Izraa إِزْرَع Izra | |
|---|---|
 Basilica of Saint George | |
  Izraa | |
| Coordinates:32°51′24″N36°14′49″E / 32.85667°N 36.24694°E /32.85667; 36.24694 | |
| Grid position | 267/253 |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Daraa |
| District | Izraa |
| Subdistrict | Izraa |
| Elevation | 599 m (1,965 ft) |
| Population (2004 census)[1] | |
• Total | 19,158 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Izraa orIzra (Arabic:إِزْرَع,romanized: Izraʿ) is a city in theDaraa Governorate ofSyria, to the north of the city ofDaraa. It is the administrative centre of theIzraa District, and sits at an altitude of 599 metres. According to theSyria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Izraa had a population of 19,158 in the 2004 census.[1] It is the administrative center of anahiyah ("subdistrict") consisting of 21 localities with a combined population of 56,760 in the 2004 census.[1] Its inhabitants are predominantlySunni Muslims, whileChristians constitute a large minority.[2]
Izraa was aCanaanite city mentioned in the Bible as Zorava, Zorowa or Zorabene. Located 80 km south ofDamascus in the northern section of the Province of Daraa, its name appears in theTell Amarna letters, documents which were exchanged between the Egyptian and Syrian rulers in 1334 B.C. Ancient inscriptions left by the Romans after their occupation of the Bashan area evidence the importance of the city.
An inscription found by the archaeologist Richter shows that the city was elevated to the rank ofmetrocomia (Great city) under the EmperorSeverus Alexander (222-235 A.D.) and was known as Zorava.[3]
Lejah (Trachonitis, or "the Rocky Land") forms a triangle withBorac as the northern apex, Izraa in the south-western corner andShahba in the south-eastern corner.[4] In the course of history, this region was a natural fortress that invaders found very difficult to conquer. Herod's soldiers failed to occupy it. Even theCrusaders underBaldwin III could not subdue it, because of its difficult terrain, the lack of water and the resistance of its people.
TheChristianGospel reached this region early because of its proximity to theHoly Land. It became an episcopal seat during the Byzantine era, and ranked second after the metropolitan see ofBosra throughout the whole of theProvince of Arabia.[5]
In 1253,An-Nasir Yusuf ordered the roofing of the Friday mosque in Izraa.[6]
The historianIsmail Abulfida described in his bookTaqwim al Buldan that it was “to be one of the major capitals ofHauran, 18 miles from the region ofSanameine”.
In 1596, Izraa appeared in theOttomantax registers asMadinat Zura' and was part of thenahiya of Badi Sarma in theQada of Hauran. It had a Christian population consisting of 175 households and 61 bachelors, and aMuslim population of 59 households and 30 bachelors. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 40% on various agricultural products, including wheat, barley, goats and/or beehives, in addition to on a water mill andjizya; a total of 124,120akçe.[7]
In 1838, it was noted (under the name ofEdhra‘), located in "the Luhf, west of theLejah", having Muslim, Greek and Catholic Christian inhabitants.[8]
In 1840, the Egyptian governorIbrahim Pasha took over the region and bombarded the church, causing great damage to the walls and dome, but failed to occupy the city. During theGreat Syrian Revolt against the French Mandate forces (1925-1926), Syrian rebels sought refuge in Izra.[9]
Izraa can have very strong (vii) earthquakes (on average one every 50 years) with occurrences at 6-7 Richter. When a strong earthquake occurs, it will be difficult to stand and noticed by people driving motor cars. Furniture and glass will be broken. The damage will be negligible in buildings of good design and construction but considerable damage may be inflicted on poorly built or badly designed structures. There is a very high occurrence of periods with extreme drought. Izraa has a semi-arid (0.2 - 0.5 p/pet) climate. The land area is totally cultivated, not much natural vegetation is left. The landscape is mostly covered with mosaic forest - shrubland/grassland. The climate is classified as a mid-latitude steppe (mid-latitude dry), with a subtropical desert scrub biozone. The soil in the area is high in leptosols (lp), a weakly developed shallow soil.[10]
Izraa has acold semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification:BSk). Rainfall is higher in winter than in summer. The average annual temperature in Izraa is 17.3 °C (63.1 °F). About 287 mm (11.30 in) of precipitation falls annually.
| Climate data for Izraa | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 13.1 (55.6) | 14.8 (58.6) | 18.2 (64.8) | 23.0 (73.4) | 28.4 (83.1) | 31.9 (89.4) | 33.0 (91.4) | 33.5 (92.3) | 32.0 (89.6) | 28.3 (82.9) | 21.8 (71.2) | 15.1 (59.2) | 24.4 (76.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 2.9 (37.2) | 3.4 (38.1) | 5.8 (42.4) | 8.7 (47.7) | 12.1 (53.8) | 15.0 (59.0) | 17.1 (62.8) | 17.4 (63.3) | 15.3 (59.5) | 12.1 (53.8) | 8.0 (46.4) | 4.4 (39.9) | 10.2 (50.3) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 65 (2.6) | 58 (2.3) | 49 (1.9) | 16 (0.6) | 6 (0.2) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 7 (0.3) | 27 (1.1) | 59 (2.3) | 287 (11.3) |
| Source: Climate-Data.org, Climate data | |||||||||||||
The city had a population of 19,158 in the 2004 census.[1] The majority of residents areSunni Muslim, whileChristians constitute a large minority, mainly belonging to theGreek Orthodox andMelkite Greek Catholic churches.[11] Izraa contains two still-functional Byzantine-era churches, the Greek Orthodox St. George Church (locally referred to as “Khudr Izraa”) and the Greek Catholic St. Elias Church.[11] The former was built in 515 and is the oldest, functioning church in Syria.[12]
In 2011, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church had approximately 4,300 believers.[13]
Capital:Daraa | |||||||||||||||||||||
|   | ||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
