Shaqqa or Shakka () 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 town in As Suwayda Governorate in southern Syria. The town's 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 ...

who migrated to the region from

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon (, ; , ; ) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It is about long and averages above in elevation, with its peak at . The range provides a typical alpine climate year-round. Mount Lebanon is well-known for its snow-covered mountains, ...

starting from the 18th century. In ancient times it was known as Saccaea (transliterated also as Sakkaia). In AD 287, it was given the rank of a city and the name Maximianopolis. Since it was situated in the

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

, it is distinguished from other cities by being called Maximianopolis in Arabia.

Location and architectural remains

Shaqqa is situated in the northern fringes of

Jabal el Druze Jabal al-Druze (), is an elevated volcanic region in the Suwayda Governorate of southern Syria. Most of the inhabitants of this region are Druze, and there are also significant Christian communities. Safaitic inscriptions were first found in ...

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 thro ...

at 1070 metres above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

, 7 kilometres east of

Shahba Shahba ( / ALA-LC: ''Shahbā'') is a city located south of Damascus in the Jabal el Druze in As-Suwayda Governorate of Syria, but formerly in the Roman Empire, Roman province of Arabia Petraea. Known in Late Antiquity as Philippopolis (in Arabia ...

and about 25 kilometres north of

As-Suwayda Suwayda (), also spelled Sweida, is a mainly Druze city located in southern Syria, close to the border with Jordan. It is the capital of Suwayda Governorate, one of Syria's 14 governorates, bordering Jordan in the South, Daraa Governorate ...

, the capital of the governatorate. The ancient remains include several dwellings rich adorned both architecturally and by carvings. In addition it has: *The enormous ''Al-Qaysariye'', generally interpreted as the residence of the Roman governors, but more probably a small forum linked with a vast

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

l hall, which was worked on in the 3rd century. It has a number of rooms and halls with floral decorations. *A Roman civil basilica, later transformed into a church dedicated to

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

. It is believed that this church is the oldest one dedicated to the martyr Saint George on the basis of a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

inscription naming the building for the "holy and triumphant" martyr George. It is dated to either AD 368 or 197. *A kalybe, an old architectural style of temples typical for the Roman era southern Syria. Maximianopolis in Arabia, doubtless the seat of a Roman garrison, was a '' colonia'', the highest rank of city in the empire. It employed a

calendar era A calendar era is the period of time elapsed since one '' epoch'' of a calendar and, if it exists, before the next one. For example, the current year is numbered in the Gregorian calendar, which numbers its years in the Western Christian era ...

that counted the years from that of

Maximian Maximian (; ), nicknamed Herculius, was Roman emperor from 286 to 305. He was ''Caesar (title), Caesar'' from 285 to 286, then ''Augustus (title), Augustus'' from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocleti ...

's accession to the imperial throne (AD 286). An inscription mentions a temple of Zeus Megistos,Frank R. Trombley: ''Hellenic Religion & Christianization, c. 370-529'', E. J. Brill, Leiden 1993 (= Religions in the Graeco-Roman world, 115), vol. II, p. 344 and another bearing an epigram about the philosopher

Proclus Proclus Lycius (; 8 February 412 – 17 April 485), called Proclus the Successor (, ''Próklos ho Diádokhos''), was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, one of the last major classical philosophers of late antiquity. He set forth one of th ...

is a witness to local literary culture.

Bishopric

In the 5th century Maximianopolis was an

episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

, as indicated by the participation of its bishop Severus as a signatory of the

Council of Chalcedon The Council of Chalcedon (; ) was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, Bithynia (modern-day Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey) from 8 Oct ...

in 451. An inscription of 594 speaks of the local bishop, named Tiberinus, having erected a

martyrium A ''martyrium'' (Latin) or ''martyrion'' (Greek) (: ''martyria)'', sometimes anglicized martyry (: "martyries"), is a church or shrine built over the tomb of a Christian martyr. It is associated with a specific architectural form, centered on a ...

and other martyrs. Another inscription mentions a Bishop Peter.Siméon Vailhé, "Maximopolis" in ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' (New York 1911)
/ref> The bishopric of Maximianopolis in Arabia is included in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

's list of

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

s.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ), p. 925 In the 19th century it was mistakenly called "Maximopolis", until corrected in 1885. Some sources of the same period proposed identification of Maximianopolis in Arabia with the town of

Sheikh Miskin Al-Shaykh Maskin (), also spelled Sheikh Maskīn, Sheikh Miskeen, is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate, located north of Daraa. Nearby localities include Ibta' and Da'el to the south, Khirbet al-Ghazaleh the ...

References

External links

Map of town
Google Maps {{Cities of Syria Roman towns and cities in Syria Populated places in Shahba District Roman sites in Syria Archaeological sites in as-Suwayda Governorate Towns in Syria Catholic titular sees in Asia Druze communities in Syria

Location and architectural remains

Bishopric

See also

References

External links