Al-Sanamayn
|
Al-Sanamayn الصنمين Sunamein Sanamain |
|
|---|---|
| Al-Sanamein | |
 Al-Sanamayn
|
|
| Coordinates: 33°04′16″N 36°11′3″E / 33.07111°N 36.18417°ECoordinates: 33°04′16″N 36°11′3″E / 33.07111°N 36.18417°E | |
| Grid position | 260/275 PAL |
| Country |
 Syria
|
| Governorate | Daraa Governorate |
| District | Al-Sanamayn District |
| Nahiyah | Al-Sanamayn |
| Elevation | 640 m (2,100 ft) |
| Population (2004) | |
| • Total | 26,268 |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | +3 (UTC) |
Al-Sanamayn (Arabic: الصنمين, also spelled Sanamein, Sanamain, Sunamein) is a city in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate and the center of al-Sanamayn District. It is located 55 kilometres (34 miles) north of Daraa and 50 kilometres (31 miles) south of Damascus. Nearby localities include Kafr Shams to the northwest, Deir al-Bukht to the north, Jabab to the northeast, Bassir to the east, Tubna to the southeast, Inkhil to the southwest and Qayta to the west.
According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), al-Sanamayn had a population of 26,268 in the 2004 census. In addition to being capital of the al-Sanamayn District, the city is also the administrative center and second largest locality of the al-Sanamayn nahiyah ("subdistrict") which consists of 16 localities with a collective population of 113,316 in 2004. The city's inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims. Al-Sanamayn has an altitude of 640 metres (2,100 feet).
The name al-Sanamayn is Arabic for "the Two Idols." It has been identified with the Roman-era village of Aere, a station mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary on the road between Damascus to the north and Nawa to the south. A temple in al-Sanamayn dedicated to Tyche, the Greek goddess of fortune, has been dated to 191 CE. Another was apparently dedicated to Tyche's Roman equivalent, Fortuna, who was central to Bosra's state cult; it dates from the early to mid-3rd-century CE, during the reign of emperor Septimius Severus. A Batanean inscription from the reign of Roman emperor Julian the Apostate in the mid to late 4th-century was discovered in al-Sanamayn.
...
Wikipedia