Ghasm ( ar, غصم, also spelled Ghasam) is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the

Daraa Governorate Daraa Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة درعا / ALA-LC: ') is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in the south-west of the country and covers an area of 3,730 km2. It is bordered by Jordan to the south, ...

, located northeast of

Daraa Daraa ( ar, دَرْعَا, Darʿā, Levantine Arabic: , also Darʿā, Dara’a, Deraa, Dera'a, Dera, Derʿā and Edrei; means "''fortress''", compare Dura-Europos) is a city in southwestern Syria, located about north of the border with Jord ...

and west of

Bosra Bosra ( ar, بُصْرَىٰ, Buṣrā), also spelled Bostra, Busrana, Bozrah, Bozra and officially called Busra al-Sham ( ar, بُصْرَىٰ ٱلشَّام, Buṣrā al-Shām), is a town in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the Dar ...

. Other nearby localities include Maaraba to the east,

al-Sahwah Al-Sahwah ( ar, السهوة, also spelled ''el-Sahoa'' or ''Sahweh''); also known as Sahwat al-Qamh or Sehwet el-Kamh is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate, located east of Daraa. Nearby localities includ ...

to the north,

al-Jiza Al-Jiza ( ar, الجيزة) is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate, located east of Daraa. Nearby localities include al-Mataaiya to the south, Ghasm to the southeast, al-Sahwah to the northeast, al-Musayfir ...

to west and al-Mataaiya to the south. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Ghasm had a population of 3,666 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Daraa Governorate.

History

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman R ...

, still in use in the late 19th century, leads to Ghasm.Morison, T, et al., 1911, p
154
/ref> The village contains a ruined Byzantine-era church. It was dedicated to the honor of

Saints Sergius and Bacchus Sergius (or Serge) and Bacchus were fourth-century Roman Christian soldiers revered as martyrs and military saints by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches. Their feast day is 7 October. According to their hagiography, S ...

in 593 CE.

Ottoman era

Ghasm's inhabitants were originally settled Bedouin. The

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 ...

al-Miqdad clan has been the predominant family in Ghasm and a number of nearby towns since the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

era. In 1596 Ghasm appeared in the

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 ...

tax registers as ''Gasim'' 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 Butayna in the

Sanjak Hauran Sanjaks (liwāʾ) (plural form: alwiyāʾ) * Armenian: նահանգ (''nahang''; meaning "province") * Bulgarian: окръг ('' okrǔg''; meaning "county", "province", or "region") * el, Διοίκησις (''dioikēsis'', meaning "province" ...

. It had an entirely Muslim population consisting of 25 households and 12 bachelors. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 40% on various agricultural products, including

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 archaeolog ...

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 ...

, summer crops, goats and/or beehives, and a water-mill; a total of 6,500 akçe. In 1838, ''Ghusam'' was noted as a ruin, situated "In the Nukrah, west of

Busrah Bosra ( ar, بُصْرَىٰ, Buṣrā), also spelled Bostra, Busrana, Bozrah, Bozra and officially called Busra al-Sham ( ar, بُصْرَىٰ ٱلشَّام, Buṣrā al-Shām), is a town in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the Dar ...

".Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p
153
/ref> In 1895 travellers passing through the village were told of how the

Druze The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings o ...

had raided the village in 1893. The villagers had to rely on the Druze for the water-course to be led by the village, and in 1894 they had paid the Druze 200 medjidies. Late 19th century, the village had 106 houses and a population of 450, including six Christian families.Schumacher, 1897, p
165

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

Map of the town
Google Maps
Bosra-map; 22M
{{Daraa Governorate, daraa Populated places in Daraa District