |
7.8 (46.0) |
11.3 (52.3) |
14.2 (57.6) |
15.6 (60.1) |
16.1 (61.0) |
14.4 (57.9) |
11.8 (53.2) |
8.1 (46.6) |
3.9 (39.0) |
9.4 (48.9) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 69 (2.7) |
71 (2.8) |
57 (2.2) |
21 (0.8) |
8 (0.3) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
1 (0.0) |
11 (0.4) |
27 (1.1) |
58 (2.3) |
323 (12.6) |
| Source: Climate-Data.org[20] | |||||||||||||
Notable people
edit- Najat Abdul Samad, writer, translator, and obstetrician.
- Fahd Ballan, singer, actor.
- Asmahan, singer.
References
edit- ^ "<meta HTTP-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/HTML; charset=iso-8859-1"/> NameBright - Coming Soon". www.cbssyr.org. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
- ^ "الرئيس الأسد يصدر مرسومين بتعيين أربعة محافظين جدد" [President Assad issues two decrees appointing four new governors]. SANA. 12 May 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ "President al-Assad issues decrees on appointing new governors for eight Syrian provinces". Syrian Arab News Agency. 20 July 2022. Archived from the original on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
- ^ http://newsfromsyria.com/2009/09/04/hugo-chavez-in-syria/ Archived 2020-10-14 at the Wayback Machine Many of them came from Sweida. So when their descendants returned, they brought back the Spanish language and South American culture. Sweida is little Venezuela.
- ^ "Do come back". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 2022-11-20. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
- ^ Goforth, Sean (2012). Axis of Unity: Venezuela, Iran & the Threat to America. Potomac Books, Inc. p. 193. ISBN 978-1-61234-016-6.
- ^ "An elderly Syrian man waves Venezuela's flag during a visit by..." Getty Images. Archived from the original on 2017-01-16. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
- ^ "Catholic Encyclopedia: Dionysias". Newadvent.org. 1909-05-01. Archived from the original on 2000-08-16. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
- ^ Le Strange, G. (Guy) (1890). Palestine under the Moslems; a description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Translated from the works of the mediaeval Arab geographers. Robarts - University of Toronto. London A.P. Watt. p. 540.
- ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 218.
- ^ "4. The Development of Hellenistic Monumental Tombs outside Asia Minor", 4. The Development of Hellenistic Monumental Tombs outside Asia Minor, University of Toronto Press, pp. 148–150, 1990-04-01, doi:10.3138/9781442677340-007, ISBN 978-1-4426-7734-0, retrieved 2024-02-07
- ^ "At least 30 people killed in clashes, most of them in Damascus". Al Jazeera Blogs. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
- ^ Deeb, Sarah El (2018-07-26). "IS attack devastates community in southern Syria". CTVNews. Archived from the original on 2022-11-20. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
- ^ "Islamic State in Syria executes hostage from Sweida attack: media, monitor". Archived from the original on 2018-08-05. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
- ^ "Protest in southwest Syria against faltering economy, corruption". Al Jazeera. 7 June 2020. Archived from the original on 1 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
- ^ Al-Khalidi, Suleiman (11 June 2020). "Protests hit Druze city in Syria for fourth day". Reuters. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
- ^ "Syria war: Assad sacks PM as economic crisis sparks protests". BBC News. 11 June 2020. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
- ^ Chehayeb, Kareem (11 February 2022). "Syria: Sweida protesters decry corruption, poor living standards". Al Jazeera English. Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- ^ Al-Khalidi, Suleiman (2023-08-25). "Protests hit Druze city in Syria for fifth day". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
- ^ "Climate: As Suwayda". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
Bibliography
edit- Hütteroth, W.-D.; Abdulfattah, K. (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
- Le Strange, G. (1890). Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
External links
edit- Map of the town, Google Maps