Salcah
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Salkhad صلخد |
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|---|---|
Salkhad fortress
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 Salkhad
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| Coordinates: 32°29′30″N 36°42′40″E / 32.49167°N 36.71111°E | |
| Country |
 Syria
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| Governorate | As-Suwayda |
| District | Salkhad |
| Elevation | 1,350 m (4,430 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 15,000 |
| Area code(s) | 16 |
Salkhad (Arabic: صلخد Ṣalḫad) is a Syrian city in the As Suwayda governorate, southern Syria. It is the capital of Salkhad District, one of the governorate's three districts. It has a population of 15,000 inhabitants.
It is located at 1350 metres above sea level in the central Jabal el Druze highlands.
Mentioned several times in the Bible as "Salcah", as a settlement in biblical Bashan. During the second century BC Salcah was a flourishing Nabataean city, where the gods Dushara and Allat were worshiped. Afterwards it was incorporated into the Roman province of Arabia, it was one of the important cities in Hauran during Roman and later Byzantine epochs, Salkhad is indicated in the Madaba mosaic map of the sixth century AD.
Due to the strategic position of the city overlooking Hauran plains to the west, the Ayyubid dynasty built a fortress in Salkhad between 1214 - 1247 to counter a possible attack of the Crusades into inner Hauran. It has also been said that Al-Afdal was exiled here by his uncle and brother.
The importance of the city decreased after the Crusades, and it was occasionally overrun by Bedouins seeking pasture in the summer for their flocks.
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