Inkhil ( ar, أنخل, Ankhil) is a town in southern
Syria, administratively part of the
al-Sanamayn District 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, ...
. It is located north 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 just east of the
Golan Heights
The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between d ...
in the
Hauran
The Hauran ( ar, حَوْرَان, ''Ḥawrān''; also spelled ''Hawran'' or ''Houran'') is a region that spans parts of southern Syria and northern Jordan. It is bound in the north by the Ghouta oasis, eastwards by the al-Safa field, to the ...
plain. In the 2004 census by the
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics it had a population 31,258.
[General Census of Population and Housing 2004](_blank)
. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Daraa Governorate.
History
Among the ancient ruins found in Inkhil are the remains of a large villa dating from the 2nd century CE during
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
rule. Within the building is large vaulted central hall which connects to several rooms containing busts and other Roman-era sculptures carved from
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of a ...
. Its facade has highly decorated entrances and conch-head
niches. During
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 Constantin ...
rule, Inkhil was dominated by the
Ghassanids
The Ghassanids ( ar, الغساسنة, translit=al-Ġasāsina, also Banu Ghassān (, romanized as: ), also called the Jafnids, were an Arab tribe which founded a kingdom. They emigrated from southern Arabia in the early 3rd century to the Levan ...
, Arab vassals of the empire based in nearby
Jabiya.
In 1596 Inkhil appeared in the
Ottoman tax registers under the name of ''Nahal'', being 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 Kilab in the
Sanjak of 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 86 households and 45 bachelors. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 40% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and bee-hives; in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 13,000
akçe. Most of the income (22 out of 24 parts) went to a
waqf
A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or ''mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitabl ...
(religious trust).
The town consisted of about 50 houses in the early 1840s all of which were inhabited by Muslims. According to German archaeologist
Gottlieb Schumacher
Gottlieb Schumacher (21 November 1857 – 26 November 1925) was an American-born civil engineer, architect and archaeologist of German descent, who was an important figure in the early archaeological exploration of Palestine.
Early life
Sc ...
, Inkhil was recorded to be a "small place numbering 55 to 60 huts" in 1897.
Inkhil was one of the first towns to participate in the
2011–2012 Syrian uprising against the government of
Bashar al-Assad in March 2011 following demonstrations in Daraa. On 19 August 2012, four protesters were killed and dozens injured after Syrian security forces shot at demonstrators emerging from a
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a Place of worship, place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers (sujud) ...
following
Friday prayer
In Islam, Friday prayer or Congregational prayer ( ar, صَلَاة ٱلْجُمُعَة, ') is a prayer (''ṣalāt'') that Muslims hold every Friday, after noon instead of the Zuhr prayer. Muslims ordinarily pray five times each day accordin ...
s.
Inkhil Live Blog
'' Al Jazeera English''. 2011-08-19. Retrieved on 2012-03-21.
References
Bibliography
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External links
Map of town
Google Maps
Sanameine, 19L map
{{Daraa Governorate, sanamayn
Cities in Syria
Populated places in Al-Sanamayn District