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Daraa دَرْعَا
City
Daraa in 2008
Daraa
Coordinates: 32°37′N 36°6′E / 32.617°N 36.100°E / 32.617; 36.100
Grid position	253/224 PAL
Country	Syria
Governorate	Daraa
District	Daraa
Subdistrict	Daraa
Control	Syrian transitional government
Elevation	435 m (1,427 ft)
Population
• Total	97,969
Demonym(s)	Arabic: درعاوي, romanized: Darʿāwi
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Area code	15
Geocode	C5993
Website	http://www.esyria.sy/edaraa/

Daraa (Arabic: دَرْعَا, romanized: Darʿā, Levantine Arabic: [ˈdarʕa] is a city in southwestern Syria, 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) north of the border with Jordan. It is the capital of Daraa Governorate in the Hauran region. Located 90 kilometres (56 mi) south of Damascus on the Damascus–Amman highway, it serves as a way station for travelers. Nearby localities include Umm al-Mayazen and Nasib to the southeast, al-Naimah to the east, Ataman to the north, al-Yaduda to the northwest and Ramtha, Jordan, to the southwest.

According to the Syrian Central Bureau of Statistics, Daraa had a population of 97,969 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center of a nahiya (subdistrict) which contained eight localities with a collective population of 146,481 in 2004. Its inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims.

Daraa became known as the "cradle of the revolution" after the arrest of 15 boys from prominent families for painting graffiti with anti-government slogans which sparked the beginning of the 2011 Syrian Revolution.

History

Ancient history

Daraa is an ancient city dating back to the Canaanites. It was mentioned in Egyptian hieroglyphic tablets at the time of the Pharaoh Thutmose III between 1490 and 1436 BC as the city of Atharaa. It is referred to in the Hebrew Bible as Edrei or Edre'i (אֶדְרֶעִי), the capital of Bashan, site of a battle where the Israelites defeated Og. According to Jewish tradition, Eldad and Medad were buried in Edrei.

Classical era

In the Greek Seleucid Empire, and later the Roman Empire into which it was incorporated by Emperor Trajan in 106, the city was known as Adraa (Ἀδράα), the name used on its coinage. It was incorporated into the province of Arabia Petraea.

By the 3rd century, it gained the status of a polis (self-governed city). Roman historian Eusebius referred to it as Adraa, a famous polis of Arabia. The area east of Adraa was a centre of the Ebionites. Adraa itself was a Christian bishopric. Arabio, the first bishop of Adraa whose name is known, participated in the Council of Seleucia of 359. Uranius was at the First Council of Constantinople in 381; Proclus at the anti-Eutyches synod of Constantinople in 448 and the Council of Chalcedon in 451; and Dorimenius at the Second Council of Constantinople in 553. No longer a residential bishopric, Adraa is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see. It was also a centre of monastic and missionary activity in the Syrian Desert.

In 614, the Sasanian Persians sacked Adraa during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, but spared the inhabitants.

Islamic era

According to Ibn Hisham and al-Waqidi, 9th-century biographers of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the Jewish Banu Nadir and Banu Qaynuqa tribes immigrated to Adhri'at, as it was known in the early Islamic period, following their expulsion from Medina. However, historian Moshe Sharon says this does not appear in Jewish or earlier Muslim sources. Situated between the major Jewish centres of Palestine and Babylonia, Adhri'at had a large Jewish population in the early 7th century and served as a place of Jewish learning. Its residents lit an annual bonfire before Rosh Hashannah to alert Babylonia's Jewish communities to the start of the new year.

Early Muslim historian al-Baladuri lists Adhri'at as one of the towns conquered by the Muslim army following the Battle of Mu'ta in 629 and forced to pay the jizya tax. However, contemporary sources maintain that Adhri'at was conquered by the Muslim army during the caliphate of Abu Bakr in 634. Adhri'at's residents reportedly celebrated the arrival of the second caliph Umar when he visited the city, "dancing with swords and sweet basil." Throughout Rashidun and Umayyad rule, the city served as the capital of the al-Bathaniyya subdistrict, part of the larger Jund Dimashq ("military district of Damascus.")

