Braykah
Braykah
بريكة Breikah | |
|---|---|
Village | |
Braykah | |
| Coordinates: 32°50′18″N 36°34′05″E / 32.83833°N 36.56806°E | |
| PAL | 297/250 |
| Country | Syria |
| Governorate | Suwayda |
| District | Shahba |
| Subdistrict | Shahba |
| Population (2004 census)[1] | |
• Total | 1,055 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Braykah (Arabic: بريكة) is a village situated in the Shahba District of Suwayda Governorate, in southern Syria. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Braykah had a population of 1,055 in the 2004 census.[1] Its inhabitants are predominantly Druze, with a Sunni Muslim Bedouin minority.[2]
History
In 1596 the village appeared in the Ottoman tax registers named Burayka, part of the nahiya (Subdistrict) of Bani Nasiyya in the Hauran Sanjak. It had a Muslim population consisting of 6 households and 3 bachelors; a total of 9 taxable units. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 40% on agricultural products, including wheat (1500 a.), barley (900 a.), summer crops (900 a.), goats and beehives (200 a.); a total of 3,500 akçe.[3]
In 1838, Eli Smith noted that inhabitants of Bureikeh were predominantly Druse and Catholic and "Greek" Christians.[4]
Archaeology
Braykah is home to a Roman temple that was surveyed in 1904 by archaeologist Howard Crosby Butler. The temple, which had been dismantled and rebuilt by the time of Butler's survey, still contained a significant portion of its architectural elements in situ, allowing for a reliable reconstruction.[5]
The temple stands on a rectangular podium and is of the tetrastylos prostyle type, featuring four columns across the front and a single hall. It measures approximately 8.50 × 9.65 meters and is distinguished by its Ionic columns and Syrian pediment, with semicircular niches and engaged half-columns flanking the entrance. The temple's construction and style suggest a date in the early 3rd century CE.[6]
Religious buildings
- Maqam al-Khidr (Druze Shrine)
See also
References
- ^ a b General Census of Population and Housing 2004 Deprecated link archived 2013-01-12 at archive.today. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Al-Suwayda Governorate. (in Arabic)
- ^ "Druze communities in the Middle East". British Druze Society. Archived from the original on September 11, 2011.
- ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 219.
- ^ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Second appendix, B, p. 156
- ^ Segal, Arthur (2022) [2013]. "Brekeh (Boureike) (39)". Temples and sanctuaries in the Roman East: religious architecture in Syria, Iudaea/Palaestina and Provincia Arabia. Oxford and Oakville: Oxbow Books. pp. 184–186. ISBN 9781842175262. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ Segal, Arthur (2022) [2013]. "Brekeh (Boureike) (39)". Temples and sanctuaries in the Roman East: religious architecture in Syria, Iudaea/Palaestina and Provincia Arabia. Oxford and Oakville: Oxbow Books. pp. 184–186. ISBN 9781842175262. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
Bibliography
- Hütteroth, W.-D.; Abdulfattah, K. (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.
- Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 3. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.