Qanawat
Qanawat
قَنَوَات | |
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UTC+2 (EET) | |
| • Summer (DST) | +3 |
Qanawat (
History
Qanawat is one of the earliest cities in the Bashan and Hauran areas. It is probably evidenced in the Hebrew Bible as Kenath (Hebrew: קְנָת, Numbers 32:42, 1 Chronicles 2:23). Possible earlier evidence, is from Ancient Egyptian documents like the execration texts (second group) of the 20th-19th century BC, and the Amarna letters of the 14th century BC (as Qanu, in EA 204).[3][4]
Hellenistic and Roman history
The ancient Hellenistic-Roman city of Canatha (also Kanatha, Κάναθα in
Bishopric
Only one of the bishops of Canatha is known by name: Theodosius took part in the
No longer a residential bishopric, Canatha is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.[8]
Early Islamic era
A center of Christianity in the area, Canatha was captured by the Muslim Arabs in 637, and declined in importance until in the 9th century it was reduced to a poor village.
Ottoman era
In 1596 Qanawat appeared in the
The first shaykh al-aql of Qanawat was Ibrahim al-Hajari who played a key role in mobilizing Druze resistance to the conscription orders of the Egyptian governor Ibrahim Pasha in the late 1830s.[12] Ibrahim died in 1840 and was succeeded by his son Husayn.[12] Qanawat at the time was under the control of the Al Hamdan, the leading Druze family of the Hauran.[12] However, under Husayn’s leadership, the Hajari family formed the mashaykat al-aql, which gradually became the main religious institution recognized by the Druze of Hauran.[12] The Al Hamdan used it to further their influence among the Druze,[12] but lost Qanawat to the Bani al-Atrash in the 1860s.[13] The latter only nominally controlled Qanawat with the al-Hajari family running the village’s affairs independently through the mashaykhat al-aql.[14]
Main sights
The city's extensive ancient ruins are 1500 m in length and 750 m in breadth. Among them are a Roman bridge and a rock-hewn
The monument known as Es-Serai (also Seraya, "palace") dates from around the 2nd century AD and was originally a temple, and then, from the 4th/5th centuries, a Christian basilica. It is 22 m long, and was preceded by an outside portico and an atrium with eighteen columns.
The German explorer Hermann Burchardt visited the town in 1895, taking photographs of its antiquities, photographs which are now held in the Ethnological Museum of Berlin.[16]
Gallery of images
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Roman building, Al Quanawat in 2008 -
Roman building, Al Quanawat in 2008 -
Window reliefs -
Temple of Rabbos, Al Quanawat in 2008 -
Roman nympheum, Al Quanawat in 2008 -
Roman tower, Al Quanawat in 2008
References
- ^ Betts, 2010, p. 22.
- ^ "General Census of Population 2004". Retrieved 2014-07-10.
- ^ Ewing, W (1915). "Kenath". In James Orr (ed.). International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2014-05-27.
- ISBN 0801842514.
- ^ Burns, 2009, pp. 246-247
- ^ Michel Lequien, Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus, Paris 1740, Vol. II, coll. 867-868
- ^ Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, Leipzig 1931, p. 435
- ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 857
- ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 218.
- ^ a b c Firro 1992, p. 149.
- ^ a b c Firro 1992, p. 151.
- ^ a b c d e Firro 1992, p. 182.
- ^ Firro 1992, p. 183.
- ^ Firro 1992, p. 184.
- ^ Burns, 2009, p. 249
- ^ General view of Qanawat (click on photo to enlarge); Qanawat, Serail (click on photo to enlarge).
Bibliography
- Betts, Robert Brenton (2010). The Druze. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300048100.
- Burns, Ross (2009). The Monuments of Syria. I. B. Tauris. ISBN 978-0857714893.
- Firro, Kais (1992). A History of the Druzes, Volume 1. Brill. ISBN 9789004094376.
- Hütteroth, Wolf-Dieter; Abdulfattah, Kamal (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
- The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites-Canatha
External links
- Map of the town, Google Maps