In 906, the population was massacred in a raid by the rebellious Qarmatians. The late 10th-century geographer al-Muqaddasi noted that during the Abbasid period, Adhri'at was a major administrative center on the edge of the desert. He claimed the city was part of the Jund al-Urdunn district and that its territory was "full of villages" and included the region of Jerash to the south of the Yarmouk River.

Throughout the early Islamic period, it served as a strategic station on the Hajj caravan route between Damascus and Medina and as the gate to central Syria. The Crusaders temporarily conquered Adhri'at, then known as Adratum, during the reign of Baldwin II of Jerusalem in 1118.

According to Yaqut al-Hamawi, in the early 13th-century during Ayyubid rule, Adhri'at was "celebrated for the many learned men who were natives of the place." Under the Mamluks and the Ottomans, the city maintained its importance. In 1596 Daraa appeared in the Ottoman tax registers as ' Madinat Idra'a' and was part of the nahiya of Butayna (Bathaniyya) in the Hauran Sanjak. It had a Muslim population of 120 households and 45 bachelors. A 40% tax−rate was levied on wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and/or beehives; a total of 26,500 akçe.

In 1838, Eli Smith listed Daraa as a Muslim, Catholic and Greek Orthodox village in the Nuqrah (southern Hauran plain), south of Eshmiskin.

Modern era

Following the construction of the Hejaz Railway, Daraa became a chief junction of the railroad. In his book Seven Pillars and a letter to a military colleague, T. E. Lawrence says he was captured by the Ottoman military in Daraa, where he was beaten and sexually abused by the local Bey and his guardsmen. During the Battle of Megiddo, Lawrence led the Arab Revolt in cutting the southern rail line at Mafraq, the northern at Tell Arar, and the western by Mezerib. On 27 September 1918, the Arab Northern Army captured Daraa from the retreating Ottoman forces.

Daraa is the southernmost city of Syria near the border with Jordan and a major midpoint between Damascus and Amman.

After the Syrian Ba'ath Party gained power following the 1963 coup, the new interior minister Amin al-Hafiz appointed Abd al-Rahman al-Khlayfawi as governor of Daraa until 1965. Daraa had recently, before the Syrian Civil War, suffered from reduced water supply in the region and had been straining under the influx of internal refugees who were forced to leave their northeastern lands due to a drought exacerbated by the government's lack of provision.

Syrian Civil War

Daraa played an important role by the start of the 2011 uprising against the government led by President Bashar al-Assad as part of the Arab Spring protests with hundreds of thousands of people protesting in the city. The uprising was sparked on 6 March 2011, when at least 15 youths were arrested and tortured for scrawling graffiti on their school wall denouncing the Assad government. The family and friends of the detained youths and tens of thousands of locals marched on the streets on 15 March, demanding their release. According to activists, this protest was faced with Syrian security forces opening fire on the protesters killing four people. Protests continued daily.

During this time the local courthouse, the Ba'ath party headquarters in the city, and the Syriatel building owned by Rami Makhlouf, a cousin of President Assad, were set on fire. What followed was a government assault on the city as violence continued and intensified all across Syria. On 25 April 2011, the Syrian military launched a large operation in Daraa in a crackdown on protesters. The operation lasted until 5 May 2011, killing and arresting tens of thousands of locals in the process.

On 16 February 2012, the Syrian Army reportedly attacked Daraa, shelling the city heavily. This was apparently because, "Daraa has been regaining its role in the uprising. Demonstrations resumed and the FSA provided security for protests in some parts of the city." The attack was part of a security force push "to regain control of areas they lost in recent weeks", indicating that the FSA in Daraa had taken control of parts of the city. Security forces attacked at least three districts, but FSA fighters fought back, firing at Syrian Army roadblocks and buildings housing security police and militiamen. On 14 March 2012, the FSA controlled at least one main district in the city of Daraa (al-Balad district) prompting the Syrian army to attack it with anti-aircraft guns.

