Jabal al-Druze ( ar, جبل الدروز, ''jabal ad-durūz'', ''Mountain of the Druze''), officially Jabal al-Arab ( ar, جبل العرب, links=no, ''jabal al-ʿarab'', ''Mountain of the Arabs''), is an elevated volcanic region in the

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 ...

of 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 ...

. Most of the inhabitants of this region are

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 ...

, and there are also small

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

and significant

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

communities.The Druze and Assad: Strategic Bedfellows
/ref>

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 found in this area. The

State of Jabal Druze Jabal al-Druze ( ar, جبل الدروز, french: Djebel Druze) was an autonomous state in the French Mandate of Syria from 1921 to 1936, designed to function as a government for the local Druze population under French oversight. Nomenclat ...

was an autonomous area in the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon from 1921 to 1936. In the past, the name Jabal al-Druze was used for a different area, located in

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon ( ar, جَبَل لُبْنَان, ''jabal lubnān'', ; syr, ܛܘܪ ܠܒ݂ܢܢ, ', , ''ṭūr lewnōn'' french: Mont Liban) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It averages above in elevation, with its peak at . Geography The Mount Le ...

Geology

The Jabal al-Druze volcanic field, the southernmost in Syria, lies in the Haurun-Druze Plateau in SW Syria near the border with Jordan. The most prominent feature of this volcanic field is 1800m-high Jabal al-Druze (also known variously as Jabal ad Duruz, Djebel Al-Arab, Jabal Druze, Djebel ed Drouz). The alkaline volcanic field consists of a group of 118 basaltic volcanoes active from the lower-Pleistocene to the

Holocene 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 ...

(2.6 million years ago to present). The large SW Plateau depression is filled by basaltic lava flows from volcanoes aligned in a NW-SE direction. This volcanic field lies within the northern part of the massive alkaline Harrat al-Sham (also known as Harrat al-Shaam) volcanic field that extends from southern Syria to Saudi Arabia.

Peaks

* Tell Qeni (1,803 m) * Tell Joualine (1,732 m) * Tell Sleiman (1,703 m) * Tell Qleib (1,698 m) * Tell Abou-Hamra (1,482 m) * Tell El-Ahmar (1,452 m) * Tell Abed-Mar (1,436 m) * Tell Khodr-Imtan (1,341 m) * Tell Azran (1,220 m) * Tell Shihan (1,138 m) In

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

, the word "'' tell''" means "mound" or "hill", but in Jabal al-Druze it rather refers to a volcanic cone.

References

{{Coord, 32, 40, N, 36, 44, E, region:SY_type:mountain_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Jabal ad Duruz Volcanic fields Druze in Syria

Cultural regions Eastern Mediterranean conifer–sclerophyllous–broadleaf forests

Geology

Peaks

See also

References