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Slaim سليم
Village
Slaim
Coordinates: 32°47′34″N 36°34′42″E / 32.79278°N 36.57833°E / 32.79278; 36.57833
Grid position	297/245
Country	Syria
Governorate	as-Suwayda
District	as-Suwayda
Subdistrict	as-Suwayda
Population
• Total	2,129
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

Slaim (Arabic: سليم also spelled Slaym, Slim, Slem, MSA: Sulaym, sometimes incorrectly referred to as Salim) is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the al-Suwayda Governorate, located north of al-Suwayda. Nearby localities include Attil to the west, Mardak and Shahba to the north and Qanawat to the southeast. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Slaim had a population of 2,129 in the 2004 census.

History

Inhabited in the Roman period, its ancient name was Selaema in Latin. In 1596 it appeared as Salam in the Ottoman tax registers, part of the nahiya (subdistrict) of Bani Nasiyya of the Hauran Sanjak. It had a population of 17 Muslim households. Among the inhabitants were a group of settled Bedouin. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 20% on wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and/or beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues"; a total of 4,800 akçe.

Slaim was resettled by Druze in the 18th century. It was often used, according to explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, by the local inhabitants to evade conscription or taxation by the Ottoman authorities. The Druze Banu Abu Assaf family historically inhabited and dominated the village.

In 1838 Eli Smith noted Slaim as being located in Jebel Hauran, and inhabited by Druze and Christians.

Archaeology

Slaim contains the ruins of a 2nd-century Roman temple. It was first surveyed in 1819 W. J. Bankes, then again in the early 20th century by Howard Crosby Butler and finally between 1980 and 1988 K. S. Freyberger. The temple has "a unique plan and its architectural decoration is quite rich", according to historian Ted Kaizer. It consists of a pronaos, a naos and an adyton. The building has a rectangular layout and was built on 2.4 meter high pavilion.

References

1. ^ General Census of Population and Housing 2004. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Al-Suwayda Governorate. (in Arabic)
2. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 218.
3. Firro 1992, p. 212
4. Batatu 1999, p. 357
5. Smith, in Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 157
6. ^ Kaizer 2008, p. 99
7. Kaizer 2008, pp. 99–100.
8. ^ Kaizer 2008, p. 100

Bibliography

• Batatu, H. (1999). Syria's Peasantry, the Descendants of Its Lesser Rural Notables, and Their Politics. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691002541.
• Firro, Kais (1992). A History of the Druzes, Volume 1. BRILL. ISBN 9789004094376.
• 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.
• Kaizer, Ted (2008). The Variety of Local Religious Life in the Near East In the Hellenistic and Roman Periods. BRILL. ISBN 9789004167353.
• 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.

v t e Suwayda Governorate
Shahba District Shahba Subdistrict Shahba Amrah Braykah Majadel Mardak al-Matunah Nimreh Salakhid Suwaymrah Taymah Umm Dubayb Umm al-Zaytun Ariqah Subdistrict Al-Ariqah Dama Deir Dama Harran Jirrin al-Kharsa Lubayn Sumayd Waqm Shaqqa Subdistrict Shaqqa Arajah Barik al-Buthainah Duma al-Hayyat Hit al-Junayneh al-Qasr al-Rudaymah Ta'lah Surah Saghirah Subdistrict Al-Surah al-Saghirah Dhakir Hazm al-Huquf al-Khalidiyah Khalkhalah Lahithah Rudaymat al-Liwa al-Salmiyah al-Surah al-Kabirah Umm Haratayn al-Ushayib
Suwayda District Suwayda Subdistrict Suwayda Aslihah Attil Dara Hibran Ira Jubayb al-Kafr Kafr al-Luhf Kanakir Kharaba Maf'aleh Masad Miyamas al-Mujaymer Qanawat al-Ruha Rasas Rimat Hazm Sahwat Balatah Sahwat al-Khudr Sakakah Slaim al-Tha'lah Walghah Mazra'ah Subdistrict Al-Mazra'ah al-Dur al-Duwayri Jidiyah al-Majdal Najran Qarrasa Rimat al-Luhf Sami' Ta'ara Tirah Mushannaf Subdistrict Al-Mushannaf Busan al-Ghaydah al-Kassib al-Ajaylat Rami al-Rushaydah Sa'nah Salah Shbeiki al-Shurayhi Tarba al-Tayyibah Umm Riwaq
Salkhad District Salkhad Subdistrict Salkhad al-Annat Awas al-Karbis Imtan al-Mashquq al-Munaydhrah Urman al-Uyun al-Rafqah Sama al-Bardan Shanirah Tahulah Qurayyah Subdistrict Al-Qurayya al-Afinah Burd Hout Ghariyah Subdistrict Al-Ghariyah Anz Khirbet Awad al-Mughayyir Dhibin Subdistrict Dhibin Bakka Umm al-Rumman Malah Subdistrict Malah Abu Zurayq Baham al-Harisi al-Huwayya Khazmah Qaysamah Sha'af al-Shi'ab Tell al-Lawz Tulaylin

• Populated places in as-Suwayda District
• Archaeological sites in as-Suwayda Governorate
• Roman sites in Syria
• Villages in Syria
• Druze communities in Syria