In early June 2017, much of Daraa was reported to have been destroyed by protracted fighting. On 12 July 2018, the battle for Daraa ended after several days of intense clashes between the Syrian Army and rebel forces, some of which agreed to terms of reconciliation. The Syrian Army retook the city fully.

The 2020 Daraa clashes and 2021 Daraa offensive ended with Syrian Army victory. After that, the Syrian government fully recaptured the city, reestablished state institutions there, and restarted the reconciliation process.

On 6 December 2024, the Southern Front began an offensive to take the city. 90% of the governorate, including the city itself, fell under their control.

Geography

The city also contains a Palestinian refugee camp, known as Daraa camp.

Climate

Daraa has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSk).

References

1. ^ General Census of Population and Housing 2004 Archived 2012-07-23 at archive.today. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Daraa Governorate. (in Arabic)
2. Sterling, Joe. Daraa: The spark that lit the Syrian flame. CNN. 2012-03-01.
3. "Three years later, south Syria's Daraa province locked in stalemate". Syria Direct. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
4. "Syria: How it all began". GlobalPost. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
5. "Syria: Crimes Against Humanity in Daraa". Human Rights Watch. June 2011. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
6. Numbers 21:33 and Deuteronomy 3:1
7. ^ Negev, p. 150.
8. Burial Places of the Fathers, published by Yehuda Levi Nahum in book: Ṣohar la-ḥasifat ginzei teiman (Heb. צהר לחשיפת גנזי תימן), Tel-Aviv 1986, p. 253 OCLC 15417732
9. William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1864): Adraa
10. Catalogue of the Greek coins in The British Museum. 2004. ISBN 9785872102076.
11. "Ancient coins of Arabia". snible.org.
12. ^ Sharon, 2007, p. 68
13. Fergus Millar, The Roman Near East, 31 B.C.-A.D. 337 (Harvard University Press 1993 ISBN 978-0-67477886-3), p. 419
14. Adolf Harnack, The Mission and Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries, Book 4, Chapter 3, section 1
15. Albertus Frederik Johannes Klijn, G. J. Reinink, Patristic Evidence for Jewish-Christian Sects (Brill Archive 1973 ISBN 978-9-00403763-2), p. 29
16. Michel Lequien, Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus, Paris 1740, Vol. II, coll. 859-860
17. Siméon Vailhé, v. Adraa, in Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. I, Paris 1909, coll. 592-593
18. Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 838
19. ^ Sharon, 2007, p. 69
20. Houtma, 1993, p. 135
21. le Strange, 1890, p. 34
22. ^ le Strange, 1890, p. 383
23. le Strange, 1890, p. 40
24. ^ Sharon, 2007, p. 70
25. Runciman 1989, p. 146.
26. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 214.
27. Smith; in Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Second appendix, B, p. 152.
28. Letter to W.F. Stirling, Deputy Chief Political Officer, Cairo, 28 June 1919, in Brown, 1988.
29. Lawrence, T.E. (1935). Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Garden City: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc. pp. 580–583, 635.
30. Faulkner, Neil (2016). Lawrence of Arabia's War: The Arabs, the British and the Remaking of the Middle East in WWI. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 427-429. ISBN 9780300226393.
31. "Revolt's Military Routes in Jordan and Syria". arabrevolt.jo.
32. Moubayed, 2006, p. 275
33. Michael Gunning (26 August 2011). "Background to a Revolution". n+1.
34. "Syria to free child prisoners". Al Jazeera. 20 Mar 2011. Retrieved 20 Mar 2011.
35. "Middle East unrest: Three killed at protest in Syria". BBC News. 18 March 2011.
36. ""We've Never Seen Such Horror" | Human Rights Watch". Hrw.org. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
37. "Syria live blog Thu, 16 Feb 2012, 06:32". Blogs.aljazeera.net. 16 February 2012. Archived from the original on July 12, 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
38. "Syria - Mar 14, 2012 - 11:43 | Al Jazeera Blogs". Blogs.aljazeera.net. 14 March 2012. Archived from the original on July 11, 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
39. Syrian regime jets pound Daraa after rebel attacks TheNewArab, 5 June 2017.
40. "Breaking: Battle for Daraa city ends in decisive victory for Syrian Army". Al-Masdar News. Archived from the original on 30 November 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
41. "Truce reached in Syria's Deraa after months of fighting: Reports". www.aljazeera.com. 1 September 2021.
42. "After local factions advanced to Daraa Al-Balad | Regime forces nearly lose all control over the province". SOHR. 6 December 2024.
43. World Weather Information Service: Daraa, World Meteorological Organization

