|
Al-Safa (Syria)
As-Safa (, ), also known as Tulul al-Safa (, ), Arabic for ''Al-Safa hills'', is a hilly region which lies in southern Syria, 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 Syria, through eastern Jordan to Saudi Arabia. The region is extremely scarce in water. Volcanic activities The field contains numerous vents which have been active during the Holocene Epoch (12,000 years ago). A boiling lava lake was observed in the Es Safa volcanic area in the middle of the 19th century (see Erta Ale in Ethiopia and Puʻu ʻŌʻō in Hawaii for reference). Demography The region was frequently used by the Druze through history as a refuge in the years of war. The whole region currently lies within As-Suwayda Governorate, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volcanic Field
A volcanic field is an area of Earth's Earth's crust, crust that is prone to localized volcano, volcanic activity. The type and number of volcanoes required to be called a "field" is not well-defined. Volcanic fields usually consist of clusters of up to 100 volcanoes such as cinder cones. Lava flows may also occur. They may occur as a monogenetic volcanic field or a polygenetic volcanic field. Description Alexander von Humboldt observed in 1823 that geologically young volcanoes are not distributed uniformly across the Earth's surface, but tend to be clustered into specific regions. Young volcanoes are rarely found within cratons, but are characteristic of subduction zones, rift zones, or in ocean basins. Intraplate volcanoes are clustered along hotspot (geology), hotspot traces. Within regions of volcanic activity, volcanic fields are clusters of volcanoes that share a common magma source. Unlike a large volcano with satellite or subsidiary vents, a volcanic field's vents have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 continuously until April 30, 2018, making it the longest-lived rift-zone eruption of the last two centuries. By January 2005, of magma covered an area of more than and added of land to the southeast coast of Hawaii. The eruption claimed at least 189 buildings and of highways, as well as a church, a store, the Wahaula Visitor Center, and many ancient Hawaiian sites, including the Wahaula heiau. The coastal highway has been closed since 1987, as parts of the road have been buried under lava up to thick. Etymology The hill was initially nicknamed "Puu O" by volcanologists, as its position when marked on a map of the area coincided with an "o" in "Lava flow of 1965". Later, the elders of the village of Kalapana were asked to name the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mountains Of Syria
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher than a hill, typically rising at least above the surrounding land. A few mountains are isolated summits, but most occur in mountain ranges. Mountains are formed through tectonic forces, erosion, or volcanism, which act on time scales of up to tens of millions of years. Once mountain building ceases, mountains are slowly leveled through the action of weathering, through slumping and other forms of mass wasting, as well as through erosion by rivers and glaciers. High elevations on mountains produce colder climates than at sea level at similar latitude. These colder climates strongly affect the ecosystems of mountains: different elevations have different plants and animals. Because of the less hospitable terrain and climate, mountains te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
As-Suwayda Offensive (August – October 2018)
Suwayda (), also spelled Sweida, is a mainly Druze city located in southern Syria, close to the border with Jordan. It is the capital of Suwayda Governorate, one of Syria's 14 governorates, bordering Jordan in the South, Daraa Governorate in the West and Rif Dimashq Governorate in the north and east. The city is referred to by some as "Little Venezuela" due to the city's influx of affluent Venezuelan Syrian immigrants. Many of them originally emigrated from Suweida in the nineteenth century, so when their descendants returned, they brought back the Spanish language and South American culture. History Ancient and Medieval eras The city was founded by the Nabataeans as Suada. It became known as Dionysias Soada () in the Hellenistic period and the Roman Empire, for the god Dionysus, patron of wine - the city is situated in a famous ancient wine-producing region. The name ''Dionysias'' replaced the former Nabataean name in 149 AD after Nabataean influence decreased and then c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syrian Army
The Syrian Army is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. Up until the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian Arab Army existed as a land force branch of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces, which dominanted the military service of the four uniformed services, controlling the most senior posts in the armed forces, and had the greatest manpower, approximately 80 percent of the combined services.. The Syrian Army originated in local military forces formed by the French after World War I, after France obtained a mandate over the region. It officially came into being in 1945, before Syria obtained full independence the following year and 2 years after official independance. After 1946, it played a major role in Syria's governance, mounting six military coups: two in 1949, including the March 1949 Syrian coup d'état and the August 1949 coup by Colonel Sami al-Hinnawi, and one each in 1951, 1954, 1963, 1966, and 1970. It fought four wars with Israel (1948, the Six-Day War in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ISIL
