Al-Masmiyah المسمية Musmiyeh Mesmiyeh | |
|---|---|
Town | |
| Al-Mismiyah | |
![19th-century drawing of interior space of the Roman temple ("Praetorium") in al-Masmiyah[1]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aMasmiyah-Phaena_temple.jpg) 19th-century drawing of interior space of the Roman temple ("Praetorium") in al-Masmiyah[1] | |
  Al-Masmiyah Location in Syria | |
| Coordinates:33°7′45″N36°23′38″E / 33.12917°N 36.39389°E /33.12917; 36.39389 | |
| Grid position | 280/281PAL |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Daraa |
| District | al-Sanamayn |
| Subdistrict | al-Masmiyah |
| Population (2004) | |
• Total | 1,498 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | +3 |
Al-Masmiyah (Arabic:المسمية, also spelledMusmiyeh,Mesmiyeh,Mismiya,Mismia andMusmeih) is a town in southernSyria, administratively part of theDaraa Governorate, located northeast ofDaraa in theal-Sanamayn District. Nearby localities includeJabab andMuthabin to the west,Ghabaghib to the northeast,Jubb al-Safa to the north,Burraq to the northeast,Khalkhalah andal-Surah al-Saghirah to the southeast andDama to the south.[2]
The ancient city of Phaena, judging by the ruin field still visible at Masmiya in the 19th century, had a radius of roughly three miles, making it as large as theancient walled area ofDamascus and larger than theOld City ofJerusalem[3] (which is of Early Muslim date in its present outline and smaller than some of its earlier iterations).
Al-Masmiyah is identified with theRoman-era town ofPhaena.[4] Phaena was the capital of theTrachonitis district ofRoman Syria, as confirmed by aGreek inscription on the Roman temple which reads "Julius Saturninus to the people of Phaena, capital of Trachon."[5] The ruins of a Roman era house built in theBatanean architectural style is believed to have possibly served as the home of the Roman governor of Trachonitis.[6] One of the rooms on the ground-level floor was supported by an 18-foot arch and had acornice-decorated ceiling. The town contains the ruins of a Roman-era pagan temple, called thePraetorium,[7][8] that was constructed by the commander of theThird Gallic Legion between 160–169 CE during the reign of the Roman emperorsAurelius Antoninus andLucius Aurelius Verus.[5]
In the early 3rd century CE, Phaena was still an important village known as ametrocomia.[9]
The Praetorium was transformed into a church during theByzantine period and the structural plan makes it one of the oldest examples of Byzantine church architecture.[clarification needed][10] During the Byzantine period it became anepiscopal see, whose bishops participated in theecumenical councils ofEphesus (431) andChalcedon (451).[4][5]
In 1810, Swiss explorerJohann Burckhardt was the first contemporary scholar to visit al-Masmiyah and he was later followed by Bankes and Barry, who sketched a precise plan of the Praetorium, in 1819.[11] In 1838, Biblical scholarEli Smith reported thatKurds inhabited the village.[12] By the late 1860s a few impoverishedArab families from the Sulut tribe reportedly lived inside the ruins of al-Masmiyah.[13] Apparently, the village was abandoned most of the time, but was occasionally occupied by nomadic Arab families seeking shelter in its ruins.[3]
In the 1870s, al-Masmiyah was an uninhabited village.[4] However, it was later settled when theOttoman sultanAbdul Hamid II (1876–1909) acquired al-Masmiyah and six other nearby Hauran villages in the late 19th century as a personal estate. The farmers he employed in the village were afforded security, giving them protection from nomadic raiders. They were also exempt from conscription, protected from monetary collections from local notables and at times were loaned money without interest. These factors resulted in the prosperity of al-Masmiyah and the larger estate.[14]
In 1875, before Abdul Hamid's reign, theOttoman army took apart the Praetorium for the construction material used to build a nearby army barracks atBurraq.[11]
In 1886, al-Masmiyah was briefly occupied by theDruze clans ofAtrash and Halabi during a quarrel with the Sulut tribe.[15]
Following theYoung Turk Revolution in 1908, the sultan ceded estate to the treasury department of theDamascus government and consequently, the inhabitants, who were both tenants of the government and permanent residents of the villages, had to pay 20–22% of their agricultural products to the authorities. Nonetheless, the conditions of the inhabitants of the government estate were better than the estates of the notables.[14] In 1915 the population of al-Masmiyah was estimated as 300Melkites (Greek Catholics) and 20Sunni Muslims.
According to Western travelerJosias Leslie Porter who visited the region in the late 1850s, the ruins of al-Masmiyah "are among the most interesting and beautiful in the Hauran," not least due to its numerous Greek inscriptions.[3] The majority of the ancient city's homes were in rubble, but a number of public buildings were relatively well-preserved.[3] Porter further remarked that except for the Roman temple "there are several other buildings ... but they are not remarkable either for their size or architecture.[5]
The temple was destroyed in 1875 or 76 by the Ottoman army, who used its stones to build a barracks atBurraq. The temple had earlier been photographed byTancrède Dumas.[11] It still remained the subject of study by scholars inGreco-Roman architecture after its dismantlement.
This is a description based on traveler reports predating the 1875 destruction.
Along with the Roman temple dedicated toTyche in nearbyal-Sanamayn, the so-called "Praetorium" of al-Masmiyah was the only Roman temple in theLevant that contained niches for statues in thecella. This unique feature in Roman architecture was likely inspired by pre-Roman architecture, particularly the temple ofBaal-Shamin in theSyrian Desert town ofPalmyra or in variousArabian cities.[16] The Praetorium was situated atop a podium in atemenos surrounded by colonnades.[11]
It was relatively small, measuring 24.8 x 16.4 meters.[11] It had a rectangular ground plan with a semi-circularapse that projected onto one side of the building opposite of the doorway.[17] Both sides of the doorway contained niches reserved for statues.[18] The interior space consisted of a single room, which was thenaos,[11] and measured 15.09 x 13.78 meters.[19]
The "Praetorium" was formerly topped by a square domed roof, likely acloister vault, which had already collapsed by the 19th century.[17][18] The roof had been supported by four free-standing columns fixed at the inner angles ofcross-vaulted arches,[7] which together formed aGreek cross.[10] On the opposite end of each columns stood a half-column, making for a total of four main columns, eight half-columns, and four quarter columns (situated at each corner) inside thenaos.[19] The arches sat onlintels that spanned the space between the outer wall and the columns supporting the roof.[7]
There were six niches against the walls that were reserved for the placement of statues and in the center of them was the main space, theadyton, used to hold the main statue of the pagan cult. Theadyton was topped by a conch-shaped half-dome.[20] The building had two windows, a rare feature in Classical pagan temples, and a total of three entryways.[19] Of the entryways, there was a principal central doorway that was higher and broader than the two side-doors.[21]
The temple ruins contained a partially destroyedportico with six columns.[10] The material used for the building was dry stone.[17] Other than the dome and the portico, the building had been well preserved until the 19th century.[18]
According to theSyria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), al-Masmiyah had a population of 1,498 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center of the al-Masmiyahnahiyah ("subdistrict") which consists of 16 localities with a collective population of 8,773 in 2004.[22] As of the early 20th century, its inhabitants were largely Melkite Christians, though there was a small Muslim community as well. In 2004, the village still had a significant Melkite Christian population.[23]
In 2011, theMelkite Greek Catholic Church had approximately 3,000 believers.[24]
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