Mismiya

Al-Masmiyah المسمية Musmiyeh Mesmiyeh
Town
Al-Mismiyah
19th-century drawing of interior space of the Roman temple ("Praetorium") in al-Masmiyah
Al-Masmiyah Location in Syria
Coordinates: 33°7′45″N 36°23′38″E / 33.12917°N 36.39389°E / 33.12917; 36.39389Coordinates: 33°7′45″N 36°23′38″E / 33.12917°N 36.39389°E / 33.12917; 36.39389
Grid position	280/281 PAL
Country	Syria
Governorate	Daraa Governorate
District	Al-Sanamayn District
Nahiyah	Al-Masmiyah
Population (2004)
• Total	1,498
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	+3 (UTC)

Al-Masmiyah (Arabic: المسمية‎‎, also spelled Musmiyeh, Mesmiyeh, Mismiya and Musmeih) is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate, located northeast of Daraa in the al-Sanamayn District. Nearby localities include Jabab and Muthabin to the west, Ghabaghib to the northeast, Jubb al-Safa to the north, Burraq to the northeast, Khalkhalah and al-Surah al-Saghirah to the southeast and Dama to the south. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), al-Masmiyah had a population of 1,498 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center of the al-Masmiyah nahiyah ("subdistrict") which consists of 16 localities with a collective population of 8,773 in 2004. As of the early 20th century, its inhabitants were largely Melkite Christians, though there was a small Muslim community as well.

Al-Masmiyah is identified with the Roman-era town of Phaena. Phaena was the capital of the Trachonitis district of Roman Syria, as confirmed by a Greek inscription on the Roman temple which reads "Julius Saturninus to the people of Phaena, capital of Trachon." The ruins of a Roman era house built in the Batanean architectural style is believed to have possibly served as the home of the Roman governor of Trachonitis. One of the rooms on the ground-level floor was supported by an 18-foot arch and had a cornice-decorated ceiling. The town contains the ruins of a Roman-era pagan temple, called the Praetorium, that was constructed by the commander of the Third Gallic Legion between 160-169 CE during the reign of the Roman emperors Aurelius Antoninus and Lucius Aurelius Verus.