Bibliography

• Houtsma, M.Th. (1993). E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. 1. BRILL. ISBN 9004097961.
• Hütteroth, W.-D.; Abdulfattah, K. (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
• Le Strange, G. (1890). Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
• Moubayed, S.M. (2006). Steel and Silk. Cune Press. ISBN 9781885942401.
• Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 3. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.
• Runciman, Steven (1989). A History of the Crusades, Volume II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East, 1100-1187. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-06162-9.
• Schumacher, G. (1888). Across the Jordan: being an exploration and survey of part of Hauran and Jaulan. Bentley.
• Sharon, M. (2007). Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae, Addendum. Brill. ISBN 978-9004157804.

Further reading

• T.E. Lawrence, (various editions) Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Chapter LXXX

External links

• Official Site of Daraa Governorate (in Arabic)
• s:Encyclopaedia Biblica/Ecclesiasticus-Eglon (king)#EDREI
• Map of the town, Google Maps
• Deraa-map; 22L

32°37′31″N 36°6′22″E / 32.62528°N 36.10611°E / 32.62528; 36.10611

v t e Cities and towns of Syria
Governorate centres	Aleppo Damascus Daraa Deir ez-Zor Hama al-Hasakah Homs Idlib Latakia Quneitra Raqqa Rif Dimashq Suwayda Tartus
District centres	Abu Kamal Afrin Ariha Atarib Ayn al-Arab Azaz al-Bab Baniyas Darayya Dayr Hafir Douma Duraykish Fiq al-Haffah Harem Izra' Jableh Jarabulus Jisr ash-Shughur Maarat al-Numaan al-Malikiyah Manbij Masyaf Mayadin Mhardeh al-Mukharram al-Foqani an-Nabk Palmyra Qamishli Qardaha Qatana Qudsaya al-Qusayr al-Qutayfah Ra's al-'Ayn al-Rastan as-Safira Safita Salamiyah Salkhad al-Sanamayn Shahba ash-Shaykh Badr al-Suqaylabiyah Talkalakh al-Tall Tell Abyad al-Thawrah Yabroud Zabadani
Sub-district centres	Abu Qilqil Abu al-Thuhur Akhtarin Amuda Arbeen Arima al-Ariqah al-Arishah Armanaz Arwad al-Asharah Assal al-Ward Awj Ayn al-Fijah Ayn Halaqim Ayn Issa Ayn al-Nasr Babbila Banan Barri Sharqi Beit Jinn Binnish Bir al-Helou Bosra Bulbul Busayrah Da'el al-Dana Darat Izza Darkush al-Darbasiyah Deir Atiyah al-Dimas al-Dumayr Furqlus Ghabaghib Ghandoura al-Ghariyah al-Ghizlaniyah al-Hader Hadidah al-Hajar al-Aswad al-Hajib Hajin al-Hamidiyah al-Hamraa Harasta Harbnafsah Harran al-Awamid al-Hirak Hish Hisyah al-Hawl Huraytan al-Huwash Ibbin Samaan Ihsim Jayrud al-Jalaa al-Janudiyah Jaramana al-Jarniyah Jasim al-Jawadiyah Jubb al-Jarrah Jubb Ramlah Jindires al-Jiza al-Qabu Kafr Batna Kafr Nabl Kafr Takharim Kafr Zita al-Karamah al-Kasrah Kessab al-Khafsah Khan Shaykhun Khasham Kirnaz Kuwayris Sharqi Khanaser Khirbet Ghazaleh Khirbet al-Tin Mahmoud al-Kiswah Ma'arrat Misrin Maabatli Maadan Maaloula Madaya Mahin Malah al-Malihah al-Mansurah Mare' Markada Mashta al-Helu Maskanah al-Masmiyah al-Mazraa Muhambal Muhasan al-Musayfirah al-Mushannaf Muzayrib al-Nashabiyah al-Nasirah Nawa Nubl al-Qadmus al-Qahtaniyah Qalaat al-Madiq Qarah al-Qaryatayn al-Qurayya Qurqania Rajo Rankus Rasm Harmil al-Imam al-Rai al-Riqama al-Ruhaybah al-Saan Saasaa Sabburah al-Sabe' Biyar al-Sabkhah Sadad Sahnaya Saidnaya Salqin Saraqib Sarmin Sarrin Sawran Sebei al-Shaddadah al-Shajara Shaqqa Sharran Shathah Shaykh al-Hadid al-Shaykh Maskin Shayukh Tahtani Shin Sinjar Sirghaya Slinfah Suluk al-Surah al-Saghirah al-Suwar Suran al-Susah al-Sukhnah al-Tabni Talbiseh Taldou al-Tamanah Tasil Tell al-Daman Tell Hamis Tell Rifaat Tell Salhab Tell Tamer Tedef Thiban Uqayribat Urum al-Kubra Wadi al-Oyun al-Yaarubiyah al-Zirbah az-Ziyarah

