Ghabaghib غَبَاغِب | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 Water well, Ghabaghib, 1965 | |
  Ghabaghib | |
| Coordinates:33°11′2″N36°13′35″E / 33.18389°N 36.22639°E /33.18389; 36.22639 | |
| Grid position | 264/287 |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Daraa |
| District | Al-Sanamayn |
| Subdistrict | Ghabaghib |
| Control | Syrian Opposition[1] |
| Elevation | 710 m (2,329 ft) |
| Population (2004 census)[2] | |
• Total | 11,802 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Ghabaghib (Arabic:غَبَاغِبĠabāġib; also spelledGhabagheb) is a town in southernSyria, administratively part of theDaraa Governorate, located north ofDaraa. Nearby localities includeMuthabin to the southeast,al-Sanamayn to the south,Deir al-Bukht,Deir al-Adas to the east,Khan Dannun to the north andal-Qin to the northwest.
According to theSyria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Ghabaghib had a population of 11,802 in the 2004 census.[2] The town is also the administrative center of the Ghabaghibnahiyah which consists of thirteen villages with a combined population of 45,793.[2]
On 16 January 1192, news reached Jerusalem that Alam al-Din Sulayman, anemir ("commander") ofAyyubid generalSaladin, had died in Ghabaghib on his way toAleppo.[3] Later, in the early 13th-century, the town was visited by Syrian geographerYaqut al-Hamawi who noted that it was "a village in the nearer districts of Hauran, 6 leagues from Damascus."[4]
In 1596, Ghabagib appeared in theOttomantax registers being part of thenahiya (subdistrict) of Bani Kilab in theQada of Hauran. It had an entirelyMuslim population consisting of 6 households and 5 bachelors. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on various agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and/or beehives; a total of 2,000akçe.[5]
In 1838,Ghubaghib was noted as a Muslim village, situated "the Nukra, north ofAl-Shaykh Maskin".[6]
In the mid-19th-century, Ghabaghib was a small village with structures built of black basalt stone.[7] The town, situated along theHajj caravan route betweenDamascus andMecca, served as an intermediate rest stop betweenKhan Dannun andal-Sanamayn.[8] A tower was built in the town on the orders ofOttoman Sultan,Selim I.[8] Ghabaghib later became a station on theDamascus–Daraa line of theHejaz Railway.[9] During theSyria–Lebanon Campaign inWorld War II, Ghabaghib served as the headquarters for theFree French Forces in southern Syria. The town was nicknamed "Rhubarb" by British soldiers who found the name too difficult to pronounce.[10]
In 1906, the traveler William Ewing noted that "At Ghabaghib ... greatcisterns and scattered ruins tell of an important place in times past."[11]
Capital:Daraa | |||||||||||||||||||||
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