The town of Shaqqa in Sweida, archaeological monuments that witness ancient civilizations

Sweida, (ST) – Several archaeological monuments in the town of Shaqqa in the north-eastern countryside of Sweida are a living witness to ancient civilizations that have passed down the region and have given it a distinctive character.
The head of the Department of Antiquities, Dr. Nashaat Kiwan said that the town is 27 km from the center of the province. It is one of the most important archaeological areas in the province where it assumed a special position during the second and third centuries AD. The Romans named it after Emperor Maximianus and then its name became Maximiano Bolis. It became a city at the time which had a very important position in later centuries.

According to Kiwan , the most prominent remaining traces of the town of Shaqqa is Caesar’s Palace that is beautifully decorated. It has a square shape and is divided into three wings.

There are ancient tombs in the town built with creatively carved stones as well as Greek inscriptions in addition to the existence of archaeological houses similar in structure, said Kiwan.
Kiwan added that the town of Shaqaa is one of the five important archaeological cities in the province. It formed a defensive line with the Romans and was distinguished during the Nabataean, Roman, Byzantine and Arab Islamic times as an important administrative, economic, military and religious center. It was then called “Sakaya” and in the third century AD it had its own calendar called the Shaqqawi calendar.

Raghda Sawas