Hauran

Hauran, also Hawran or Houran, ( _ar. حوران, ArTranslit|Ḥaurān is the southwestern region of modern-day Syria, it extends to the far northwestern region of modern-day Jordan. It is mentioned in the Bible (Ezekiel 47:16-18) describing the boundary of the Israelite Kingdom, and gets its name from the Hebrew חורן "Hawran", meaning "hollow land". The Romans referred to it as Auranitis. The volcanic region is one of the most fertile in Syria, particularly famous for its vineyards. Unlike other fertile areas of Syria, such as the Orontes Valley and the Euphrates regions, which rely on major rivers for their productivity and employ irrigated farming methods, the Hauran has very few similarly developable rivers. Instead, the region relies on the snows and rains of winter and spring. Many of the sites contain cisterns and water storage facilities to take advantage of this seasonal rainfall.

The Hauran is not an official region; historically it consists of the Syrian governorates of Quneitra, As Suwayda, and Daraa, and the Jordanian governorate of Irbid. However, the name is used colloquially by the inhabitants of the region (Hauranis) and other Syrians to refer to it. Its boundaries more or less start with Mt. Hermon in the north (although that land is currently disputed, see Golan Heights). It ends at the Ajloun mountains in the south and the desert in the east. The Hauran marked the traditional border of Roman Syria, as evidenced by the well-preserved Roman ruins in the cities of Bosra and Shahba.

Haurani Dialect

This link captures the sound of the Hourani (Haurani) dialect [lahjat al Hawarneh] http://www.neurosurgery.tv/10march2008.html

History

* In 636 CE (AD) the Battle of Yarmouk (named after River Yarmouk) took place between Byzantium and the advancing Muslim armies.
* In 1516 CE (AD) the Ottoman armies swept through Bilad al-Sham. On August 24, 1516 CE (AD) the Mamluke armies were defeated in Marj Dabeg, near Halab (Aleppo) and the Ottoman Sultan, Saleem the First entered Aleppo city on August 28, 1516 CE. Damascus fell on September 27, 1516 and then Houran followed. It remained under Ottoman control until their defeat in World War I (1914-1918).

Swiss traveller Johann Ludwig Burckhardt noted his observation of people from the region::"My companions intending to leave Damascus very early the next morning, I quitted my lodgings in the evening, and went with them to sleep in a small Khan in the suburb of Damascus, at which the Haouaerne, or people of Haouran, generally alight." (in "Travels in Syria and the Holy Land: Journal of an Excursion into the Haouran in the Autumn and Winter of 1810")

Architecture

Main cities

*Busra
*Der'a
*Irbid
*Quneitra
*Ramtha
*Suwaida

Villages

*Aidoon
*Akaider
*Al-Sanamein
*Baseer
*Bushra
*Buwaidha
*Hawsha
*Huwwarah
*Izraa'
*Khabab
*Nu'aymeh
*Sal
*Sareeh
*Shajara
*Tubneh
*Qrayya
*Dir albukhat

Important personalities

*Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya
*Farid al-Atrash
*Asmahan
*Fahd Ballan
*Mahmoud Zuabi
*Mustafa Wahbi(^cArar)

References

* Arthur Segal, "Religious architecture in the Roman Near East: Temples of the basalt lands (Trachon and Hauran)," in "The Variety of Local Religious Life in the Near East in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods". Ed. by T. Kaizer (Leiden, Brill, 2008) (Religions in the Graeco-Roman World, 164), pp.

External links

* [http://www.helsinki.fi/hum/arla/Levant-internetcourse/Lessons/SouthernSyriaClassic-Byzantine.htm Brief history of Southern Syria]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01440c.htm Amrah] - Catholic Encyclopedia article