Salkhad

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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.

It is located at 1350 metres above sea level in the central Jabal el Druze highlands.

[edit] History

Mentioned several times in the Bible as "Salcah", as a settlement in biblical Bashan.

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.

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. It has also been said that Al-Afdal was exiled here by his ucle and brother.

The importance of the city decreased after the Crusades, and it was occasionally overrun by Bedouins seeking pasture in the summer for their flocks.

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.

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.

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

[edit] 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. Many Roman old time houses, still partially inhabited by locals. Nabatean, Roman and Ayyubid Tombs are also there with decorative motifs.