Ariqah ( ar, عريقة, ʿArīqa), formerly known as Ahira, is a village in southern Syria with a population of about 3,000. It is located in the heart of the rocky

volcanic plateau A volcanic plateau is a plateau produced by volcanic activity. There are two main types: lava plateaus and pyroclastic plateaus. Lava plateau Lava plateaus are formed by highly fluid basaltic lava during numerous successive eruptions throu ...

Lejah The Lajat (/ALA-LC: ''al-Lajāʾ''), also spelled ''Lejat'', ''Lajah'', ''el-Leja'' or ''Laja'', is the largest lava field in southern Syria, spanning some 900 square kilometers. Located about southeast of Damascus, the Lajat borders the Hauran ...

(also called Lajat). Administratively Ariqah is situated in the Mantiqat Shahba (Shahba district) of As Suwayda Governorate. Ariqah is known for its volcanic

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

which is located in a 10 meters deep hollow in the centre of the village. This cave is known as Ariqa Cave which extends from 2 to 3 kilometers in the old lava streams, it is the biggest known cave in southern Syria.

History

Historically ‘Arīqah was considered the centre of the inaccessible Lajat, many houses from the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

epoch were found in the town and they are still inhabited by locals, there is also an old ruined Byzantine

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

in the town known as "Deir Ariqa".

Ottoman era

In 1596 Al-Ariqah appeared in the Ottoman tax registers as Ahiri'' and was part of the ''

nahiya A nāḥiyah ( ar, , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level division w ...

'' of Bani Abdullah in the Sanjak Hauran. It had an entirely Muslim population consisting of 18 households and 3 bachelors. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

, summer crops, goats and/or beehives and a water mill; a total of 6,500 akçe. In 1838, it was noted as ''Ahiry'', a Druze and Catholic village, situated "in the

, south of Dama".Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p
156
/ref>

References

Bibliography

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External links

Map of the town
Google Maps
Ezra-map, 20m
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ariqah Populated places in Shahba District Towns in Syria Druze communities in Syria