Bosra

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بصرى / Buṣrā
Bosra
Bosra (Syria)
Bosra
Bosra
Coordinates 32 ° 31 ′  N , 36 ° 29 ′  E Coordinates: 32 ° 31 ′  N , 36 ° 29 ′  E
Basic data
Country Syria

Governorate

Darʿā
height 850 m
Residents 29,664 (2009)
The Abu al-Feda Mosque in Bosra
The Abu al-Feda Mosque in Bosra
Ancient city of Bosra
UNESCO world heritage UNESCO World Heritage Emblem

TheaterBosra2.JPG
Roman theater for 15,000 spectators
National territory: SyriaSyria Syria
Type: Culture
Criteria : (i) (iii) (vi)
Surface: 116.2 ha
Buffer zone: 200.4 ha
Reference No .: 22bis
UNESCO region : Arabic states
History of enrollment
Enrollment: 1980  ( session 4 )
Extension: 2017
Red list : since 2013
Birkat al-Hajj with the Abu-l-Fida or Dabbagha madrasa and the Yaqut mosque
Outskirts with ruins and basalt cones

Bosra or Bostra ( Arabic بصرى, DMG Burā , tooبصرى الشام / Buṣrā aš-Šām ) is a city in southwest Syria in the Dar'a governorate within the Hauran region .

The population is 29,664 according to a calculation from 2009.

history

Bosra is probably on the site of the 2nd millennium BC. BC existing Bronze Age small state of Burūna , which is mentioned in the Amarna letters . Only in the 4th century BC The place was mentioned again in writing as part of the Seleucid Empire . Since the 2nd century BC It belonged to the kingdom of the Nabataeans , which temporarily extended to Damascus in the north , and was its capital from 70 to 106 AD. After the conquest by the Roman Emperor Trajan , the city was incorporated into the Roman Empire like the entire empire of the Nabataeans ; since that time a Roman legion was stationed here ( Legio III Cyrenaica ). Elevated to the capital of the province of Arabia Petraea in 106 , it was under the name Nova Trajana Bostra a market town for the Bedouins of the eastern desert and an important trading center, as the main roads to the Red Sea converged here. Under Emperor Severus Alexander (222-235) the city was raised to a colony ( Colonia ) and under Philippus Arabs (ruled 244-249) to a metropolis . In the 4th century it was considered a “big city” that housed numerous artistic buildings, churches and theaters. The city was a bishopric. In the 6th century a five-aisled basilica was built, which was one of the largest in the Middle East. In 634 the city fell into the hands of the Arabs and gradually lost its importance. Many buildings were destroyed in an earthquake in 1157.

In the Arab and Mameluke times, Bosra was a provincial capital. In the 13th century, the Roman theater was expanded into a citadel with palace buildings. In the centuries that followed, incursions by Bedouin tribes against the settled farmers, traders, and passing Mecca pilgrims increased. Trade and pilgrims moved to a road further to the west, reducing its importance as a trading place and Bosra becoming a village in the Middle Ages.

The old town of Bosra was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1980. In the course of the civil war in Syria , the city was captured by rebels of the Free Syrian Army on March 25, 2015 .

When the provinces of Daraa and Bosras were retaken, bombs were dropped on rebels near the Roman theater. This world heritage is said to have been hit several times and partially destroyed.

City sights

The city offers numerous testimonies to its eventful past. The best known and most impressive is the well-preserved Roman theater, which - like much of the other Roman evidence - was built in the third century AD under the Roman emperor Severus Alexander. 15,000 spectators could find space here. Like other Roman theaters, this building also has remarkable acoustics. The lower tiers and the orchestra were built into the ground so that the steep tiers could be supported statically. The building is well preserved mainly because it was not used as a quarry in post-Roman times, but was converted into a citadel by the Arab rulers. The Roman city extends northwards at the foot of the theater. Here are the remains of the thermal baths , an impressive columned street, which was the main artery of Bostra in ancient times, and the Kabyle sanctuary, whose earlier purpose is unclear. Next to it is a 6th century cathedral of Saints Sergius, Leontius and Bacchus. In the northeast of the city is the Mabrak-an-Naba Mosque , which was built in 1136 and named after the camel that is said to have carried the first copy of the Koran to Syria. To the south of it you can see the Fatima Mosque from the 13th century.

In the east of the city you can see the ruins of a palace, the foundation walls of which probably date from the time of the Nabataeans. Nearby is a large cistern (Arabic: Birkat al-Hajj) and not far from it is the Yaqut mosque with a madrasa from the 13th century (see illustration).

In the west of the old town there is the lamp gate (Bab al-Kandil), large underground storage rooms for local products and sparse remains of the tetrapylon . The largest mosque in Bosra, the Umari Mosque, is located near the old market square .

Sights in the surrounding area

Near Bostra, the Roman bridges of Kharaba and Djemerrin cross the Wadi Zeidi.

literature

Web links

Commons : Bosra  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated December 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / bevoelkerungsstatistik.de
  2. EA 197: 13; 199: 13.
  3. ^ Horst Klengel : Syria Antiqua. Edition Leipzig, Leipzig 1971, pp. 113–117.
  4. FSA take control of ancient city Bosra in southern Syria - http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/fsa-take-control-ancient-city-southern-syria-1075763421
  5. World: Rebels conquer world cultural heritage in Bosra - https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article138762312/Rebellen-erobern-Weltkulturerbe-in-Bosra.html
  6. Bombs on the World Heritage Site accessed on July 8, 2018