Shahba شَهْبَا Philippopolis | |
|---|---|
 The Philippeion, a memorial monument | |
  Shahba Location in Syria | |
| Coordinates:32°51′15″N36°37′45″E / 32.85417°N 36.62917°E /32.85417; 36.62917 | |
| Grid position | 302/251 |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Suwayda |
| District | Shahba |
| Subdistrict | Shahba |
| Population (2004 Census) | |
• Total | 13,660 |
| Time zone | EEST |
Shahba (Arabic:شَهْبَا /ALA-LC:Shahbā) is a city located 87 km (54 mi) south ofDamascus in theJabal al-Druze inSuwayda Governorate ofSyria, but formerly in theRoman province ofArabia Petraea. Known inLate Antiquity asPhilippopolis (in Arabia), the city was the seat of a Bishopric (see below), which remains a Latintitular see. The city had a population of 13,660 in the 2004 census.[1] In Shahba,Druze make up the predominant population, whileChristians andSunni MuslimBedouins represent a minority.[2]
Theoasis settlement now named Shahba had been the native hamlet of theRoman emperorPhilip the Arab. After Philip became emperor in 244, he dedicated himself to rebuilding the little community as acolonia. The contemporary community that was replaced with the new construction was so insignificant that one author states that the city can be considered to have been built on virgin soil, making it the last of the Roman cities founded in the East.[3]
The city was renamed Philippopolis (a name with homonyms) in dedication to the emperor, who is said to have wanted to turn his native city into a replica ofRome herself.[citation needed] A hexagonal-style temple and an open-air place of worship of local style, called akalybe, atriumphal arch,baths, a starkly unornamentedtheatre faced withbasalt blocks,[4] a large structure that has been interpreted as abasilica, and thePhilippeion (illustration, right) surrounded by a great wall with ceremonial gates,[5] were laid out and built following the grid plan of a typical Roman city.
The public structures formed what author Arthur Segal has called a kind of "imported façade". The rest of the urban architecture was modest and vernacular.[6] The city was never completed as building seems to have stopped abruptly after the death of Philip in 249.
The new city followed the extremely regular Roman grid-plan, with the main colonnadedCardo maximus intersecting a colonnadedDecumanus Maximus at right angles near the center. Lesser streets marked offinsulae, many of which never saw houses constructed upon them.
In 1596 Shahba appeared in theOttomantax registers asSahba and was part of thenahiya of Bani Miglad in theHauran Sanjak. It had an entirelyMuslim population consisting of 8 households and 3 bachelors, who paid a fixed tax rate of 40% on wheat,barley, summer crops, goats and/or beehives; a total of 5,050akçe.[7]
In 1838Shuhba was noted byEli Smith as being located inJabal Hauran, and inhabited by Druze and "Greek" Christians.[8]
Because it was far from population centers that would have required cut stone for building and might have quarried it from those deserted in Philippopolis, Shahba today contains well-preserved ruins of the ancient Roman city.
A museum located in the city exhibits some beautiful examples ofRoman mosaics.[9] The especially rich iconography of the figurative mosaic on the theme,The Glory of the Earth, discovered in 1952 in the so-called "Maison Aoua", is conserved today in the museum of Damascus and has proved a rich resource foriconographers.[10]
The relatively well-preservedRomanbridge at Nimreh is located in the vicinity.
In the 18th centuryDruze populations fromMount Lebanon moved into the area.[11] A Christian presence exists in the city to the present.[12]
The inhabitants of the city are mainlyDruze, with smallChristian andSunni Muslim Bedouin minorities.
In 2011, theMelkite Greek Catholic Church had approximately 450 believers.[13]
The number of Greek Catholic families does not exceed seventy houses, the parish is very small compared to the number of the population.[14]
Shahba has acold semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classificationBSk).
| Climate data for Shahba | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 10.3 (50.5) | 11.6 (52.9) | 15.2 (59.4) | 20.1 (68.2) | 25.6 (78.1) | 29.4 (84.9) | 30.7 (87.3) | 31.2 (88.2) | 29.3 (84.7) | 25.9 (78.6) | 18.8 (65.8) | 12.5 (54.5) | 21.7 (71.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 1.3 (34.3) | 2.2 (36.0) | 4.4 (39.9) | 7.6 (45.7) | 11.2 (52.2) | 14.1 (57.4) | 15.7 (60.3) | 15.9 (60.6) | 14.0 (57.2) | 11.3 (52.3) | 7.4 (45.3) | 3.4 (38.1) | 9.0 (48.3) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 61 (2.4) | 60 (2.4) | 46 (1.8) | 18 (0.7) | 9 (0.4) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (0.0) | 11 (0.4) | 26 (1.0) | 53 (2.1) | 285 (11.2) |
| Source:Climate data | |||||||||||||
32°51′15″N36°37′45″E / 32.85417°N 36.62917°E /32.85417; 36.62917
Capital:Suwayda | |||||||||||||||
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