Namir (, also transliterated ''Namer'', ''Namr'', ''Nimr''), also known as Namir al-Hawa, 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 belonging to the

Izra' District Izra District () is a district (''mintaqah'') administratively belonging to Daraa Governorate, Syria. At the 2004 Census it had a population of 246,804. Its administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration o ...

of the

Daraa Governorate Daraa Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ') is one of the fourteen Governorates of Syria, governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in the south-west of the country and covers an area of 2594 km2. It is bordered by Jordan to the south, Quneitra G ...

. In the 2004 census by the Central Bureau of Statistics, Namir had a population of 2,507.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Daraa Governorate. Its inhabitants include

Sunni Muslim 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 ...

s and

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

Location

Namir is situated at an elevation of above sea level. It is south of the district capital of Izra, southeast of the subdistrict capital Shaykh Maskin, northeast of the governorate capital of

Daraa Daraa (, Levantine Arabic: ) is a city in southwestern Syria, north of the border with Jordan. It is the capital of Daraa Governorate in the Hauran region. Located south of Damascus on the Damascus–Amman highway, it serves as a way sta ...

, north of Khirbet Ghazaleh, and northwest of al-Hirak. The area in which Namir lies is characterized by its rich soils and moderate rainfall, historically providing Namir with significant agricultural bounty and relatively sufficient water resources.

History

Namir was mentioned by the 4th-century historian

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

. The 5th-century historian

Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...

noted that it was a significant settlement and a place used by

Nabatean The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Levant. Their settlements—most prominently the assumed capital city of Raqmu (present-day Petra ...

nomads to encamp and convene. During

Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

rule (1260s–1517), Namir was part of the ''wilaya'' of Adhri'at (Daraa).

Ottoman period

With the advent of Ottoman rule in Syria in 1517, Namir or part of its revenues were granted as a tax-exempt ''

timar A timar was a land grant by the sultans of the Ottoman Empire between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, with an annual tax revenue of less than 20,000 akçes. The revenues produced from the land acted as compensation for military service. A ...

'' (fief) to the '' amir al-arab'' (commander of the Bedouin), which was a hereditary office of the Al Hayar family. It was the center of the Banu Malik al-Ashraf

nahiye A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...

(subdistrict) of the

Hauran Sanjak The Hauran Sanjak (, ) was a sanjak of the Ottoman Empire, spanning the southern areas of Ottoman Syria, located in modern-day Syria and Jordan. The city of Daraa was the sanjak's capital. The sanjak had a population of 182,805 in 1914. Subdist ...

. In 1596 it appeared in the Ottoman tax registers under the name of 'Tamir'. It had a

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

population consisting of 98 households and 45 bachelors. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 40% on agricultural products, including wheat (7,800

akçe The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (anglicized as ''akche'', ''akcheh'' or ''aqcha''; ; , , in Europe known as '' asper'') was a silver coin mainly known for being the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. It was also used in other states includi ...

), barley (820 a.), summer crops (610 a.), goats and bee-hives (1500 a.), inanition to winter pastures (407 a.) and "occasional revenues"(610 a.); a total of 11,467

. 9/24 of the income went to a

waqf A (; , plural ), also called a (, plural or ), or ''mortmain'' property, is an Alienation (property law), inalienable charitable financial endowment, endowment under Sharia, Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot ...

(endowment). Namir had a Muslim population in 1838.

Post-Syrian independence

Namir is one of a few towns in the

with a significant Christian population. During the Syrian civil war, some of the Christians of Namir joined the local branch of the Popular Committees, organized by the National Defense Forces, which played an auxiliary role 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 ...

's recapture of nearby Khirbet Ghazaleh from

Free Syrian Army The Free Syrian Army (FSA; ) is a Big tent, big-tent coalition of decentralized Syrian opposition (2011–2024), Syrian opposition rebel groups in the Syrian civil war founded on 29 July 2011 by Colonel Riad al-Asaad and six officers who defe ...

rebels in May 2013.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Cheikh Meskine-map; 21L
{{Daraa Governorate, izra Populated places in Izra' District Christian communities in Syria Villages in Syria