v t e Daraa Governorate
Capital: Daraa
Al-Sanamayn District Sanamayn Subdistrict Al-Sanamayn Bassir Burqa Eib al-Harra Inkhil Judayyah Tubna Kafr Shams Khabab al-Qaniyah Qayta Samlin Zimrin Ghabaghib Subdistrict Ghabaghib Alqin Aqraba Deir al-Adas Deir al-Bukht Jabab Kafr Nasij Kammunah Mankat al-Hatab Manshiyat al-Sabil al-Mal Muthabin al-Qaziyah al-Tiha Masmiyah Subdistrict al-Masmiyah Bali Burraq Buwaydan Shaarah
Izra District Izra Subdistrict Izra Asim Busra al-Harir Buwayr Jaddal Mahajjah Maliha al-Atash al-Matallah Miskiyah al-Mujaydil Najih Qiratah Shaqra Sur Hirak Subdistrict al-Hirak al-Maliha al-Gharbiya al-Maliha al-Sharqiyah Nahita Rakham al-Surah Jasim Subdistrict Jasim Namir Nawa Subdistrict Nawa Adwan al-Jubayliyah al-Nasiriyah al-Shaykh Saad al-Sukkariyah Shaykh Maskin Subdistrict al-Shaykh Maskin al-Dali al-Faqia Namir Qarfa al-Suhayliyah Tasil Subdistrict Tasil al-Bakkar al-Bakkar Sharqi
Daraa District Daraa Subdistrict Daraa Ataman Kahil al-Naimah Nasib Saida al-Taybah Umm al-Mayazen Bosra Subdistrict Bosra Jamrin Maaraba Samad Samaqiyat Da'el Subdistrict Da'el Abtaa Jiza Subdistrict al-Jiza Ghasm al-Mataaiya Khirbet Ghazaleh Subdistrict Khirbet Ghazaleh Alma al-Ghariyah al-Gharbiyah al-Ghariyah al-Sharqiyah Musayfira Subdistrict al-Musayfirah al-Karak al-Sahwah Umm Walad Muzayrib Subdistrict Muzayrib Ajami Jalin Nasij Tafas Tell Shihab al-Yadudah Zayzun Shajara Subdistrict al-Shajara Abdin Ayn Zakar Beit Ara Hit Jamla Kuwaya Maariyah Nafia al-Qusayr Saham al-Jawlan Shabraq

• Cities in Syria
• Populated places in Daraa District