Saqba ( ar, سقبا; also spelled Sakba or Siqba) is a town in southern
Syria, administratively part of the
Markaz Rif Dimashq District
Markaz Rif Dimashq District ( ar-at, منطقة مركز ريف دمشق, manṭiqat Markaz Rif Dimašq) or Damascus Central Countryside District is a district of the Rif Dimashq Governorate
Rif Dimashq Governorate ( ar, محافظة ريف د ...
of the
Rif Dimashq Governorate
Rif Dimashq Governorate ( ar, محافظة ريف دمشق, ', literally, the "Governorate of the Countryside of Damascus", Damascus Suburb) is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in the southwestern part of the ...
, 7 km east of central
Damascus. Nearby localities include
Jisrin
Jisrin ( ar, جسرين; also spelled Jisrein) is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Markaz Rif Dimashq District of the Rif Dimashq Governorate, located just east of Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, ...
to the southeast,
Kafr Batna
Kafr Batna ( ar, كفر بطنا, also spelled Kfar Batna and Kafar Batna) is a town in the Rif Dimashq Governorate in southern Syria and a suburb of Damascus.Burns, 2005, pp1415Siddique, HaroonSyrian troops battle to retake Damascus suburbs ''T ...
to the southwest,
Hizzah to the southwest and
Hamouriyah
Hamouriyah ( ar, حمورية), also spelled Hamoryah, Hamouria, Hammurah or Hammuriya, is a city in Syria. It is administratively a part of the Kafr Batna nahiyah, in the Markaz district of the Rif Dimashq Governorate. The town is located abou ...
and
Beit Sawa
Beit Sawa ( ar, بيت سوا; also spelled Bayt Sawa) is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Markaz Rif Dimashq District of the Rif Dimashq Governorate, located just east of Damascus. Nearby localities include Hammurah and ...
to the north. According to the
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Saqba had a population of 25,696 in the 2004 census.
[General Census of Population and Housing 2004](_blank)
. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Rif Dimashq Governorate.
History
Study and recitation of the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
was held in the mosque of Saqba as early as the 12th century when its ''
khatib
In Islam, a khatib, khateeb or hatib ( ar, خطيب ''khaṭīb'') is a person who delivers the sermon (''khuṭbah'') (literally "narration"), during the Friday prayer and Eid prayers.
The ''khateeb'' is usually the prayer leader (''imam''), ...
'' was Ahmad ibn Hasan al-Kafatabi. Saqba was visited by Syrian geographer
Yaqut al-Hamawi
Yāqūt Shihāb al-Dīn ibn-ʿAbdullāh al-Rūmī al-Ḥamawī (1179–1229) ( ar, ياقوت الحموي الرومي) was a Muslim scholar of Byzantine Greek ancestry active during the late Abbasid period (12th-13th centuries). He is known for ...
in the early 13th century, during
Ayyubid rule. He noted that it was "a village of the
Ghautah of
Damascus."
Modern era
In the 1950s Saqba served as a village center of a district which contained seven other villages, with a total population of 12,000. Today, Saqba has become a working-class eastern suburb of Damascus.
Syrian Civil War
During the
Syrian civil war, Saqba was under
Free Syrian Army control since 2012, with splinter factions taking over eventually and would fall under
siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...
by government forces from 2013 to 2018. The town was heavily damaged during the course of the war.
References
Bibliography
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{{Rif Dimashq Governorate, markaz
Populated places in Markaz Rif Dimashq District