Al-Sharat

Al-Sharat (also known as al-Sharah, Bilad al-Sharat or Jibal al-Sharat) is a highland region in modern-day southern Jordan and northwestern Saudi Arabia. It was formerly a sub-district in Bilad al-Sham during the early Islamic era (7th–11th centuries).

In modern-day Jordan, the Bilad al-Sharat region starts immediately south of Wadi Mujib. The northern range contains mountains with peaks up to 1,200 meters above sea level, while to the south the mountains get as high as 1,500 meters above sea level. The principal city of Bilad al-Sharat is al-Karak. The northern part of the region in Jordan is under the administration of the Karak Governorate, while the more arid part south of Wadi Arabah comes under the Ma'an Governorate.

In the 9th century, al-Sharat's capital was Adhruh, but by the late 10th century, it apparently was replaced by Sughar (Zoar). Other principal towns in the district included Tabuk, Ma'an (Mu'an), Madyan, Aynunah (on the northern Red Sea coast), Wayla (Ayla) and Maab (Rabba).

From the beginning of the Muslim conquest of the Levant, al-Sharat formed the southern kurah (district) of Jund Dimashq (Province of Damascus), until the late 9th century, after which it became part of Jund Filastin (Province of Palestine). It was the Tulunids who first attached al-Sharat to Filastin for practical purposes, as the district was closer to Filastin than Damascus. In 985, during the late Abbasid period, the Jerusalemite geographer al-Muqaddasi described al-Sharat as its own district, neither belonging to Dimashq nor Filastin, in the larger province of Bilad al-Sham (the Levant).

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