Beqaasem (Arabic: بقعسم) is a
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
n village in the
Qatana District
Qatana District () is a district of the Rif Dimashq Governorate in southern Syria.
The district is located just to the east of Mount Hermon. Administrative centre
An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local governmen ...
of the
Rif Dimashq Governorate
Rif Dimashq Governorate (, Literal translation, lit. "Damascus Countryside Governorate" or "Damascus Suburb") is one of the fourteen Governorates of Syria, governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in the southwestern part of the country. ...
. According to the
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Beqaasem had a population of 2,268 in the 2004 census.
[General Census of Population and Housing 2004](_blank)
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Rif Dimashq Governorate. Its inhabitants are predominantly
Druze
The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...
.
History
The presence of Druze around
Mount Hermon
Mount Hermon ( / ALA-LC: ('Mountain of the Sheikh', ), , ) is a mountain, mountain cluster constituting the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its summit straddles the Lebanon–Syria border, border between Syria and Lebanon a ...
is documented since the founding of the Druze religion in the beginning of the 11th century.
In 1838,
Eli Smith
Eli Smith (September 13, 1801 – January 11, 1857) was an American Protestant missionary and scholar.
Biography
Smith was born in Northford, Connecticut, to Eli and Polly (née Whitney) Smith. He graduated from Yale College in 1821 and from A ...
noted Beqaasem's population as
Druze
The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...
.
[Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p]
139
/ref>
See also
* Druze in Syria
Druze is the third-largest religion in Syria with 2010 results recording that their adherents made up 3.2 percent of the population. The Druze are concentrated in the rural, mountainous areas east and south of Damascus in the area of Mount Druz ...
References
Bibliography
*
Populated places in Qatana District
Druze communities in Syria
{{RifDimashqSY-geo-stub