The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied significant territory in Iraq and Syria in 2013, but lost most of it in 2019. In 2014, the group proclaimed itself to be a worldwide caliphate, and claimed religious, political, and military authority over all Muslims worldwide, a claim not accepted by the vast majority of Muslims. It is designated as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations and many countries around the world, including Muslim countries. By the end of 2015, its self-declared caliphate ruled an area with a population of about 12 million, where they enforced their extremist interpretation of Islamic law, managed an annual budget exceeding billion, and commanded more than 30,000 fighters. After a grinding conflict with American, Iraqi, and Kurdish forces, IS lost control ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Safaitic
Safaitic ( ''Al-Ṣafāʾiyyah'') is a variety of the South Semitic scripts used by the Arabs in southern Syria and northern Jordan in the Harrat al-Sham, Ḥarrah region, to carve rock inscriptions in various dialects of Old Arabic and Ancient North Arabian. The Safaitic script is a member of the Ancient North Arabian (ANA) sub-grouping of the South Semitic script family, the genetic unity of which has yet to be demonstrated. The first attempt at a comprehensive Safaitic dictionary was published in 2019 by Ahmad Al-Jallad and Karolina Jaworska. Geographical distribution Safaitic inscriptions are named after the area where they were first discovered in 1857: Al-Safa (Syria), As-Safa, a region of basalt desert to the southeast of Damascus, Syria. Since then they have been found over a wide area including south Syria, eastern Jordan and northwestern Saudi Arabia. Isolated examples occur further afield in places such as Palmyra in Syria, in Lebanon, in Wadi Hauran in western Ir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bedouins
The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and Arabian Desert but spread across the rest of the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa after the spread of Islam. The English word ''bedouin'' comes from the Arabic ''badawī'', which means "desert-dweller", and is traditionally contrasted with ''ḥāḍir'', the term for sedentary people. Bedouin territory stretches from the vast deserts of North Africa to the rocky ones of the Middle East. They are sometimes traditionally divided into tribes, or clans (known in Arabic as ''ʿašāʾir''; or ''qabāʾil'' ), and historically share a common culture of herding camels, sheep and goats. The vast majority of Bedouins adhere to Islam, although there are some fewer numbers of Christian Bedouins present in the Fertile Cres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
As-Suwayda Governorate
As-Suwayda or Al-Suwayda Governorate () is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is the southernmost governorate, covering an area of 5,550 km², and is part of the historic Hawran region. The capital and largest city of the governorate is al-Suwayda. Geographically the governorate comprises almost all of Jabal al-Druze, the eastern part of Lejah, and a part of the arid eastern steppe of Harrat al-Shamah. Most inhabitants of As-Suwayda are employed in agriculture, cultivating crops such as grapes, apples, olives, and wheat. Additionally, As-Suwayda is home to numerous archaeological sites. This governorate is unique in Syria as it has a Druze majority. Additionally, it has integrated Christian communities that have long coexisted harmoniously with the Druze in these mountains. Demographics and population The governorate has a population of about 375,000 inhabitants (est. 2011).Statistics from It is the only governorate in Syria that has a Druze ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Druze
The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, and Religious syncretism, syncretic religion whose main tenets assert the unity of God, reincarnation, and the eternity of the soul. Although the Druze faith developed from Isma'ilism, Druze do not identify as Muslims. They maintain Arabic language and Arabic culture, culture as integral parts of their identity, with Arabic being their primary language. Most Druze religious practices are kept secret, and conversion to their religion is not permitted for outsiders. Interfaith marriages are rare and strongly discouraged. They differentiate between spiritual individuals, known as "uqqāl", who hold the faith's secrets, and secular ones, known as "juhhāl", who focus on worldly matters. Druze be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Safaitic Script With A Figure Of A Camel On A Red Sandstone Fragment, From Es-Safa, Currently Housed In The British Museum
Safaitic ( ''Al-Ṣafāʾiyyah'') is a variety of the South Semitic scripts used by the Arabs in southern Syria and northern Jordan in the Harrat al-Sham, Ḥarrah region, to carve rock inscriptions in various dialects of Old Arabic and Ancient North Arabian. The Safaitic script is a member of the Ancient North Arabian (ANA) sub-grouping of the South Semitic script family, the genetic unity of which has yet to be demonstrated. The first attempt at a comprehensive Safaitic dictionary was published in 2019 by Ahmad Al-Jallad and Karolina Jaworska. Geographical distribution Safaitic inscriptions are named after the area where they were first discovered in 1857: Al-Safa (Syria), As-Safa, a region of basalt desert to the southeast of Damascus, Syria. Since then they have been found over a wide area including south Syria, eastern Jordan and northwestern Saudi Arabia. Isolated examples occur further afield in places such as Palmyra in Syria, in Lebanon, in Wadi Hauran in western Ir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
