Al-Qurayya
|
al-Qurayya القريا al-Qrayya |
|
|---|---|
| Town | |
 al-Qurayya
|
|
| Coordinates: 32°32′33″N 36°35′49″E / 32.54250°N 36.59694°E | |
| Country |
 Syria
|
| Governorate | Al-Suwayda Governorate |
| District | Salkhad District |
| Nahiyah | Al-Qurayya |
| Population (2004 census) | |
| • Total | 6,789 |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
Al-Qurayya (Arabic: القريا; also spelled al-Qrayya or Kureiyeh) is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the al-Suwayda Governorate, located south of al-Suwayda. Nearby localities include Bosra to the southwest, Nimrah and Hout to the south, Salkhad to the southeast, al-Kafr, Hibran and Sahwat al-Khudr to the northeast, Sahwat Bilata and Rasas to the north and 'Ara and al-Mujaymer to the northwest. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), al-Qurayya had a population of 6,789 in the 2004 census. The town is also the administrative center of the al-Qurayya nahiyah which consists of four towns with a combined population of 9,892.
Western scholar Josias Leslie Porter identified al-Qurayya with the Biblical "Kerioth" mentioned by Jeremiah as one of the cities in the plain of Moab. The prophet Amos wrote that he would "devour the palaces of Kerioth." The city is later mentioned in the 4th-century CE as "Koreath," a village belonging to Bosra in the Roman province Arabia Petraea. However, this "Koreath" has also been identified with the nearby palace of Ein Qarata to the south of the Lejat plain. On streets and alleyways throughout the village were the remains of several columns. A Greek inscription was found on one of the stones and dated back to 296 CE.
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