Al-Samaqiyat, also spelled al-Summaqiyat or Smaqiyat (), is a village in southern

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 ...

, administratively part of the

Daraa Governorate Daraa Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ') is one of the fourteen Governorates of Syria, governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in the south-west of the country and covers an area of 2594 km2. It is bordered by Jordan to the south, Quneitra G ...

, located east of

Daraa Daraa (, Levantine Arabic: ) is a city in southwestern Syria, north of the border with Jordan. It is the capital of Daraa Governorate in the Hauran region. Located south of Damascus on the Damascus–Amman highway, it serves as a way sta ...

and south of

Bosra Bosra (), formerly Bostra () and officially called Busra al-Sham (), is a town in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the Daraa District of the Daraa Governorate and geographically part of the Hauran region. Bosra is an ancient cit ...

. Other nearby localities include al-Mataaiya to the west and

Samad Samad or Samed (, ''Ṣamad'') is an Arabic male given name. Given name *Abd al-Samad ibn Ali, Abbasid governor of Jazira in 780s. * Samed Abdul Awudu (born 1984), Ghanaian football player *Samad Nikkhah Bahrami (born 1983), Iranian basketball p ...

to the northeast. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Samaqiyat had a population of 511 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Daraa Governorate.

History

Samaqiyat had been an abandoned village as of 1890, but was resettled by

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

by 1895, when the village had about eleven families. The population grew to twenty-five families by 1905. Because its location in the Hamad desert steppe, its land was dry. It also experienced raids by the

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 ...

from the neighboring

Jabal al-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 ...

mountain and by the

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

tribes active in the area. The Bedouin overran the area surrounding the village in 1909. Since the Ottoman era, the village has been dominated by the Miqdad clan.

References

Bibliography

* 1895 establishments in Ottoman Syria Populated places in Daraa District Christian communities in Syria {{DaraaSY-geo-stub