Tell Shihab ( ar, تل شهاب; also spelled Tell esh-Shihab or Tal Shehab) is a village 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 ...

, administratively part of the

Daraa Governorate Daraa Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة درعا / ALA-LC: ') is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in the south-west of the country and covers an area of 3,730 km2. It is bordered by Jordan to the south, Qune ...

, located northwest of

Daraa Daraa ( ar, دَرْعَا, Darʿā, Levantine Arabic: , also Darʿā, Dara’a, Deraa, Dera'a, Dera, Derʿā and Edrei; means "''fortress''", compare Dura-Europos) is a city in southwestern Syria, located about north of the border with Jordan ...

on the Jordan-Syria border. Nearby localities include al-Shaykh Saad and

Nawa Nawa may refer to: * Nawa, Rajasthan, a city and Tehsil in Nagaur district in the Indian State of Rajasthan * Nawa District, a district in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan * Nawa, Afghanistan, a town in the central part of Nawa District, in Ghazni Pr ...

to the north,

Muzayrib Muzayrib ( ar, مُزَيْرِيب, also spelled Mzerib, Mzeireb, Mzereeb, Mezereeb or al-Mezereeb) is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate, located northwest of Daraa on the Jordan–Syria border. Nearby locali ...

Da'el Da'el ( ar, داعل, also spelled Da'il) is a town in southern Syria located on the old road between Daraa and Damascus, located approximately 14 kilometers north of Daraa. Administratively, it belongs to the Daraa District of the Daraa Governor ...

and

Tafas Tafas ( ar, طفس, also spelled Tafs or Tuffas) is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate, located north of Daraa. Nearby localities include al-Shaykh Saad and Nawa to the north, Da'el, Abtaa and al-Shaykh Maskin ...

to the northeast, and al-Yadudah to the east. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Tell Shihab had a population of 9,430 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Daraa Governorate.

Etymology

The town's name is "purely Arabic" according to

George Adam Smith :''Note in particular that this George Smith is to be distinguished from George Smith (Assyriologist) (1840–1876) who researched in some overlapping areas.'' Sir George Adam Smith (19 October 1856 – 3 March 1942) was a Scottish the ...

, and "Tell Shihab" is translated as "Mound of the Warrior."

History

Ancient

Tell Shihab is one of the places believed to be the site of the ancient city of Yeno'am. The location of the tell surrounded by the

Yarmuk River The Yarmuk River ( ar, نهر اليرموك, translit=Nahr al-Yarmūk, ; Greek: Ἱερομύκης, ; la, Hieromyces or ''Heromicas''; sometimes spelled Yarmouk), is the largest tributary of the Jordan River. It runs in Jordan, Syria and Israel ...

, corresponds to the description of the town. Furthermore, a

stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

from

Seti I Menmaatre Seti I (or Sethos I in Greek) was the second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the New Kingdom period, ruling c.1294 or 1290 BC to 1279 BC. He was the son of Ramesses I and Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II. The ...

, was discovered in 1900 by

at the tell confirming that it was one of the sites conquered by the Egyptian king during his campaigns in the region. The stele, missing the lower part, was built into the wall of a local house, and shows Seti I with

Amun-Ra Amun (; also ''Amon'', ''Ammon'', ''Amen''; egy, jmn, reconstructed as ( Old Egyptian and early Middle Egyptian) → (later Middle Egyptian) → ( Late Egyptian), cop, Ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ, Amoun) romanized: ʾmn) was a major ancient Egypt ...

and

Mut Mut, also known as Maut and Mout, was a mother goddess worshipped in ancient Egypt and the Kingdom of Kush in present-day North Sudan. In Meroitic, her name was pronounced mata): 𐦨𐦴. Her name means ''mother'' in the ancient Egyptian l ...

Wilhelm Max Müller Wilhelm Max Müller (15 May 1862 – 12 July 1919) was a German-born American orientalist. Biography Müller was born at Gleißenberg, Germany. He received his higher education in Erlangen, Berlin, Munich, and Leipzig, where he received his ...

argued that the stela did not commemorate the victory, but rather expressed the loyalty of the dedicator to his king.

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

sherd In archaeology, a sherd, or more precisely, potsherd, is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of pottery, although the term is occasionally used to refer to fragments of stone and glass vessels, as well. Occasionally, a piece of broken p ...

s were also found on the site during excavations conducted by

William Foxwell Albright William Foxwell Albright (May 24, 1891– September 19, 1971) was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist, and expert on ceramics. He is considered "one of the twentieth century's most influential American biblical scholars." ...

in 1925.

Ottoman

In 1838

Eli Smith Eli Smith (born September 13, 1801, in Northford, Connecticut, to Eli and Polly (Whitney) Smith, and died January 11, 1857, in Beirut, Lebanon) was an American Protestant missionary and scholar. He graduated from Yale College in 1821 and from Andov ...

noted that the place was located west of the

Hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...

road, and that it was populated with

Sunni Muslims Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

. At the end of the 19th century, the village had 750 inhabitants and 160 houses, and was described as "blossoming". In the early 20th-century, the

sheikh Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

s of Tell Shihab belonged to a powerful family in the area and relative prosperity of the town allowed them to accumulate large amounts of wealth. According to

Smith Smith may refer to: People * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland ** List of people wi ...

, who visited in 1900, "nearly all the villagers look happy and comfortable."

Modern

During the current anti-government uprising in Syria, opposition rebels gained control of Tell Shihab and it has since been used as a major crossing point for Syrian refugees fleeing to

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 ...

. On 6 September 2012, 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 ...

launched an assault on the town with the backing of 20 tanks, according to opposition activists. A number of houses were allegedly raided and some people were detained by the authorities.Syrian army 'storms' border town of Tal Shehab
''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

''. 2012-09-06.

Geography

Tell Shihab is situated on the promontory formed by the junction of Wadi al-Meddan and Wadi Tell Shihab, which represents the modern borders between Syria and

. With the presence of several ''

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water onl ...

s'' there is an abundance of water in the town. It is one of the lowest-lying towns in the mountainous

Hauran The Hauran ( ar, حَوْرَان, ''Ḥawrān''; also spelled ''Hawran'' or ''Houran'') is a region that spans parts of southern Syria and northern Jordan. It is bound in the north by the Ghouta oasis, eastwards by the al-Safa (Syria), al-Safa ...

region, with an elevation of over above sea level. Surrounding Tell Shihab are stretches of wheat fields.Smith, 1901, pp
344
��395.

References

Bibliography

* * * * Schumacher (1889)
Across the Jordan; being an exploration and survey of part of Hauran and Jaulan

201
ff *'' *'' *

External links

Map of the town
Google Maps
Kafer el Ma-map; 21K
{{Daraa Governorate, daraa Populated places in Daraa District Bronze Age sites in Syria Archaeological sites in Daraa Governorate