Jubb'adin ( - ''Ġuppaʿōḏ'' , ) is a village in southern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, administratively part of the

Rif Dimashq Governorate Rif Dimashq Governorate (, Literal translation, lit. "Damascus Countryside Governorate" or "Damascus Suburb") is one of the fourteen Governorates of Syria, governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in the southwestern part of the country. ...

, located northeast of

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

in the

Qalamoun Mountains The Qalamoun Mountains () are the northeastern portion of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, and they are northeast of the Syrian capital Damascus. They run from Barada River Valley in the southwest to the city of Hisyah in the northeast. Western Q ...

. Nearby localities include

Saidnaya Saidnaya (), also transliterated as Saydnaya, Seidnaya or Sednaya, is a city located in the mountains, above sea level, north of the city of Damascus in Syria. It is the home of a Greek Orthodox monastery traditionally held to have been founde ...

and Rankous to the southwest,

Yabroud Yabroud or Yabrud () is a city in Syria, located in the ''Rif Dimashq Governorate, Rif Dimashq'' (i.e. Damascus' countryside) Governorates of Syria, governorate about north of the capital Damascus. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics ...

and

Maaloula Maaloula (; ) is a town in southwestern Syria. The town is located in the Rif Dimashq Governorate and is 56 km northeast of Damascus, and is built into the rugged mountainside at an altitude of more than 1,500m. It is known as one of three r ...

to the northeast, and

Assal al-Ward Assal al-Ward (; also spelled Asal el-Ward) is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the Rif Dimashq Governorate, located northeast of Damascus along the Syrian– Lebanese borders. Nearby localities include Hala, Hosh Arab and al- ...

to the northwest. The village is among the two last remaining villages where

Western Neo-Aramaic Western Neo-Aramaic (, ''arōmay'', "Aramaic"), more commonly referred to as Siryon (, "Syriac"), is a modern variety of the Western Aramaic branch consisting of three closely related dialects. Today, it is spoken by Christian and Muslim Aramea ...

is still spoken. Most of the younger people in the village are bilingual and speak both Western Neo-Aramaic and Syrian Arabic fluently. Jubb'adin is the main source of modern

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

written in the Western Neo-Aramaic language, thanks to its many poets. The environment is colder than in most other Syrian cities and villages due to its altitude. The main

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

in the village is called ''Jemʿa rāb'' "the Large Mosque" in Western Neo-Aramaic.

Etymology

The etymology of the village's name remains controversial. It is believed to be composed of two parts. The first part is ''Ġuppa'' "

well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

" () and the second part is ''ʿōḏ'' (), which could mean ' Eden', making the name to mean "the well of Eden". Another possibility is that it is a reference to Audius, who founded

Audianism Audianism, or Anthropomorphism, was a sect of Christians in the 4th century in Syria and the Pontic–Caspian steppe, named after its founder Audius or Audaeus, who interpreted the text of the First Epistle to Timothy 3:16 to mean that God create ...

, a sect of Christians in the 4th century which were founded in

, in which case it would mean "the well of Audius". Another theory, though less likely, is that the word is a reference to the people of ‘Ad, who are mentioned in the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

Demographics

According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Jubb'adin had a population of 3,778 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Rif Dimashq Governorate. In 2019, it was estimated that the population was somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000. The village remained under the control of the Assad regime during the Syrian Civil War, though it was subject to several minor attacks. At least 103 residents are believed to have died throughout the course of the conflict, the vast majority of whom were combatants. Somewhere between 60 and 70 men died fight in the

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 fo ...

or National Defense militia, while an additional 28 died fighting for various rebel groups. The village's inhabitants are all

Sunni Muslims Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...

by religion and of Aramean (Syriac) descent. Following their conversion to Islam in the 18th century, the inhabitants of Jubb'adin underwent a religious transformation, shifting from being exclusively Christian to entirely Muslim.

References

External links

Samples of spoken Western Neo-Aramaic
at the ''Semitisches Tonarchiv'' (Semitic Audio Archive)
Bakh’a dialect

Jubb'adin dialect

Maalouli dialect
Populated places in Al-Qutayfah District {{RifDimashqSY-geo-stub