As-Safa ( ar, الصفا, ), also known as Tulul al-Safa (, ), Arabic for ''Al-Safa hills'', is a hilly region which lies in southern

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, north-east of Jabal al-Druze volcanic plateau. It consists of a basaltic lava field of volcanic origin, covering an area of 220 square kilometres, and contains at least 38 cinder cones. This volcanic field lies within the northern part of the massive alkaline Harrat Ash Shamah volcanic field that extends from southern

, through eastern

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. The region is extremely scarce in water.

Volcanic activities

The field contains numerous

vents Vent or vents may refer to: Science and technology Biology *Vent, the cloaca region of an animal *Vent DNA polymerase, a thermostable DNA polymerase Geology *Hydrothermal vent, a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water ...

which have been active during the

Holocene Epoch The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...

(12,000 years ago). A boiling

lava lake Lava lakes are large volumes of molten lava, usually basaltic, contained in a volcanic vent, crater, or broad depression. The term is used to describe both lava lakes that are wholly or partly molten and those that are solidified (someti ...

was observed in the Es Safa volcanic area in the middle of the 19th century (see

Erta Ale Erta Ale (or Ertale or Irta'ale; Amharic: ኤርታሌ) is a continuously active basaltic shield volcano in the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia. It is situated in the Afar Depression, a barren desert area. Erta Ale is the most active volcano ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

and

Puʻu ʻŌʻō Puu Ōō (also spelled Pu‘u‘ō‘ō, and often written Puu Oo, , ) is a volcanic cone on the eastern rift zone of Kīlauea volcano in the Hawaiian Islands. The eruption that created Puu Ōō began on January 3, 1983, and continued nearly c ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

for reference).

Demography

The region was frequently used by the

Druze The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...

through history as a refuge in the years of war. The whole region currently lies within

As-Suwayda Governorate As-Suwayda or Al-Suwayda Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة السويداء / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat as-Suwaydā’'') is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is the southernmost governorate and has an area of 5,550 km² ...

, as the governorate's borders run along the region's boundaries. Only roaming

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

visit it occasionally, in addition to some archaeologists.

Safaitic Safaitic ( ''Al-Ṣafāʾiyyah'') is a variety of the South Semitic scripts used by the nomads of the basalt desert of southern Syria and northern Jordan, the so-called Ḥarrah, to carve rock inscriptions in various dialects of Old Arabic and A ...

inscriptions were first discovered in this area in 1857, and were named after the region.

Syrian civil war

In the Syrian civil war, al-Safa became the last pocket of

ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

in the As-Suwayda Governorate and the Rif-Damasiq Governorate. It was surrounded by the

Syrian Army " (''Guardians of the Homeland'') , colors = * Service uniform: Khaki, Olive * Combat uniform: Green, Black, Khaki , anniversaries = August 1st , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = 1948 Arab–Israeli War Six ...

in the As-Suwayda offensive. The area was captured on 17 November 2018.

List of volcanic cones in Es Safa

* Tell el Aqzass (''Tell el Aqzass'') 889 m. * Tell ed Ders (''Tell ed Ders'') 878 m. * Jabal Rghēli (''Jabal Rgheli'') 874 m. * Tell Darayir Šimāli (''Tell Darayer Shimali'') 844 m. * Tell Um Ħwār (''Tell Um Hwar'') 818 m. * Tell Um el Janbrīs (''Tell Um el Janbris'') 808 m. * Tell Darayir Qebli (''Tell Darayir Qebli'') 803 m. * Tell ‘Ali (''Tell Ali'') 770 m. * Tell al Khēl (''Tell el Kheil'') 765 m. * Tell Eş Şafa (''Tell Es Safa'') 739m. * Tell Ţarrān (''Tell Tarran'') 731 m. * Jabal Sīs (''Jabal Sees'') 692 m. * Tell Zqēţa (''Tell Zqeita'') 670 m. * Jabal el Jarīn (''Jabal el Jareen'') 657 m. * Jabal Abū Ghanem (''Jabal Abu Ghanem'') 632 m.

References

External links

*
Photos of Es-Safa volcano in Panoramio
Mountains of Syria Volcanic fields Es Safa {{Syria-geo-stub