Beit Jinn ( ar, بيت جن), also known as Bayt Jin, Beit Jann or Beyt Jene, is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the

Rif Dimashq Governorate Rif Dimashq Governorate ( ar, محافظة ريف دمشق, ', literally, the "Governorate of the Countryside of Damascus", Damascus Suburb) is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in the southwestern part of the ...

, located southwest of Damascus on the foothills of

Mount Hermon Mount Hermon ( ar, جبل الشيخ or جبل حرمون / ALA-LC: ''Jabal al-Shaykh'' ("Mountain of the Sheikh") or ''Jabal Haramun''; he, הַר חֶרְמוֹן, ''Har Hermon'') is a mountain cluster constituting the southern end of th ...

. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Beit Jinn had a population of 2,846 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Rif Dimashq Governorate. Its inhabitants are predominantly

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

s. The town is the administrative center of the Beit Jinn Subdistrict, which consists of nine towns, with a combined population of 15,668. The subdistrict has a mixed Sunni and Druze population and Beit Jinn contains a Druze religious shrine. Nearby localities include

Arnah Arnah ( ar, عرنة) is a Syrian village in the Qatana District of the Rif Dimashq Governorate. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Arnah had a population of 3,146 in the 2004 census. References Bibliography * ...

to the north,

Darbal Darbal ( ar, دربل, also spelled ''Drubal'' or ''Dirbul'') is a Syrian village in the Qatana District of the Rif Dimashq Governorate. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Darbal had a population of 2,049 in the 2004 cens ...

to the northeast,

Mazraat Beit Jinn Mazraat Beit Jen ( ar, مزرعة بيت جن), also known as Mazraat Beit Jinn or Mazraat Bayt Jinn, is a Syrian village in the Qatana District of the Rif Dimashq Governorate. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Mazraat B ...

to the east,

Harfa Harfa ( ar, حرفا) is a Syrian village in the Qatana District of the Rif Dimashq Governorate. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Harfa had a population of 2,362 in the 2004 census.

to the southeast, and Hader to the southwest. The Nahr al-Awaj river (ancient

Pharpar Pharpar (or Pharphar in the Douay–Rheims Bible) is a biblical river in Syria. It is the less important of the two rivers of Damascus mentioned in the Book of Kings (2 Kings 5:12), now generally identified with the A‘waj (literally, 'crooked' ...

) passes near the town.

History

Beit Jinn was visited by

Andalusian Andalusia is a region in Spain. Andalusian may also refer to: Animals *Andalusian chicken, a type of chicken *Andalusian donkey, breed of donkey *Andalusian hemipode, a buttonquail, one of a small family of birds *Andalusian horse, a breed of ho ...

geographer

Ibn Jubayr Ibn Jubayr (1 September 1145 – 29 November 1217; ar, ابن جبير), also written Ibn Jubair, Ibn Jobair, and Ibn Djubayr, was an Arab geographer, traveller and poet from al-Andalus. His travel chronicle describes the pilgrimage he made to M ...

in the late 12th century, during

Ayyubid The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish origin, Saladin ...

rule. He noted that it was "a village between

Darayya Darayya ( ar, دَارَيَّا, Dārayyā) is a suburb of Damascus in Syria, the centre of Darayya lying south-west of the centre of Damascus. Administratively it belongs to Rif Dimashq. History and population Darayya is one of the oldest c ...

h and

Baniyas Baniyas ( ar, بَانِيَاس ') is a Mediterranean coastal city in Tartous Governorate, northwestern Syria, located south of Latakia (ancient Laodicea) and north of Tartous (ancient Tortosa). It is known for its citrus fruit orchards an ...

lying among the hills." In 1838, during

Ottoman Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to: Governments and dynasties * Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924 * Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...

rule, Eli Smith noted Beit Jinn's population as being predominantly

. In December 2017, according to the

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , image = Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Logo.jpg , image_size = 200px , caption = The logo of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , type = NGO , founded_date = , founder ...

, the village was a source of fighting between the

Syrian Arab Armed Forces The Syrian Arab Armed Forces ( ar, الْقُوَّاتُ الْمُسَلَّحَةُ الْعَرَبِيَّةُ السُّورِيَّةُ, al-Quwwāt al-Musallaḥah al-ʿArabīyah as-Sūrīyah) are the military forces of the Syrian Arab Re ...

and the

al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

-affiliated Levant Liberation Committee. Following the

Beit Jinn offensive A Beit (also spelled bait, ar, بيت , literally "a house") is a metrical unit of Arabic, Iranian, Urdu and Sindhi poetry. It corresponds to a line, though sometimes improperly renderered as " couplet" since each ''beit'' is divided into ...

of late 2017, the Syrian government took control of the area. The local rebels surrendered and were allowed to leave.

References

Bibliography

* * Populated places in Qatana District Towns in Syria {{RifDimashqSY-geo-stub